Millennials (born 1982-2003) are America's most civic-oriented generation, since their GI Generation great grandparents. They believe in collective, local, direct action to solve their community's and the nation's problems. However, a recent report on the state of Millennials' civic participation indicates that the generation's interest in taking part in political...

President Obama's comprehensive proposal for preventing gun violence in America is to be commended. The focus for policy makers shouldn't be to try and sort out which of his ideas are politically feasible but rather which ones will work to accomplish the goal of preventing gun violence of all types,...

In an election as close as this year's presidential contest, any group can make a credible claim for having made the critical difference in the outcome. But there is certainly no denying the impact the Millennial Generation (young voters 18-30 years old) had on the outcome of the 2012 election....

While it is still far too early to forecast exactly the percentage of millennials who will vote this November, there is plenty of data to suggest that this year young people express less interest and enthusiasm in voting than their elders. For example, an August survey conducted by communication research...

Every 80 years, the Supreme Court has decisively entered a sharply divided political process to provide its own answer to the fundamental question of American politics: what is the scope and purpose of government? Each time, it has attempted to reinforce the generational and party alignments of a previous era...

In the middle of the 1950s, a seemingly spontaneous revolt against the prevailing conformist values of the country erupted among its youngest generation, the somewhat inappropriately titled, "Silent Generation." In the early 1950s members of this cohort, born between 1925 and 1945, were mostly known for their willingness to go...

The debate over legislation to stop online piracy revealed not only the threat that a new generation of consumers presents to the entertainment industry's traditional business model, but the equally shaky future of the way Congress currently conducts its business. The high tech, Internet-based companies that Hollywood most fears used...

Ron Paul's strong showing in Iowa's GOP caucuses creates a dilemma for the Republican Party, which has always treated him like a crazy uncle it would prefer to hide in the attic. Now Paul and his dedicated band of Libertarian followers can't be ignored without jeopardizing the GOP's chances in...

The headline of a December 15 press release from the Harvard Institute of Politics trumpeted, "More Millennials Predict Obama Will Lose Bid for Re-election Than Win, Harvard Poll Finds." The article elaborated that among all the 18-29-year-olds, opinion on this question is actually quite evenly divided into almost...

The 2012 election will present the United States with a stark choice between two radically different visions of the country's future. Which of these competing visions becomes the nation's future is likely to be determined by the strength and effectiveness of the Millennial Generation's participation in next year's election....

The recent release of survey data by the Pew Research Center indicating that the party identification of Millennials had narrowed from 60% Democratic vs. 32% Republican in 2008 to 52% Democratic vs. 39% Republican in 2011 produced a flurry of articles by political observers.

USA Today

On January 20, 2009, a record number of nearly two million people personally witnessed the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States. Many, if not most of them, were in their teens and twenties. Members of the Millennial Generation (born 1982-2003) had come to Washington...

Just as sure as April showers bring May flowers, this month brings the annual ritual of television "upfront" ad buying to New York City. This is a chance for the networks to show off their fall line-ups and biggest stars to advertisers. With Charlie Sheen and Donald Trump thankfully out...

America's engagement in Libya has provoked a spasm of commentary from seasoned hands in the foreign policy establishment and pundits of all political stripes complaining that President Obama's decision to join in the United Nations' sanctioned, multi-lateral effort to protect civilians from Muammar Gaddafi was either confused, wrong-headed, or naïve,...

The use of a legislative maneuver last night by Republicans in the Wisconsin Senate to advance Governor Scott Walker's efforts to strip state employees of their collective bargaining rights may have caught Democrats by surprise, but the ultimate result of the actions of Walker and his GOP allies may have...

As jubilant young Egyptians danced in the streets of Cairo and Alexandria, celebrating the departure of their 82 year old former president, American television commentators immediately began discussing two issues that seemed to them to be of greatest importance: who were the leaders of the uprising and how did they...

This week three top Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives-- Eric Cantor, Kevin McCarthy, and Paul Ryan -- will release their new book, Young Guns, outlining a vision for America's future that reflects their Generation X philosophy of individual autonomy and hostility to community or collective action.

Originally,...

More than twice as many 18-29 year olds voted for President Barack Obama as for John McCain in 2008, and one year later the party preferences of college students remain similarly lopsided in favor of the Democratic Party and its political point of view.

The most recent data from communication...

In spite of incorrect explanations like those of New York Times political columnist Matt Bai that the election of Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown to the U.S. Senate resulted from the actions of a fickle electorate dominated by political independents, the loss by Democrats of a long-held Senate seat...

The latest unemployment numbers and poll results have led most observers to predict a major setback for Democrats in the 2010 Congressional elections. But a year is a lifetime in politics and much can change between now and then to influence next year's vote. As Ron Brownstein recently pointed...