Centers/Programs
Reports from The Young Elected Leaders Project
All reports listed below in .pdf format (get Adobe Acrobat here). |
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| Press Release 5/14/03 | |
| Political Generation Next: Young, Ambitious, and a Lot Like Their Elders? In a groundbreaking study publicly released today, researchers conclude that Young Elected Leaders (YELs) – "Political Generation Next" – are an ambitious group who in many respects mirror older elected officials. |
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| About the Young Elected Leaders Project | |
| The familiar story of young people's political participation is about non-participation. Less familiar is the story of young people who do participate as informed, active citizens and voters. But what about those young people who choose one of the most visible forms of participation – running for public office? |
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| Young Elected Leaders are Few and Familiar | |
| In 2002, the Eagleton study identified a total of 814 men and women age thirty-five and younger serving among all officials in Congress, statewide elective executive positions, state legislatures, and municipalities with over 30,000 population. Young elected officials held approximately 4.8 percent of all these positions combined, constituting a minuscule proportion of public officials. They included six Members of Congress, two statewide elected officials, 321 state legislators, and 485 municipal officials. | |
| What Makes Young People Run? | |
| Young elected leaders grew up in homes where politics might well have been a dinner-table topic of conversation. Their families not only talk about politics – they engage in politics. |
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| Young Elected Leaders Don't Bowl Alone | |
| Young elected leaders tend to be active citizens. Similar to U.S. political elites of any age, young political officials are joiners and doers, tuned in to the world around them. They are also more trusting of people's motives than are young people in general. |
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| What Do Young Elected Leaders Think? | |
| Political party identification, ideology (conservative, moderate, liberal) and views on cutting edge issues. |
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| Young Elected Men and Women - Differences and Similarities | |
| Among the respondents to the survey of young elected leaders, we found a number of significant gender differences. We also identified several areas where, sometimes surprisingly, no gender differences were evident. |
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| Fact Sheet on Who Are Young Elected Leaders Overall | |
| Numbers of young elected leaders in each state, party identification and gender. |
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| Fact Sheet on Young Elected Leaders in History | |
| Declaration of Independence signers, members of the U.S. Constitutional Convention, and U.S. presidents who began their political careers at age 35 or younger. |
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