PRRI and MTV recently released a study on the political and social views of more than 2,000 Americans ages 15 to 24, which includes younger Millennials and older members of Generation Z.
“Diversity, Division, Discrimination: The State of Young America” suggests that as a whole, young Americans are more progressive than older ones, but that religion, race, and gender make a difference in how they view various issues. I talked with Daniel Cox, PRRI’s research director, to find out more.
Cox, PRRI: One of the interesting things is that politics seems to overwhelm everything. We asked about whether Americans were divided by race, by religion, by politics. Even though younger folks tend to be less politically engaged than older Americans, they are cognizant that the country is very divided by politics; less so by religion or race. Politics is by far the thing these young folks think America is divided by. Less so by class, and about half said we were very divided by race.
Politics will be a serious dividing line, and part of this is actually due to changing patterns of religious identity. The country is undergoing a massive religious realignment. We’re seeing the Republican Party becoming a predominantly white Christian party, while the Democratic Party has become the party of everyone else. This is not to say there are no white Christians in the Democratic Party, rather their size and influence in the Democratic coalition has fallen precipitously.
Read the full story at Religion News
