Cameron Whitehurst

Annotated Bibliography
Beinart, P. (2016, Jan.). Why America is Moving Left. The Atlantic. Retrieved from
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/01/why-america-is-movingleft/419112/
In this article, Beinart examines the reasons why America is moving towards a more
liberal mindset. He narrows in on two recent issues: Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives
Matter. Through the lens of Obama's presidency, Beinart analyzes how these two issues
came about, ultimately settling on the idea that many Millennials found themselves
disillusioned by Obama's tendencies to be all bark and no bite. Without seeing many
changes in the corruption of Wall Street or the disparity in police persecution between
white and black Americans, many Millennials moved further left. Beinart includes a lot
of statistics to back up his point, all of which can be used in both the paper and
presentation. He makes a strong argument that all of America--both liberals and
conservatives--are moving further left, allowing for the rise of Bernie Sanders. By
incorporating causes of youth shifts to the left, two events that epitomize the overall
argument, and many meaningful sources and statistics, Beinart's article proves very
useful. This unbiased and thorough analysis of the composition of Millennials can be
incorporated in all parts of the Capstone.

Jones, J. (2016, Jan. 11). Democratic, Republican Identification Near Historical Lows. Gallup.
Retrieved from http://www.gallup.com/poll/188096/democratic-republican-identificationnear-historical-lows.aspx?g_source=&g_medium=&g_campaign=tiles

Cameron Whitehurst
This survey was conducted to test Americans' political alignment, which has trended
towards "independent" over the past decade. For five consecutive years, at least 4 in 10
adults have identified as political independents. Jones reasons that the rise in political
independence is likely related to American's frustration with party gridlock in the federal
government, a topic that was the most frequently mentioned problem in 2014 and 2015,
according to a different Gallup survey. This is similar to other articles I have read that
state that the main reason Americans' want political change is because of the appearance
of an inefficient government due to government shutdowns, gridlock, and constant
argument. Because of the rise of political independents, the Democratic Party is gaining
steam--when it comes to voting, independents have to choose a candidate from one party
or the other, and last year, in addition to the 29% of Americans who identified as
Democrats, another 16% of independents leaned toward the Democratic party, for a
combined total of 45% alignment with the Democratic Party. Jones also points out that
the Democratic Party has been on the rise for quite some time, with its high being in
2008, when Former President Bush was highly unpopular due to involvement in the
Middle East. All of this data implies a general discontent with our current system of
government, which plays well into my Capstone topic. By providing a few reasons why
Americans might be so disillusioned, this article is a great way to jump into further
research.

Newport, F. (2014, Oct.). Interpreting a Low-Turnout Election. Gallup. Retrieved from

http://www.gallup.com/opinion/polling-matters/179342/not-vote.aspx?g_source=young
%20voters&g_medium=search&g_campaign=tiles

Cameron Whitehurst
Although this article is on the shorter side, it still represents the lack of voter turnout that
appears time and time again. Newport relays the sad reality that only 36% of eligible
voters participated in the 2014 Midterm Election, with Indiana falling below this statistic,
only experiencing 28% voter turnout. Newport also highlights what Americans view as
the government's most vital issues: the economy, a dysfunctional government, and
immigration. Newport doesn't go into much detail about these things, but his analysis of
low voter turnout is a good starting point for further research. One of the main issues is
how the government is perceived by young Americans, which, time and time again, is
dysfunctional. This analysis plays nicely off of Beinart's article in The Atlantic, as the
statistics presented reinforce his points about millennial disillusionment with our
government.

Newport, F. (2014, Oct. 30). Young Americans Remain About as Democratic as They Were in
2010. Gallup. Retrieved from http://www.gallup.com/opinion/pollingmatters/179054/young-americans-remain-democratic-2010.aspx?g_source=young
%20voters&g_medium=search&g_campaign=tiles
In another survey analysis from Newport, an opposing view to that of Beinart is
presented. Beinart argues that America as a whole is moving left, but Newport's data
suggests that political orientation between 2010 and 2014 did not change in a statistically
significant manner. Newport claims that Millennials (aged 18-29) are just as democratic
as they were during President Obama's midterm election of 2010. His data also shows
that 48% of voters categorize themselves as independents, with a slight preference for the
Democratic Party. This data shows that Millennials are non-committal when it comes to

Cameron Whitehurst
modern day politics, and are disillusioned with both parties. This reinforces the idea that
young Americans don't like the current system of government and want something new,
which is why many identify as independents. Newport also includes Obama's approval
rates, which dropped between 2010 and 2014, which supports the idea behind Occupy
Wall Street. This data analysis will be helpful as a whole, but especially for a research
paper. Because this project will be so reliant on statistics, this article provides a great
basis for further research.

Pew Research Center. (2012, Nov. 26). Young Voters Supported Obama Less, But May Have
Mattered More [Data file]. Retrieved from http://www.peoplepress.org/2012/11/26/young-voters-supported-obama-less-but-may-have-mattered-more/
The drop in youth voting participation in recent history is explained by the microcosm of
2008 and 2012 election years. There was a 6% drop in youth voter participation (under 30
years) in just four short years--President Obama won 66% of youth votes in 2008, but
only 60% in 2012. Although this is still an astounding amount of youth support, as
Romney only obtained 36% of the youth vote, the data in this article shows a decline in
participation and a gravitation towards anti-disestablishment. While youth voter
participation decreases, the percentage of the electorate that millennials compose is
growing exponentially. Millennials were only 19% of the electorate in 2012, but now
36% in this election year. Another important statistic from this data is that young voters
were not only more likely to back Obama, but they are far more likely than older voters
to identify as Democrats than their older counterparts. A plurality of voters younger than
30 (44%) consider themselves Democrats while far fewer identify as Republicans (26%)

Cameron Whitehurst
or independents (30%). This data analysis contains strong statistics on a small scale that
is relevant to the argument of young Americans become more anti-establishment.

Thompson, D. (2016, Feb. 29). The Liberal Millennial Revolution. The Atlantic. Retrieved from
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/02/the-liberal-millennialrevolution/470826/
Millennials are becoming more and more important as time goes on: this election year
marks the first year that millennials will make up the same proportion of the US votingage population as Baby Boomers. Although both groups have very different political
alignments--80% of youth voters voted for Bernie Sanders in Iowa, New Hampshire, and
Nevada. Thompson identifies three reasons for why this might be: age (young people are
typically to the left of the rest of the country), being the most diverse generation in
American history, and the introduction of controversial issues such as gay rights,
immigration, and legalization of marijuana. Events such as the Great Recession of 2008
also influence these leftist views, as millennials suffered higher unemployment than any
other group during the recession, and their wages fell more than any other group after it
concluded. This article discusses two major pieces of the overall argument: the Occupy
Wall Street movement and the rise of Bernie Sanders. Statistics and expert testimonies
are abundant, and this article is a very useful source.

Thompson, D. (2014, Jul. 15). Millennials' Political Views Dont Make Any Sense. The Atlantic.
Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/07/millennialseconomics-voting-clueless-kids-these-days/374427/

Cameron Whitehurst
This article, while not as focused on the historical aspect of youth involvement in the
government, focuses primarily on specific reasons why millennials have such disjointed
views of the government. Thompson's main points are as follows: (a) Millennials are
more liberal than the rest of the country, specifically on social issues, but get more
economically conservative when they make more money, (b) millennials don't know
economics, and (c) Millennials don't know what socialism is, but think it sounds nice.
Thompson identifies three sub-reasons for why millennials feel the way they do as
described in part (a): they're young and poor, historically nonwhite, and their white
demographics are historically liberal compared to older white voters. All arguments are
backed with graphs or data tables, as well as expert testimonies on certain claims. The
article provides useful statistics, such as 42% of millennials think socialism is preferable
to capitalism, but only 16% of millennials could accurately define socialism in the same
survey. The confusing millennial political views are important to the overall topic, as
mentioned in this article.

United States Census Bureau. (2014, April). Young-Adult Voting: An Analysis of Presidential
Elections, 19642012 [Data file]. Retrieved from
https://www.census.gov/prod/2014pubs/p20-573.pdf
This data analysis from 1964 to 2012 reveals that since 1964, registered voters between
the ages of 18 through 24 have consistently voted at lower rates than all other age groups.
This rate, however, has fluctuated over this time period (such as higher youth voter
turnout for Obama in 2008). The data presented shows a trend in young voters becoming
less engaged over time: voting rates have dropped from 50.9% in 1964 to 38% in 2012.

Cameron Whitehurst
The analysis contributes this drop to an increase in the noncitizen population, who cannot
vote, and comprises a huge majority of the millennial population, as other sources have
pointed out. In contrast to young voters, Americans 65 years of age and older have
historically had higher voting rates than any other age group, which is an interesting
contrast to the millennial population that should be further analyzed. This data analysis
contains many charts and graphs that provide insight into youth voting trends as
compared to the rest of the population, and is useful, reputable information to be used to
reinforce previous research.

Wagner, C. (2015, Nov. 25). The GOP Is Letting Millennials Slip Away. Real Clear Politics.
Retrieved from
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2015/11/25/the_gop_is_letting_millennials_slip
_away_128826.html
This article plays nicely into Beinart's article (Source 1) as well as Newport's data
analysis from Source 3. The main reason Wagner uses for why Republicans are losing
millennial support is something we often overlook: Millennials are the most racially
diverse generation in U.S. history. 43% of people aged 18-29 are non-white.
Unfortunately for the GOP, this group of voters, 36% of the electorate, don't see their
diversity reflected in the Republican Party. With the exception of Sanders and Clinton,
the Democratic Party is portrayed as a convention of diversity, and one that also keeps up
with young American's political demands. Wagner cites a Gallup poll that found a
positive correlation between age and identification as Republican--the older you are, the
more likely you are to be a Republican. This statistic feeds into the thought that some

Cameron Whitehurst
stigma exists against being a young Republican, but does not provide any reason why this
would be. Wagner also supports Beinart's argument that millennials are moving left by
citing trends in young Americans' votes: both Reagan and Nixon, Republicans, won the
youth vote in their respective elections. This article is very helpful for identifying
possible causes of America's shift to the left, as well as giving insight into a possibly
formidable outcome for the Republican Party.

Walsh, K. (2010, Mar. 12). The 1960s: Polarization, Cynicism, and the Youth Rebellion. US
News. Retrieved from http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2010/03/12/the-1960s-polarizationcynicism-and-the-youth-rebellionredirect
This article talks more about the 60s culture than involvement with the government,
although the two tend to go hand in hand. Walsh provides good "bizarre contrasts", as he
puts it, including "flower children and assassins, idealism and alienation, rebellion and
backlash". The 60s were a time of conflict, whether ideological, like the hippies v. baby
boomers, or physical, like the Vietnam War. That parallels with today's society, where
race relations are a constant issue, Americans are tired of the war in the Middle East,
another seemingly "un-winnable" war, like Vietnam, and young Americans are
visualizing a Woodstock 2.0. The information provided in this article, although not
extremely detailed, provides good insight into the parallels between time periods and was
helpful for understanding the social aspect of the 60s, not just the government during that
time. Walsh touched on points not often considered by the other sources, like the
assassins he briefly mentioned, and the walking paradox that was the 60s.