Taking Back the Vote: Getting American Youth Involved in Our Democracy

Young people are volunteering in record numbers, but many of them don't vote. Why? In Taking Back the Vote, respected journalist and political commentator Jane Eisner analyzes this decline in voter participation and suggests concrete ways of reinvigorating our youth to get out and vote.

Eisner uses the historic 1972 legislation that gave eighteen-year-olds the right to vote as a starting point in her book, then she traces how and why young people have slowly stopped voting since that time. But Eisner asserts that this trend of declining voter and political participation can be reversed, and it is up to parents, teachers, coaches, and others to make that happen. Civic education, Eisner feels, is the key to bringing young people back into the voting booths. High schools in particular need to be offering civic education in the same way that they offer music, math, or sports education. Registering to vote needs to be easier. The act of voting needs to be more fully recognized by society-perhaps through something like a First Vote ritual, which would mark a young person's coming of age as a voter.

Filled with moving stories of kids becoming engaged as citizens as well as information for young people as they begin their civic involvement, Taking Back the Vote an inspiring resource for parents, teachers, community leaders, and all mentors who recognize the importance of empowering new voters.

"Not only are those under 30 less likely to vote today than in the past, says Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Eisner, but 'the political establishment wants it that way.' Politicians are, according to Eisner, more concerned with issues that affect the middle-aged and the elderly than with those that affect the voting-age youth-Social Security rather than jobs, grade-school reading skills rather than the high cost of a college education. It was different 30 years ago, Eisner writes, when 18-year-olds first gained the vote and 'motivation, passion and purpose ... chased them to the ballot box.' Eisner sometimes offers truisms to explain the decline in young voters-she blames the media and nasty campaign commercials-and some questions beg for deeper analysis (after all, the young aren't a monolithic group, and there must be different reasons why various segments of the young don't vote). But she highlights significant issues, such as that the young volunteer in large numbers but don't see a link between their service and the role of government. Her suggestions-remove obstacles with, for instance, same-day registration; make politics personal with face-to-face contact; and (a bit vaguely) 'give them a reason to vote'-will be debated, but her central concern, about the need for the young to vote, seems inarguable." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Eisner (a Philadelphia Inquirer columnist) considers the reasons young people don't vote and offers suggestions to encourage their participation. She discusses the influence of party identification, political ads, scandals, volunteerism, peer encouragement, civic education, and public ritual. There is no index.
Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Jane Eisner is a syndicated columnist at the Philadelphia Inquirer. Her column "American Rhythms" appears in more than 100 major newspapers nationwide. She also teaches in the Fox Leadership Program at the University of Pennsylvania. She lives with her family in Merion, Pennsylvania.