Bob Graham Center hosts top expert on millennial generation

September 23, 2010

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Molly Andolina, a professor of political science at DePaul University and a leading expert on the civic instincts of the millennials — people between the ages of 18 to 29, will speak Sept. 28 at the University of Florida’s Bob Graham Center for Public Service.

The presentation, “Generation Next: Citizenship and the Millennials,” will begin at 7 p.m. in Pugh Hall’s Ocora. Andolina will discuss what makes this generation unique in terms of its members’ civic attitudes and behaviors, and what can be expected from them in the upcoming midterm elections.

Andolina has worked closely with the Pew Research Center in its detailed studies of the rates of trust, volunteerism, voting habits and overall civic activity of the generation that is part of the baby boomlet, the young people born in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In addition to their other unique qualities, they are the first electronically “connected” generation in U.S. history, as well as the most racially and ethnically diverse.

In terms of civic participation, millennials have matched other adults in
some civic engagement activities, such as volunteering and consumer activism, but have lagged in others, such as voting and contacting public officials. Still, the 2008 election saw a historic rise in voting behavior for this age group, shrinking the turnout gap between generations to the smallest it has been since 18-year-olds were given the right to vote in 1972.

Millennials were among Barack Obama’s strongest supporters in 2008, backing him for president by more than a 2-to-1 ratio (66 percent to 32 percent), while just 50 percent of older adults were giving their votes to the Democratic nominee. This was the largest disparity between younger and older voters recorded in four decades of modern exit polling, according to the Pew Research Center.

Andolina, a specialist in generational politics, was reared on politics. “I grew up in a very political household in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., and learned my first lessons about politics canvassing for my father’s local campaigns,” she writes. “I worked the polls asking people to ‘vote for my dad’ and spent hot, humid summers going to fundraisers and political rallies. As I grew older, I found myself following politics and feeling passionately about issues on the national and international agenda, and I realized I was becoming a bit of a junkie.”

She earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Emory University, and a master’s in public policy and doctorate in government from Georgetown University.

This event will also be streamed live on Sept. 28 from the Bob Graham Center website, www.bobgrahamcenter.ufl.edu.

The Bob Graham Center provides students with opportunities to train for future leadership positions, meet policymakers and take courses in critical thinking, language learning and studies of world cultures. Its mission is to foster public leadership and solve issues related to the Americas and homeland security. It also serves as a magnet to attract distinguished scholars and speakers to Florida.