Why Gen Z and Millennials are Going to Change the Future of Politics
The generational lens proves quite insightful in understanding future voting patterns.
Politically engaged, tech-savvy, and more diverse Gen Z and Millennials are emerging as key drivers likely to disrupt and reshape our politics.
Most political leaders on either side of the Atlantic are now Gen X or older.
American Millennials have already replaced the Boomer generation as the largest generational group of voting age.
Generation Z has leapfrogged Gen X as the second-largest generation.
British Millennials are the largest generational group in the UK.
French Gen Z and Millennials account for just under 40% of the French population.
Today’s Political Leaders: Boomers and Generation X
Generational Change: Values, Priorities, and Methods
Boomers and Gen X Values and Priorities
Demographic Change: The Rise of Millennials and Gen Z
What Makes Millennials and Gen Z So Interesting
Unscramble-O-Meter Concern Rating
In recent years, if you have been following political trends like me you may also have started to develop a growing sense that our politics, long dominated by the values, methods, and priorities of Baby Boomers, and then the emergence of a growing Generation X political class, has now found itself at a critical crossroad mostly marked by heightened polarization and tribalism.
Such developments have arisen out of contrasting views and dogmatism on the big political issues of our day such as immigration, identity, climate, and the economy. There are also various frustrations with our traditional political structures and institutions. It is a phenomenon playing out in different ways on both sides of the Atlantic.
In many respects, there is now a new fork in the road. Politically, it has become increasingly difficult these days to cooperate to get things done and it seems that not all the passengers in the car want to continue driving in the same direction. To do so only appears to bring us to a dead end.
There are also concerns today about the current driver’s sense of direction and level of road alertness. It seems likely that out of fear for their own safety, one of the younger passengers in the back will soon insist on providing the driver with new directions or maybe even get in front of the wheel themselves.
There are many factors to consider when analyzing how we vote including our socio-economic status, gender, race, religion, education level, and even geographical factors such as the regional issues that are impacting our lives. However, there is also a pattern in the particular values, methods, and priorities that drive different generational cohorts.
Sometimes generations have similar values that blend into each other and evolve, but at the same time, they can also have priorities that are actually quite different. How they go about achieving their priorities can change over time. When we consider how our society evolves, I think a generational lens can also be quite insightful and should not be discounted.
Changing demographics and social values suggest that those politically engaged younger voters, who are most likely to set the political agenda in the coming years, are going to want to pivot, to drive in a different way and in an alternative direction. Frustrated or dissatisfied with what they currently have, they may also require a different or at least better-adapted vehicle for an alternative new road ahead.
Of course, with all of the current traffic noise, it is easy to become distracted and overlook the critical juncture we have arrived at. But if we can manage to tune out the noise we can better see that while politics seems broken today, it has also started to undergo a significant transformation.