Youth in democracy

Guest: Jeff Foster, AP Government Teacher, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Parkland, Florida, Author of “For Which We Stand: How Our Government Works and Why It Matters” Early voting and poll data suggest young voters are on track to cast ballots in record numbers this election. Consider the first-time youth voter in 2020: born just before the 9/11 terror attacks, grew up during the 2008 Great Recession, spent high school during President Trump’s intensely divisive first term and then, a global pandemic derails their senior year. That could certainly mobilize a young person to get engaged. Or it could turn them off politics completely.