Americans Love to Hate Their Politics
The silver lining of today’s bitter partisan warfare is that, for millions of citizens, it has made civic engagement more meaningful.
At least they’re not apathetic.
Photographer: SOPA Images/LightRocketIn the 2018 midterm elections, 50% of eligible US citizens turned out to vote. Because Americans are always less inclined to show up at the polls in years when the presidency isn’t on the ballot, half of the nation feeling sufficiently motivated to vote was a remarkable event. Heading into this year, the question among political scientists and other analysts was whether the 2018 surge would prove to be a one-time spike or reflect a more enduring change in citizen behavior.
Now the votes are nearly all in, even in the habitually slow-counting states of California and Arizona, and we have an answer: According to data collected by Michael P. McDonald of the University of Florida, an estimated 47% of eligible voters cast ballots in 2022. And the questions are what explains this change, and what it means.