Youth to Power: How Today's Young Voters Are Building Tomorrow's Progressive Majority (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this quick, matter-of-fact analysis of current youth participation in politics, Music for America co-founder, Connery argues that we are in the midst of a revival of youth civic involvement. Enabled by the internet, grassroots organizers are engaging youth and completing the work abandoned by the Democratic Party and mainstream progressives. Having organized get-out-the-vote efforts in 2004 and blogged about youth politics for various progressive web sites, Connery approaches his subject with an authority that is simultaneously his greatest strength and greatest liability. Insider knowledge informs stellar reporting of the rift between grassroots hip-hop activists and celebrity moguls such as Russell Simmons ("In more ways than one, Simmons was and still is quite literally selling civic engagement to black youth along with soft drinks and sneakers."). However the author's attachment to his topic also feeds a tendency to descend into lengthy, acronym-laden dissections of the histories of youth political organizations and their minute workings. Such sections may interest progressive organizers and politicians looking for an overview of the youth voting landscape-and with an election on the horizon, such a release is timely-but may put-off the casual reader.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Description

Nearly half of today’s young voters under thirty—known as the Millennial Generation—identify themselves as Democrats, and they voted overwhelmingly Democratic in the 2006 election. Since youthful voting habits are a strong indicator of future party loyalty, we may be seeing the beginnings of a progressive resurgence in American politics.

In combination with their progressive ideals, the millennials are both civic-minded and entrepreneurial, having come of age in the safety of a post-Cold War world marked by an unprecedented revolution in technology. Using their unsurpassed social and technological skills, they have fostered a community spirit that is beginning to reverse the decades-long decline in social capital that was famously recorded by Robert Putnam in Bowling Alone.

Youth to Power: How Today’s Young Voters Are Building Tomorrow’s Progressive Majority examines how today’s young people are combining technology with a vigorous social spirit to revive progressive politics. In addition to recounting the history of youth politics since its emergence in the 1972 election, as well as showing where the movement still lags behind its more organized conservative counterpart, the book features interviews with many of the major figures in the youth political movement, and identifies strategies that the Democratic Party can use to capitalize on its new advantages with young voters. Youth to Power is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the political and cultural future of America.

Michael Connery is a co-founder of Music for America, a youth Get Out The Vote organization that worked with artists and music communities in the 2004 and 2006 elections. He is a weekend writer on the popular political blog MyDD and blogs full-time about progressive youth organizing at Future Majority ( www.futuremajority.com).

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Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Ig Publishing (February 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0978843134
• ISBN-13: 978-0978843137
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #400,717 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Engaging, Insightful History of Emerging Movement, March 6, 2008

By	Matthew Singer (Missoula, MT) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Mike Connery is well-placed to write the history of the emerging progressive youth movement. He has, after all, been near the heart of it almost since its birth in the years preceding the '04 election.

Youth to Power is an engaging history of the lessons, mis-steps, and huge successes of the dozens of organizations and thousands of grassroots leaders across the country who comprise the new progressive movement.

This book is a recommended read for anyone working in youth politics -- and anyone who wants to figure out how a progressive majority is possible in America.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars more power to him, June 7, 2008

By	Morley Winograd (Arcadia, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Mike Connery's Youth to Power is the best documentation you will find on how the youth of America is being organized to have a major impact on the 2008 election. His tireless reporting and in person experiences perfectly capture this new movement in American politics--the rise of the Millennial Generation. If you want to avoid being surprised by the youth vote and its power in 2008, read the truths Connery uncovers in the course of this excellent book.
Morley Winograd

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Important Reading, May 22, 2008

By	A. Bernstein "HeadCounter" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Youth to Power is a very well-written, brief history of youth-focused political organizing, with a focus on the 2004 election cycle. It profiles some of the key players in the space and makes a cogent argument for why progressive leaders should focus on youth. As the director of a nonpartisan organization in the space, I found Youth to Power to be indespensible. I recommend it to many people, especially those who think they are in the know but really have little sense of the role youth and youth organizing play in electoral politics.