Week 1 - The Beginning

Hi everyone! My name is Aarohi, and I’m excited to delve into the nuanced topic of civic engagement, how state governments can influence and encourage it, and my first week’s progress on this journey.

Background

From passionately researching and delivering politically-focused speeches to feeling a sense of helplessness watching the news, I noticed a unique combination of interest and inaction that characterizes my experience with civics. For years, I observed this same perspective in my peers and corroborated it with the common statistics that surrounded me; I knew well that the 18 to 24 age demographic of voters historically has had the lowest turnout, with a little over half voting in the 2020 election. As a result, young people are often perceived as apathetic to political concerns; however, CIRCLE at Tufts hopes to discredit these beliefs, indicating through research that an uneven civic education and other barriers to participation are major contributors to these trends.

I realized then that, to navigate this complex issue, I must understand how the government can extend a hand to these age groups and inspire increased participation.

Which brings me to my research question: how can state governments engage young voters (18-24 year-olds) and high schoolers in sustained civic participation through programs and legislation?

Method

To investigate this, I’ll draw from available datasets and analyze them across two stages: the first studying the impact on voter turnout, and the second researching non-voting methods of participation.

Stage 1

In this stage, I’ll assess the impact of Same-Day Voter Registration, where people can register and vote on Election Day; Automatic Voter Registration, where eligible individuals are automatically registered when interacting with government agencies such as the DMV; access to polling sites on college campuses; and the ability to pre-register to vote. To study this, I will conduct a difference-in-differences analysis of states within groups that have similar levels of fluctuation in their voter turnout rate over time. With this similarity, I’ll be able to clearly determine how, as one or more states incorporate a new policy, their voter turnout trends shift or diverge.

Stage 2

Second, to measure interest among the nonvoting population, this project will explore the impact of optional engagement and volunteering opportunities such as being a member of a Youth Advisory Council, or abiding by a mandatory civics education requirement in high school. I’ll quantify engagement as the frequency of voluntary petition-signing or submission of public comment–a direct communication to government agencies about proposed regulations or policies.

Stage 3

Finally, to augment the analysis with qualitative data, I will study existing interviews with local officials, students, and young voters, then conduct new ones.

Thus, this project will provide a comprehensive and refined list of improved strategies that can aid states with low engagement and truly include the youth in civic issues.

Week 1

To kick off the first stage, I’ve gathered voter turnout data from KFF, an independent information organization. I compiled the information on voter turnout of 18-24 year olds as a share of their voting population in every national and midterm election from 2014 to 2024. Then, I calculated the coefficient of variation for each state’s turnout over this period of time, categorizing them as Low, Medium, and High Volatility states. Within these categories, I aimed to find the best matches by determining the similarities of these states’ trends to each other through calculating their Euclidean Distance to each other. With these two metrics, I organized the most similar states in groups of three. In the next steps, I’ll be assessing any differences in behavior after the introduction of Same-Day Voter Registration.