Motivation Builds Student Voters, Who Broaden Culture: Assessing the Impact of Increased 2018 Youth Voting Across Tennessee
Motivation Builds Student Voters, Who Broaden Culture: Assessing the Impact of Increased 2018 Youth Voting Across Tennessee
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Date
2020-05-04
Authors
Newman, Vada
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University Honors College Middle Tennessee State University
Abstract
The 2018 midterm election marked a turning point in student voter participation
nationwide and in Tennessee. Civic engagement organizations, advocating for civic
learning as integral to university curricula, contributed educational programming and
motivational resources to college campuses to teach for citizenship. Nationally, student
voters turned out in unprecedented numbers, which contributed to a congressional power
shift in the U.S. House of Representatives. Younger voters were part of a “blue wave”
that swept much of the country. Tennessee also experienced a marked increase in
students participating in voting in 2018, yet in contrast to the national progressive trend,
Tennesseans elected conservatives by landslides, in which outcome the state’s youngest
voters actively participated. However, Tennessee’s conservative student voters, even
though adhering to the party politics of their parents, are progressive by many measures.
What will shifting values and broadening culture mean for the future of southern politics?
Description
Keywords
Liberal Arts,
Tennessee,
Southern voting,
student voting,
voting demographics,
party politics