When it comes to the topics of millennials and their role in politics, most will readily agree that they tend to lean more liberally than past generations. While it might be tempting to suggest that this makes them choose to consistently vote democrat, studies have shown that while millennials hold liberal views on social issues, they are also very likely to classify themselves as politically independent. With millennials’ population only growing, these politically independent views may be the next biggest trend in politics. I believe that millennials have the power to change the current two party system because of their increasingly more diverse political views. 

I believe that millennials will soon be taking over the political situation from the Baby Boomers as more of them enter the Electorate. Research has already determined that the millennial generation is the largest generation in America, and as the years go by more of them will be able to vote in elections (Brown 6). Simply by sheer numbers they will be making some sort of impact in politics. I can see the political system changing in either of the following two ways: The platforms of the current two parties will begin to match the needs of the current generation, or the two parties will begin to decrease in number as third parties gain more followers. I understand that there currently is not a huge number of third party voters; however, I believe that the views and ideals of the generation will encourage a shift in voting dynamics to have a stronger third party vote. The biggest challenge to this theory is that the electorate college is set up for only the Republican and Democratic candidates to be successful, leaving votes for third candidate parties as a “wasted vote”. I would like to challenge this idea, with the fact that most people age 18 to 29 described themselves as politically independent (McCutcheon 819). With evidence of political beliefs changing in favor of the third party, I fully endorse the theory that millennials can redefine the U.S. two party political system. 

A number of researchers have come to the conclusion that the millennial generation is radically different from past generations. By growing up during a time where segregation is illegal and the economy is on the rise, millennials have shown signs of being far less discriminatory and more optimistic about the future of our generation. Geraldine Brown comments on the socio-economic differences between the two generations. From wars to the Great Depression, millennials are a generation who emerged after times filled with hardship and discrimination. Brown argues that because millennials grew up in a different society than previous generations they have learned to value cultural differences and hold more trust in America’s future. Brown’s theory of millennials being less likely to discriminate because they did not live and experience segregation at its height is extremely useful because it sheds light on the difficult problem of continuing to progress equality in America. Millennials have shown less attachment to institutions and have instead shown a greater acceptance of others. I believe the young generation is trying to be inclusive and become more educated on political and social issues in order to create a society where equality is standard; however, their views are not always being met in congress. Millennials are struggling to have their progressive ideals enacted through legislation due to the fact that they hold very limited seats in capitol hill. The houses are currently being overrun with the voices of the boomers thus the issues that plague the millennials are receiving less attention and taking much longer to pass because our policy makers cannot decide whether to listen to the voices of their generation or the millennials. I do not believe that our current political leaders are doing enough and moving at the pace that millennials would like to be at. While passing legislation takes time, I argue that our current political leaders can do more to fulfill the desires of the future generation. I advocate the need for millennials to gain a foothold in our government system so that our nation can begin to focus on the needs of future generations. 

Of course, some might object that minority groups’ voices are not being considered as heavily in politics compared to white males. Although I concede that those who have been marginalized are unfairly dismissed, I still maintain that millennials are activists on this social injustice. Diversity is one undeniable characteristic of millennials and they recognize their differences in race, beliefs, and culture justly. Ianconangelo, a journalist, connects millennials’ passion to serve with their role in politics and argues that the government is not doing enough to support that desire. Ianconangelo is mistaken because he overlooks the fact that millennials have become increasingly more diverse. I believe that millennials’ diversity is a key characteristic when it comes to explaining why millennials tend to be socially liberal. Millennials are becoming increasingly more aware of the diversity of America and as whole are showing that they want to be inclusive and non-discriminatory. While community service is important for millennials, I believe that their motivation to serve others stems from the desire to lessen the opportunity for marginalization of people both politically and socially. Their left-leaning beliefs on social equality for all people serves as an example for the type of government they want and need to be put into action. 

While in theory any voter would prefer to cast their vote on the “perfect” candidate, it is highly unlikely to find such a person campaigning who maintains the same views on every issue as themselves. Many voters inform themselves on each candidate’s platform, or looks at which party aligns with their beliefs, but now voters can also look at the social media profiles. Social media has given an innovative way to reach out to the people of the nation and helps especially with engaging with millennials. A study conducted by Sarah Douglas observes how millennials evaluate political candidates when using various resources. While Douglas’ study may be slightly inaccurate if all participants between ages 18-20 identified themselves as Republican, she is correct that millennials care about “community” when deciding which candidate to vote for. I believe that millennials care about how others feel about the candidate and what that candidate can do for their community. Progressivism is a huge component of what millennials are searching for and choosing a candidate who advocates for improvement within their community is more likely to appeal to millennials. I believe that their ideas on progressive idealism correlate best with Bernie Sanders, who was able to grasp the attention of a large majority of millennials during his campaign. Despite being seventy years old, Bernie Sanders was able successfully relate to a large portion of millennials during the 2016 election season because of his strong campaign for free education, social justice, and better living wages. Each of his stances on these issues fit the desires and concerns of the millennial generation. Although he may not have become the final democratic party representative, his still relatively successful campaign shows what millennials value most: equality and opportunity. 

Although the millennial generation has been blamed for not getting out and voting enough, I believe that this trend is dying as more millennials are entering the real world and being confronted by the need to make changes within our society. Chuck McCutcheon is an assistant managing editor of CQ Researcher and he analyzes millennials role over time in a recent article. McCutcheon argues that millennials are becoming more involved and are currently shaping the future of America. With four out of every ten young adults actively seeking out the news, the millennial generation is slowly showing more signs of political activism (McCutcheon 817). Millennials want to be more informed, especially on issues that can affect their lives in the future. I believe that the young generation is becoming more aware of the economic challenges they will be facing on America’s current economic path. Spending on programs such as Social Security does not appeal to millennials due to the concern that they will not receive any benefits from the program, and thus may become an important issue in congress as more millennials gain the right to vote. I assert that the young generation will begin to recognize that the first step into making their ideals a reality is to put their voice into the discussion and vote in elections.

While I acknowledge past voting participation rates and tendencies of millennials, I believe that millennials have been cornered into voting democratically. Millennials are a generation who care about equality and serving others to a point that its second nature for them to vote for the candidate who promises to do just that (Ianconangelo). This trend among the young generation shows how highly progressive millennials are. Leyden notes how millennials are dramatically changing the meaning of what it means to be progressive, and I believe the same can be said about millennials’ impact on the electoral college. Though I concede to Peter Leyden’s idea that millennials have been showing signs of voting more democratically and showing signs of becoming more progressive, I still insist that millennials will use their progressive ideals to choose to vote more libertarian. Millennials progressive ideology on the social needs of the country and their desire to still be prosperous economically will push them to lean more independently from either of the major two parties simply because neither party offers the full package.

As I have grown up with the millennial generation, I have learned that I do not have to follow a preset mindset when it comes to topics involving things such as religion and politics. I hold the power to think freely and categorize myself however I feel justly suits my opinions. Stephen Prothero, Chair of the department of Religion at Boston University, asserts that the millennial generation’s rejection of the use of social branding correlates with their decline of political party affiliation. With my own millennial background, I am of two minds about Prothero’s claim that the decline in mainline denominations can be paralleled with the decline of major political parties. On the one hand, I agree that there has been a decline in the popularity of traditional church services and in a singular affiliation with a political party. On the other hand, I am not sure if the connection between both is strong enough to correlate millennials’ change in attitudes spiritually with their change of political mindset from previous generations’ ideas. I believe that the common ground between these two categorizations, for millennials, is the decline of the desire to hold affiliation within either category. Millennials are pushing the boundary of what it means to be progressive while attempting to not force their views on others. I believe that millennials are choosing to not reside with either of the major parties, because both maintain a strong history of holding certain views, and millennials would prefer to disengage in conflicting discussion. I suggest that millennials will begin to avoid creating conflicting political discussions by choosing to disaffiliate themselves with the two major political parties.

Conventional wisdom has it that stereotypes associated with political parties are almost always correct and can be applied to help further someone’s point in a political debate. Alec Vandenberg explains how political labels simply end discussions and prevent opposing views from learning why each political party stands for the issues that they support. I agree that the use of generalized political labels stunts the room for political discussion, a point that needs emphasizing since so many people still believe that it is politically correct to assume that every republican or democrat is either a “racist” or a “feminazi”. I agree that the lack of discussion is preventing progression in our nation. I would like to encourage our millennials generation to educate themselves on both sides of the political situation so that they can gain a better understanding of other peoples’ views and be comfortable when entering the political dialogue of the nation. I believe that reiterating the idea that political debates are not meant to shut down the discussion, but instead increase awareness of the issues other members of our nation are concerned about will begin to get more of the millennial generation involved and active in our political situation. 

The millennial generation surely has no problems with technology and are very active on social media. It may be correct to assume that with the easy access to the worldwide web that this young generation would be certainly engaged in politics and current events. However, this is not the case and studies have shown how there are still groups of millennials who have limited access to this form of discussion. Ginsberg asserts that living in Civic Deserts, termed as places characterized by a lack of opportunities to engage in politics, contributes to how young people vote in elections. Ginsberg’s theory that youth living in a ‘civic desert’ tend to be largely disengaged from politics is extremely useful because it sheds light on the difficult problem of educating our youth about politics. While millennials have been showing more interest in politics over the years, there are still limits to how involved they have been. I concur that millennials who receive less from the government are less likely to support civic institutions (Ginsberg). This issue creates a problem as millennials gain a say in the electorate, because those who live in a civic desert become disinterested in political discussion and lack the desire to become engaged in politics. Having less access to the news and profiles of our politicians gives those millennials fewer opportunities to observe, participate, and learn about political engagement (Ginsberg). The advantage in educating our youth about politics is that our nation will gain new politicians and candidates who share the needs of the generation. I believe that we can begin to achieve this goal by reaching out to the ‘civic deserts’ of our nation and encouraging those in these environments to educate themselves on civic institutions in the hope that they can trust in these institutions and be active in American politics.

Activism in the form of peaceful protests and rallies seems to be a common way millennials are choosing to get involved as opposed to using their voice by voting in elections. It has become commonplace to see millennials out in the streets fighting for the rights and equality of others rather than in the voting booths at their local voting centers. Karalyn Collazo is right that by simply showing up to protests and rallies isn’t enough to instill changes within the American political system. However, she seems on more dubious ground when she claims that those who do not exercise their right do not get to complain about the results. I believe that people hold the right to complain about the results even if they did not partake in the election because the electoral college system creates a situation where third party votes do not matter. Millennials are struggling to choose the best candidate for the job because neither of the two major parties offer everything that they want and if they choose to use their vote on a third-party candidate they lose the opportunity to make an impact on the results. Because of how the electoral college is structured to have either a democrat or republican nominee win the election, it is practically impossible for a third-party candidate to win over a single state let alone an entire election. The electorate college is preventing the young generation from even entering the discussion before they can even begin to question the actions of our current politicians. The system does not provide the generation with an effective way to vote for the candidate that they truly desire. As such, I advocate my claim that changes must be made to the two-party system in order to align more closely with the needs of the nation. 

 The standard way of thinking about our political leaders has it that they are elected simply for their political platforms. While arguments to this ideology can be made, I believe that the greatest issue is how our politicians are not supporting the voices of the millennials and are instead listening to the voices of past generations because they are the people who got them to their position. I agree with Brownstein’s argument up to a point that our current political leaders are not doing enough economically to support our current millennial generation; however, I do believe that our political leaders care about the millennial generation. Millennials have had a strong voice and our politicians are listening, but there are also the voices of the older generation that are echoing behind us. I believe that politicians succumb to the voice of the people that give them the position; therefore, older representatives who received their seat from the votes of older generations will tend to reflect the views of those generations, even though the millennial generation has a larger voice. While millennials are becoming increasingly more liberal and independent in mindset, the gap between the boomers and millennials is growing. Until libertarians and other third parties can gain a solid position in our government, I believe that the democrats and republicans will keep control over the political houses. I believe that our current representatives will be challenged when it comes to whether to support the needs of the older generation or the futures of the millennials. 

 