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Sixteen percent of young people said they have volunteered for a political campaign, up from 7 percent in late 2018.
Young people found more ways to engage in politics in 2020
Jan 13 2021
Much has been made of the increase in voter participation among young people in 2020. But the act of casting a ballot represents just one method of civic engagement, and young people significantly increased their participation in other political activities last year.
New data released Tuesday by Tufts University's Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement found that nearly three times as many people ages 18 to 24 said in late 2020 that they have donated to a political campaign or registered others to vote, as compared to 2018. And the percent of young people who volunteered for a political campaign more than doubled in the same time frame.
<p><span></span>CIRCLE'S research team provided The Fulcrum with data comparing six forms of civic engagement for 18-24-year olds. The data is based on post-election polls, and the questions did not specify specific time frames for the engagements, meaning respondents could consider pre-2020 participation.</p>
<p>In addition to the big jumps in volunteering for campaigns, donating to campaigns and registering voters, the youth cohort showed modest increases in their efforts to convince others to vote and discussing political issues with friends.</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTQ0OTI3NS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxODk1ODg0M30.DNeZFPQzARwybGuuDkcwif7JF4FAW1MOwdqXuXkM2qo/img.png?width=980" id="81d14" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9b32226ff6b9cfe9fb279d6b73256dba" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="962" data-height="584">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Source: CIRCLE at Tufts University<a href="https://templates.flourish.studio/1790/qq-ET00UhK6Z_a9iHVC8wSzlnNtjWKzk3KVstczQlBR4Ev0gVafcWcrSbWFhM3LN/?environment=editor&auto=1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"></a></small></p><div style="display: none;"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTQ0OTI3NS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxODk1ODg0M30.DNeZFPQzARwybGuuDkcwif7JF4FAW1MOwdqXuXkM2qo/img.png?width=980" id="81d14" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6e0456299411cb8c8fb110c05a97afe0" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="youth civic engagement in 2020" data-width="962" data-height="584"></div>
<p>One additional engagement, attending a march or demonstration, was compared to data from 2016. Four years ago, 10 percent of young people said they did so. The rate skyrocketed to 31 percent in 2020 — not surprising in a year of protests over racial injustice.<br></p>
<p><p style="text-align: center;" id="sufn"><a style="font-weight: bold;margin:40px auto;font-size:2rem" href="https://thefulcrum.us/st/newsletters">Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter </a></p></p><p>"The 2020 election cycle further cemented the younger generation's capacity to organize and effect change, often based on their shared commitment to racial and environmental justice," said CIRCLE Director Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg.</p>
<p>The most recent data suggests that while young people on both ends of the political spectrum are inclined to find some way to engage in politics, Democrats are generally more positive about the role of their age group. Among people ages 18 to 29, nearly 90 percent of those who voted for Joe Biden said their generation should participate in decision making, has a responsibility to do so or has the power to effect change. Among those who voted for Donald Trump, those percentages were in the mid-70s.</p>
<p>"Now that the elections are behind us, young people are poised to seize their power to make change on issues they care about and to strengthen our democracy. They know that their continued engagement is needed now more than ever," said Alan Solomont, dean of Tisch College, which houses the CIRCLE program at Tufts.</p>
<p><div class="x12"><div class="htlad-Desktop_Content_Banner"></div></div></p><p>The 2020 survey was conducted by Gallup for CIRCLE. In 2016 and 2018, the program used the polling firm GfK.</p>
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California Attorney General Xavier Becerra argues the state's disclosure requirement is necessary to prevent charitable fraud.
Supreme Court to hear case challenging California donor disclosure law
Jan 13 2021
California is widely regarded as the gold standard for campaign finance transparency, but one of the state's disclosure rules will soon face scrutiny from the Supreme Court.
The high court agreed last week to hear an appeal, brought by two conservative advocacy groups, that challenges California's law requiring nonprofits to disclose their top donors.
The Americans for Prosperity Foundation, founded by the influential Koch family, and the Thomas Moore Law Center, a conservative Catholic legal group, claim California's law infringes on their rights of free speech and association, but state officials say it is necessary to prevent charitable fraud.
<p>Since 2010 California has required nonprofits to provide, to the state attorney general, the names and addresses of major donors — similar to the federal tax forms charities must send to the IRS. This information is not publicly disclosed, and it "helps the state protect consumers from fraud and the misuse of their charitable contributions," said Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who is defending the case for California.<br></p>
<p>But the two organizations making the appeal say the state has failed to keep certain donor records confidential. In 2014, they filed separate lawsuits on the matter, and federal courts ruled in their favor. But in 2018, their cases were combined in an appeal, and California's law was upheld as constitutional.</p>
<p><p style="text-align: center;" id="sufn"><a style="font-weight: bold;margin:40px auto;font-size:2rem" href="https://thefulcrum.us/st/newsletters">Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter </a></p></p><p>"It is clear that the disclosure requirement serves an important governmental interest," Judge Raymond Fisher wrote in the ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.</p>
<p>Following this decision, the two groups appealed their consolidated case to the Supreme Court. Oral arguments have not yet been scheduled.</p>
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Douglas Rissing/Getty Images
Capitol riot prompts halt in corporate political gifts. Punishment, tactic or turning point?
Jan 12 2021
Democracy reformers are seeing one of their most ardent longings realized, albeit perhaps only temporarily and for truly extraordinary reasons:
The gusher of money that's steered American politics for so long has abruptly slowed this week. Two huge banks, a rasher of prominent companies and many lobbyists have all suspended campaign giving.
A few have done so across the board, spooked at how last week's insurrection at the Capitol has propelled democracy's distress to a new nadir. But most say they are closing their checkbooks only to those Republicans who countenanced the rebellion with their votes to overturn the presidential election.
<p>It's way too soon to know how long this highly unusual form of punishment will last. </p><p>It may well prove to be a high-profile but only temporary and partial gesture, with publicly disclosed donations halted even as businesses and their K Street minions continue to use the plenty of secretive channels available to influence policy with their cash. </p><p>Less likely is that corporate America decides to confront the long-term risk of inflicting lasting financial damage on half the political power structure — especially since it's Republicans who will remain the more reliable ally once the incoming Biden administration starts pressing its agenda with the help of like-minded Democrats in total control of Congress.</p><p>There is also a chance that the mob invasion of the Capitol will emerge as the rationale for de-escalating a campaign finance arms race almost all companies now view as part of the price of doing business. </p><p><p style="text-align: center;" id="sufn"><a style="font-weight: bold;margin:40px auto;font-size:2rem" href="https://thefulcrum.us/st/newsletters">Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter </a></p></p><p>Executives have known for decades their donations are required before getting their voices heard in House and Senate offices of either party, a system under which they privately chafe and which has come to increasingly irk their investors. But having used their power to silence President Trump in his final days and punish his allies in Congress — in the name of preserving the rule-of-law system that permits them to profit — they may conclude they no longer need to spend nearly so much trying to influence elections and curry favor with the winners.</p><p>"We have to create some level of cost," Thomas Glocer, a board member of both the Morgan Stanley investment bank and the Merck pharmaceutical giant, told The Wall Street Journal. "Money is the key way."</p><p>Groups advocating for tighter campaign finance regulation, for now, are signaling they will focus on pressing companies to keep their promises — and amplify the efforts by demanding the return of money they have given Republicans who voted against the legitimate Electoral College results last week and thereby endorsed Trump's baseless allegations of election fraud.</p><p><div class="x12"><div class="htlad-Desktop_Content_Banner"></div></div></p><p>The nearly two-thirds of House Republicans who did so — 139 of them — include Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California and Minority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana, two of the most prominent GOP fundraisers in the nation. The eight senators who did likewise include Rick Scott of Florida, who was just put in charge of candidate recruitment and fundraising for the party's bid to retake the Senate in the 2022 midterms. </p><p>Several prominent lobbying shops said their people would stop giving to Republicans who took Trump's side in the electoral vote challenge, which ended hours after the Capitol was sacked, at least five people died and dozens of police officers were injured. </p><p>Some also signaled they were no longer interested in having anyone from the outgoing administration spin through their revolving doors — in part after several prominent Democrats declared they would not take meetings with representatives of any K Street firm that hired Trump officials.</p><p>Among the companies that have announced a suspension of giving to Republicans who voted for against awarding all 306 electoral votes for Joe Biden: retail superpower Amazon, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association medical insurance power, Midwest bank conglomerate Commerce Bancshares, chemical giant Dow, legacy hotel icon Marriott International along with its rival Airbnb, and the telecommunications behemoths Comcast, Verizon and AT&T. </p><p>But two of the nation's biggest banks said they were pausing donations to all Republicans and all Democrats — JPMorgan Chase for at least six months and Citigroup through the end of March. </p><p>Their two <a href="http://thefulcrum.us/political-action-committees" target="_self">political action committees</a> put a combined $1.6 million directly into the 2020 campaign, most of it to Republican congressional candidates, according to the <a href="http://thefulcrum.us/center-for-responsive-politics" target="_self">Center for Responsive Politics</a>. But that does not count millions more donated by their executives, either directly or through more opaque means such as gifts to politically active nonprofits and partisan campaign groups not connected to individual lawmakers — the same sorts of venues that companies could continue to use if they want to keep their campaign giving alive but in the dark.</p><p>Medical-device maker Boston Scientific, investment bank Goldman Sachs and Alphabet, the parent of Google, also said they had hit the pause button on all campaign donations.</p><p>Those moves seemed designed to prevent public criticism and avoid angering the Republicans who backed the baseless election fraud claims. But they stand to inflame the Democrats.</p><p>"Nothing more than a PR stunt –– and a bad one at that, since it's predicated upon the dangerous false equivalency that led us to this breaking point," declared Tiffany Muller, the head of the progressive campaign finance overhaul group <a href="http://thefulcrum.us/end-citizens-united" target="_self">End Citizens United</a>. </p><p>Missouri-based Hallmark, the greeting card company, asked for its money back from a home-state senator, Republican Josh Hawley, who first assured that Trump's effort to reverse the election would be put to a vote. </p><p>In the past 15 years, two-fifths of S&P 500 companies have faced shareholder proposals to limit political spending or to improve disclosure, according to the <a href="https://thefulcrum.us/center-for-political-accountability" target="_self">Center for Political Accountability</a>, a nonpartisan group that advocates for more open but ideally curtailed corporate political spending. It says nearly half the big companies now fully disclose or prohibit contributions to candidates, parties and political committees.</p><div></div><p>The developments came as the Las Vegas casino company run by Sheldon Adelson, who had come to personify the term "Republican mega donor" and had been Trump's most prominent billionaire backer, announced his death Tuesday at age 87.</p>
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President-elect Biden has previously supported broad reform initiatives, like HR 1.
Reform groups renew unanswered call for support from Biden
Jan 04 2021
Democracy reform advocates, still hoping for a significant statement of support from Joe Biden, have asked the president-elect to kick off the new year by pledging to prioritize their agenda.
One week after the election, 170 good-government and voting rights groups called on Biden to back their proposals. They believe that tackling corruption and strengthening democracy are of the utmost importance following the still-contentious presidential election. But Biden has yet to elevate that agenda.
While Biden cannot take any official action until Jan. 20, the 117th Congress convened Monday and can begin legislating right away So these groups are also hoping Speaker Nancy Pelosi keeps her word and once again focuses the first House bill on broad election, anti-corruption and voting rights reforms, like she did two years ago with legislation known as HR 1.
<p>Fifty democracy reform groups sent a <a href="https://declarationforamericandemocracy.org/wp-content/uploads/12-23DFADBidenletter-1.pdf" target="_blank">letter</a> to the incoming administration before the new year, asking Biden and Harris to back their agenda and use the bully pulpit to boost public support for reform efforts. Both Biden and Harris have previously supported HR 1 and other reform initiatives, but Biden less than other Democratic presidential contenders.<br></p>
<p>Four issues top the groups' agenda: safeguarding voting rights by ensuring every person can cast a ballot safely and securely; ending the corrupting power of big money in politics by increasing transparency around <a href="http://thefulcrum.us/dark-money" target="_self">dark money</a> and strengthening election oversight; restoring ethics and accountability in Washington by reducing the power of lobbyists and fortifying conflict-of-interest rules; and protecting the rule of law by restoring the Constitutional system of checks and balances.</p>
<p><p style="text-align: center;" id="sufn"><a style="font-weight: bold;margin:40px auto;font-size:2rem" href="https://thefulcrum.us/st/newsletters">Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter </a></p></p><p>In November, Pelosi said in a <a href="https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000175-9df8-d665-a1ff-9ff8eb560000" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">letter</a> to Biden and Harris that reform proposals such as these would be her first priority in the House, and legislation would be introduced and passed on the first day of the new Congress.</p>
<p>In addition to supporting legislative proposals, the groups urge Biden to also use executive orders to encourage broader transparency around White House affairs and election spending. They also suggest Biden appoint someone on his staff to lead these democracy reform efforts.</p>
<p>"Too many Americans have lost faith that their elected officials can address our country's challenges," the groups wrote in the letter. "By supporting, championing and prioritizing bold reforms like HR 1 and implementing comprehensive ethics and transparency plans for your administration, we can restore ethics and accountability in government."</p>
<p><a href="http://thefulcrum.us/american-promise" target="_self">American Promise</a>, <a href="http://thefulcrum.us/common-cause" target="_self">Common Cause</a>, <a href="http://thefulcrum.us/end-citizens-united" target="_self">End Citizens United</a>/Let America Vote Action Fund, <a href="http://thefulcrum.us/maplight" target="_self">MapLight</a>, <a href="http://thefulcrum.us/representus" target="_self">RepresentUs</a> and 45 other civil society groups signed the letter.</p><p><div class="x12"><div class="htlad-Desktop_Content_Banner"></div></div></p>
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