The debate around privilege has spilled over the boundaries of the academic left and is slowly starting to emerge in wider discussions about inequality. Yet, despite its increasing popularity, the lexicon of privilege seems to find itself awkwardly aligned with the very structure of power that it attempts to expose. While initially intended to interrogate … Read more
In the wake of partisan gridlock in almost all levels of government, not to mention last October’s government shutdown, it would be logical to assume that Americans would have lost faith in our governmental institutions. Young Americans are particularly of interest in measuring trust in institutions, as they tend to be the least politically engaged … Read more
The Harvard Public Opinion Project’s most recent results reveal an overwhelming consensus among young Americans that education is an important factor in achieving the American dream. Perhaps this result is unsurprising for a pool of young respondents of whom 88 percent had completed either high school or some college. For a group ages 18 to … Read more
Facebook, already dominant as a social media platform, continues to increase its remarkable market penetration: the Harvard Public Opinion Project’s most recent poll shows that 84 percent of the young Americans surveyed reported having a Facebook account, an increase from 79 percent in the fall of 2013. But as the media begins to question if … Read more
Young Americans want the United States to employ a less interventionist strategy on the international stage, according to the spring 2014 results from the Harvard Public Opinion Project. On all questions relating to debates about current foreign policy topics, respondents overwhelmingly expressed disillusionment with the Obama administration’s actions: 62 percent said that they disapproved of … Read more
According to the latest Harvard Public Opinion Project survey, young Americans trust the Supreme Court more than any other individual branch of government. Compared with 27 and 13 points for the president and Congress, respectively, the Supreme Court boasts the trust of 31 percent of 18-24 year olds “most of the time.” This begs the obvious … Read more
President Barack Obama makes a point of linking education to social mobility. In his 2014 State of the Union address, Obama stressed making education more job-relevant and college more affordable so that all Americans have the opportunity to improve their lot in life. On the whole, young Americans agree with this sentiment: Ninety percent of … Read more
Support of marijuana legalization by millennials is fractured by race, according to the Harvard Public Opinion Project’s spring poll. Americans may see nationwide legalization as inevitable, but the poll reveals important differences in the way different racial groups experience drugs and drug policy. The latest national survey of American millennial youths confirms that Generation Y … Read more
Perhaps it’s that young Americans think that the federal government is worse than the sum of its parts. Or perhaps it’s just that they think that Congress’ inaction has contaminated the rest of the American political system. Whatever the case may be, the latest poll by the Harvard Public Opinion Project shows that young Americans between 18 … Read more
Ever since Occupy Wall Street burst onto the national political scene, wealth inequality in America has been a frequent topic of debate. Many credit millennials with spearheading the #occupy movement, a feverish, albeit disorganized, response to the growing wealth inequality between America’s top earners and those who earned less. Thus, it is unsurprising that a … Read more