NASBE: The State of Youth Civic Engagement

Posted by National Association of State Boards of Education on October 21, 2025

Understanding young people’s attitudes toward democratic participation can help states summon the resolve and the wisdom to strengthen civics learning.

In 2024, fewer than one in four US youth felt like they belonged to a group that expresses itself politically, and 44 percent of young nonvoters were disinterested or disliked the candidates. In a moment where many adults of all ages are dissatisfied with politics, polarization, and American governmental institutions, the state of youth civic engagement is of particular importance. What does the next generation of voters understand about how they can engage civically? What do they believe about civic engagement? And how can educators and education policymakers support these young citizens better?

As civics educators, we believe it is essential that state policymakers understand the current state of youth civic engagement and recognize their critical role in creating the enabling conditions for increasing opportunities for young people to be engaged in civic life. We would argue that state policymakers must also directly engage with youth to help them develop civic skills.

What Surveys Reveal

Researchers have learned something about young voters’ behaviors and perceptions of their role as civic actors. The Center for Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University is one of the richest sources of data on the state of youth voting and the attitudes of young voters. In their 2024 postelection poll of a nationally representative sample of young people ages 18 to 34, CIRCLE found that youth voter participation dropped sharply in 2024, from a high of 50 percent in 2020 to only 42 percent in the most recent presidential election. More than a third of young people reported that voting in 2024 was not important to them. The most common reason given was that they did not like any of the candidates.

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