My interview with Professor Danial Shea

I woke up at  eight this morning–three hours before my first class–so I could interview Professor Daniel Shea.  He teaches poltical science at Allegheny College (somewhere in north western Pennselvannia), heads the school’s Center for Political Participation, and wrote “Fountain of Youth: Strategies and Tactics for Mobilizing America’s Young Voters.”

 After a shower and a some coffee, I felt more on top of my game.  We talked over the phone about my journalistic endeavor.  He said some surprising things.

Shea believes that the current rise in young voter participation is the 2000 election.  Not the interesting candidates or the issues, which have some effect.  But the 2000 election, the contest in which Bush beat Gore without the popularity vote, taught voters two important lessons.

First, the young voters learned that elections can be very close.  If any readers know rational choice theory, young voters experience the knife-edge threshold, k.  “Young people,” Shea explained, “across the coutnry said, ‘Holy cow, every vote counts. I can make a difference.”

Second, young voters finally understood the importance of an election.  “Our world is drastically different with George Bush as president instead of Al Gore, regardless of one’s party affliation.”  When young voters have seen the consequences of Iraq and global warming, they have realized elections have serious and tangibile ramifications.

In addition, Shea stressed that young people do care about making a difference in the world.  According to his research, volunteering among college aged kids has steadily increased since the early 90′s.  However, young votes have become “cynical” with the poltical process.  They need to see the effects of their participation and not the power of big money and the dirty campaigning. 

Shea believed that political parties must continue to act as political recruiters and should target young voters specifically.  They need to use young people’s communication networks (I get texts from Barack Obama) and should make sure young people stay with the party even if they become disappointed in this electon outcome.