Report: How Does Gen Z Really Feel about Democracy?
Posted by Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement on April 22, 2025
The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement’s (CIRCLE) new study finds three distinct profiles of democratic attitudes among youth, with major implications for strengthening youth engagement and protecting democracy.
A major new report, produced jointly by CIRCLE and Protect Democracy, provides a nuanced examination of diverse attitudes about democracy among Gen Z, with major implications for youth civic engagement and pro-democracy efforts in the years to come.
How Does Gen Z Really Feel about Democracy? uses data from a nationally representative poll of youth conducted after the 2024 presidential election to paint a complex and worrisome picture of young people’s relationship to democracy in this moment. Our main finding is that the majority of young people (ages 18-29) support democracy in principle, but believe that the democracy they are experiencing today cannot solve the nation’s problems and is not working well for their generation.
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