The partisan divide is getting worse
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Adults of all ages agree: There's little confidence in elected leaders
But in general, young adults have a lot more trust issues than their elders
Sixty percent of young adults in the United States believe other people "can't be trusted," according to a recent Pew Research survey, which found that younger Americans were far more likely than older adults to distrust both institutions and other people. But adults of all ages did agree on one thing: They all lack confidence in elected leaders.
While united in a lack of confidence, the cohorts disagreed on whether that's a major problem. The study found that young adults (ages 18-29) were less likely than older Americans to believe that poor confidence in the federal government, the inability of Democrats and Republicans to work together, and the influence of lobbyists and special interest groups were "very big problems."
Other results found that nearly three-quarters of young adults believe people "just look out for themselves" most of the time and that others "would try to take advantage of you if they got a chance."
Overall, nearly half of young adults were categorized by researchers as "low trusters," or people who view others as "selfish, exploitative and untrustworthy."
Only 19 percent of Americans aged 65 and older, on the other hand, were categorized as "low trusters."
It's unclear why younger Americans scored lower on the trust scale than their elders. According to Pew:
"The common thought is that changes in interpersonal trust over time are largely a cohort or generational phenomenon. Still, other research published this year asserts that people's interpersonal trust increases as they age. Social and institutional trust patterns can be complicated, as the Center's new report shows, and there is reason to believe that young adults' views and behaviors might change as they get older — and as the world around them changes."
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Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a trio of democracy reform bills this week.
California governor signs three political reform bills
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law on Tuesday three democracy reform bills focused on local redistricting, voting access and campaign contributions.
The first piece of legislation prohibits partisan gerrymandering at the local level by establishing criteria for cities and counties to use when adjusting district boundaries. While California is the largest state to use an independent redistricting commission to draw its congressional and state district maps, local districts did not have the same regulations.
Gov. Ralph Northam used his executive authority to restore voting rights for felons, noting that Virginia is among the states that permanently strips such rights after a felony conviction.
Virginia governor restores voting rights to over 22,000 felons
More than 22,000 Virginians with felony convictions have regained the right to vote thanks to executive actions taken by Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam since he took office in January 2018, his office announced this week.
In a statement, Northam's office said he has so far restored the civil rights of 22,205 people who had been convicted of felonies and have since completed their sentences. Those civil rights include the right to vote as well as the right to serve on juries, run for public office and become a notary public.
Northam previously announced in February that nearly 11,000 convicted felons had their voting rights restored under his watch.