Youth Turnout in the 2008 Presidential Election; Data from the We the People Civic Education Alumni Network.

In this paper, we will explore voter turnout and political engagement by younger political cohorts in the 2008 presidential elections. After presenting data from representative studies, we will turn to a group of youth who took part in a rigorous civic education high school program, We the People; the Citizen and the Constitution. Following the November elections, we will survey a sample of over 6,000 youth who have joined the We the People alumni network. We will use items from the American National Election studies, but also delve deeper through open-ended responses. We will present comparative data on alumni turnout and political participation, but also ask alumni about their why they voted, how much attention they paid to politics, and let them explain how they conceived of their civic duty. If youth were contacted by politicians, did it make them want to vote? Did they feel their votes made a difference? ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]