Transcripts For CSPAN2 Book Discussion On Running From Office 20151213

Welcome to the Westminster Forum where 435 years we have engaged of the public and reflection dialogue from the ethical perspective. All forms are free and open to the public and information on Upcoming Events can be found online at westminster form. Org and you may follow us on twitter or like us on facebook. My name is tim anderson, senior minister at westminster president Presbyterian Church and moderator of the form. It is my pleasure to introduce todays speaker, doctor jennifer lawless is a professor at professor of government and American University in washington dc and the director of the women in politics and since you. Herself this way i am a 40year old self evolved political junkie. Election day is my super bowl. That sunday morning talk shows are my favorite reality tv and my computer Search History shows political wire. Com. Is my most visited website. This self evolved a political junkie graduated from Union College in schenectady, new york , with a ba in Political Science and earned her ma and phd in Political Science from stanford university. With defending from the National Science foundation she has conducted Extensive Research on the letourneau politics focusing on political ambitious, representation and gender in the electoral process. She is a nationally recognized expert on women in politics and coauthor of the book, it still takes a candidate, why women dont run for office. Her latest book with code author richard fox is the focus of todays presentation. Running from office why Young Americans are turned off to politics. Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming to the town hall forum, doctor jennifer lawless. [applause]. Pinky. Thank you p read cockroaches, colonoscopy, usedcar salesman, traffic jam, root canals and it donald trump. [laughter] will do all of these things have in common cracks they are more popular than the United States congress. It is true, in headtohead matchups and National Random sample of americans said they find that charming things ive mentioned far more appealing than their representatives in washington dc. The house and said it might take solace in knowing that they waited a bit higher than playground bullies, north korea and meth labs, but to be honest the margins were quite close. Its not just cute little polls that i missed to the case. The Political Climate has culminated in the most negative attitude toward congress we have ever seen. The address of modern polling does not even know what to do at these numbers. About one in five voters trust the government to do what is right, congressional approval hovers at around 10 and senator john mccain even jokes that congress is down to case duffers and blood relatives of approving of the job they do. For decades pollsters have also found that although people have never been in love with congress that least support their own incumbents and by 2014, that ironclad reality was turned on its head also. Last year 6 of voters said that they supported replacing the entire congress including their own incumbent. Roughly half of people said that if we were to replace the entire congress with random people walking on the streets, they would probably do a better job of. Its hard to find any evidence of people that think washington is doing what is correct right now. What are the consequences of political system held in such low regard . What are the implications for democracy with politicians viewed so ineffective and our political system so dysfunctional . How does this both for the future of democracy . What is it mean for future generations . In a nutshell, i am going to argue that washington stretchable performance over the past few decades has taken a toll on Young Americans who have come to know politics through the spectacle. They see politics and politicians as pointless and unpleasant. They see leaders and corrupt as selfish and they have no interest in entering the political arena ever. Before i lay out this argument, provide evidence for it and at least speculate as to how we might be able to change this, i feel like i have to come clean about something. I am a political junkie, but its even worse than that. As a 2year old i was according to my parents quite obsessed with jimmy carter. I loved his name and was completely enamored by his responsibilities and i very much worried for his legacy. So far as any toddler could and by the time carter left the white house, devastated as i was, my political interest remained intact and i sat mesmerized in front of the television in 1980, when the iran hostage crisis came to a close and the freed americans disinfected Andrews Air Force base and at age nine i enthusiastically pulled the lever in the 1984 president ial election when my mother let me go into the voting booth with her. At aged 12, a very difficult Summer Vacation and had to decide whether to hang out with my friends are washed the irancontra hearings. I should admit that i probably spent more time that summer with oliver north and John Poindexter and anyone else to good by the time i was a junior in high school, i knew my way around a Senate Judiciary Committee Like no ones business and can still recite some of the questions targeted at anita hill. In january of 1996, when my College Roommate came home upset about a break up with a boyfriend, i told her i would be more than happy to discuss it when bill clinton finished delivering the state of union address. Growing up in a very politicized household where it was always impressed upon me that it was vital to stay current of events in government, it was no surprise that i became a Political Science major and no surprise i got a phd in Political Science and frankly, it was no surprise i would actually run for office. I might not have envisioned taking on a popular incumbent at a time when i was a professor and had not yet received tenure, but there was no question it was something i would ultimately do. I was proud to do it. Ive always thought government was on infective way to solve problem and the people who run for office have good intentions, that a political career is noble and there could be little and satisfying than heating a call to Public Service. It is from that orientation that both richard box and i wrote this book and i think that is also why we are both so disheartened by our results. In running from office by Young Americans we present the results of a National Survey we conducted on the several thousand 13 to 25 yearolds and asked them about their attitudes toward politics and Current Events, career aspirations and political ambitions. Would we find . We found 89 of them, 89 had already unequivocally written off the idea of ever running for office. Frankly, as difficult as it is poor me to admit this, its hard to blame them. The current political system, which is really the only when they have ever known has turned them off. Consider their First Political memory. For some of the older people we surveyed, that was a president lying to them, wagging his finger and saying he did not such old relations with that woman. For others, it was a president lying to them and this time about weapons of mass distraction. They experienced a Government Shutdown and know only gridlock in inefficiency and dysfunction in washington. They see the same sad song played over and over and over again in the 24 hour news cycle and they would be crazy to want to run for office. Had we arrive at this conclusion props more importantly, what we do about it . That is what i would like to spend the next few minutes talking about. Lets me begin with a very sad state of affairs and i should let you know that im an incredible testament pessimist and the glass is always entirely halfempty and you should take my remarks from the vein in which i give them. In october 2012, right in the heat of the president ial election, we conducted a National Survey of 4200 high school and College Students, so young people around the country. We asked them about their political attitude and aspirations. The following summer we did hourlong phone interviews with a random sample of 115 of them and what i will demonstrate is that no matter how we asked a question in a matter how we analyzed the data, the story is the same. Today jen people are virtually no interest in running for office. We began by asking, have you ever thought someday when youre older you might be interested in right for office, 89 said, now. 11 said it was something that had occurred to them from time to time and we said okay, even if that has never occurred to you think about it now. Would you consider riper as in the future, 93 said no. We then thought, okay, this is a problem, but its because these are abstract questions. We presented young people with a couple of scenarios, first we said to them if the following job pay the same amount of money, which would you most likely the and they could choose among business owner, teacher, mayor of their town or a salesperson. Mayor of their town came in at a distant third, almost tied with we then presented them with another set of options, again assuming these jobs are paid the same amount of money, what would you most like to be. A lawyer, a business executive, a high school principal, which frankly i think is the worst job in the world, remember congress. Member of congress can and dead last in it was not even close. Then we asked them about 20 different jobs from lawyer to teacher to journalists to doctor to nurse to electrician, presented them with a list of 20 jobs that included three political positions that we said check out any you might ever be interested in thinking about doing, this is a lobar. Check off as many as they wanted and out of these 20 mayor, member of congress and president of the United States placed 17th, 18th and 19th on the list its hard to imagine a more consistent evidence of the fact that this generation from high school and College Students today, can take a little that is more unappealing than entering the electoral arena. Identifying this lack of interest in running for office is one thing. Understand its roots is another. Essentially our argument is that the daily lives of young people dont involve politics. Its not because they are tuned out. Its worse than that. This is not just some naive lack of exposure to whats going on in the world. Its that theyre consciously making an effort not to be engaged because they are so turned off. When they encounter politics they tried to minimize their exposure and shy away from it. This happens in three different ways or maybe better to say or three different reasons. Let me give you a brief summary of each. The first has to do with family and the way to experience politics in household. Let me give you some key facts. Remember this survey was taken in the fall of 2012 in the middle of the president ial election. 75 of young people said that the parents never talk about politics at home. 80 said theyve never had a political discussion with the appearance of a meal. 50 said theyve never had a political discussion with their parents ever. 5 said they had a pair to whoever suggested that they run for office. 2 said that they had two pairs who suggested they run for office. No moderate how we look at these questions its clear that young people are not getting a message in their homes, run for Office Something they should consider. Several of the made points about why they did not feel these conversations took place. A College Freshman said in my family we dont talk about political stuff. Washington and politicians are miserable, terrible and a million miles away. Why should we bother . A high school junior, my parents never want to talk about government. They still dont get when it does come up to quickly say the system is too broken to Pay Attention to. Its not worth our time. Or elizabeth a college senior, we do talk about it, big debates. They start out being based on important issues but we didnt just wind up condemning the whole government for being so dysfunctional and ridiculous. So when fact we asked these young people what would your parents think if you told them that you wanted to run for office . Their answers were all politically correct. They also said my parents would want me to do what makes mapping. The awful up with a sends along the lines of but i cant imagine he would think that would make me happy, or they would be shocked, or i think it would be sad. They know i can be so much more than that. These families dynamics matter because family is the most important socializing agent in young peoples lives. So young people whose parents have encouraged them to run for office are five times more likely to have considered it began people who talk with their parents about politics even just on occasion are four times more likely than those who never have to consider running for office. High school and College Students whose parents told them they should run are six times more likely to have thought serious about that prospect. The problem though is that these families are few and far between. Why wouldnt they be . A National Random of adults, the honesty and ethics of who work in 22 different professions. About 80 of people thought that nurses have high or very high honesty and ethics. 70 said they had taken pharmacists, teachers, doctors and military officers. Politicians fared a little bit worse. Fewer than 25 of americans rated local officeholders such as mayors or city counselors as high ethics and passion that nablus cut in half for state legislators. Members of congress were viewed as honest and ethical at less than 2 of those surveyed. The only people performed worse than members of congress were lobbyists. So parents with busy lives, many of them are struggling to get by, likely see little point in discussing with the families the latest daily in washington, d. C. Or the most recent negative campaign ad that is on the television screen. Although political disengagement by both adults and young people is not new, these recent polls and surveys suggest that now it is far worse than previous generation. And our analysis makes clear the tenor of politics is part of the reason and as a consequence are also farreaching. The second reason, at school with her friends and through the media young people also shy away from politics. Let me start with those facts begin. In high school, among High School Students 65 reported never had a conversation with her classmates about anything political. We asked about 12 areas of discussion and people might have with their friends, school, crushes, dating, sports, food, entertainment, just 17 said they ever talk about politics. It came in last. Website you should look similar pattern. Social networking, music, shopping, sports, entertainment all garnished far more attention from young people than any kind of political or Current Events website. And this disengagement again is not by mistake. When young people look around and to look at washington, d. C. , d. C. And the reported to us intention and ugliness. So thoughtful debates over important issues, calm conversations about issues that matter are alien propositions to the. Window with difference they say they dont want to argue. They dont want to debate or deliberate so politics is off the table. They can articulate his thoughts better than i can soak in the region a couple of quotes. This is rebecca. Most of my friends ar are big te text restricted token about things outside the texting world. I dont even know what that means. But thats what younger people do. We just dont care about politics. We focus on other things, the things that matter, places where we can make a difference. Actually a College Sophomore, if i bring up anything more specific with my friends and a simple fact like hey, obama won the election, my friends alike, i dont follow. That makes yo we want to tell tm this is our country and they should care but then theyll think im being antagonistic and without a fight so i dont. Julian summers this line of thinking thats what he said no, we never bring a politics. Politics kills the mood. Its hard to argue with this perception. We live in a time when all National News almost all National News about politics is negative and combative. Its almost as though theres no place for thought for journalism or positive news coverage. And when Media Outlets are not highlighting washingtons inability to get the job done they are featuring political coverage often amounts to partisans on both sides of the aisle predictably bashing one another. Fox news treats its audience is too hyperbolic presentations of stories about Barack Obamas failures and his liberal counterpart msnbc gleefully tears and endless array of stories lambasting the republican controlled house back. And then the next and we see the exact same thing. Its not on television the present politics in effect a great late messages. Jon stewart describes congress of this would come on us in congress is bad at its job the underside that this congress is equivalent to the scope with its head in a jar of a skippy peanut butter. When republicans held their 33rd vote to repeal the Affordable Care act been latenight jimmy fallon said this. It was mostly a symbolic vote that a college nothing, or as Congress Calls that, a boat. So young peoples exposure to politics and Current Events does tell us theyre not fully aware of whats going on in world and thats awful and terrible but it demonstrates that they have very little incentive to garner the kind of information that would make them more informed consumers. Again though those few young people to talk about politics with their friends, to surf the web and find political websites, to follow news regularly are on average about six times more likely to say they may be interested in running for office. And a third basic reason that young people move away from politics is because of the politicians in general yuck is the word that kept coming up over and over and over again. Again the facts 66 out of seven high school and College Students do not think that politicians are at all interested in helping people. Four out of five do not think they are smart or hardworking. And young people were far more likely to describe politicians as dishonest, corrupt, and selfish and selfless. And the openended responses from our surveys and or interviews, this sentiment came out very, very quickly. Some of the perceptions were amusingly inaccurate. One young man said he was concerned about the people on capitol hill. From what i understand, he told his most members of congress have a criminal record. [laughter] another bemoaned the fact that most vendors of congress have been there for more than 50 because he thinks its time for some change. More prevalent than you thought you inaccurate statements were general sentiments where young people think of politicians as selfinterested liars who are further corrupted by the system. Most politicians are hypocrites set a College Sophomore come to face the face of wanting to get elected and to turn around and do whats best and the owner ows of. Facing take use out for themselves. Politician thats why all the time. Thats what did you. Opticians sucked. And wiping i cannot put it exactly. Well, yesterday. Politicians are just like that sometimes it sounds like they are lying all the time. Politicians is not good at the people themselves probably started out good at the beginning but then it is out if they wanted to get anything done in the middont seem so good anymore. Tradition people can imagine him to a system that adopting the traits that they perceive as necessary to thrive in it. Many of todays high profile politicians give them good reason to think that. If we had all day i could chronicle all examples of lying and adultery that im completely obsessed with in congress and on capitol hill that i could provide you with details. But its not only scanned as an adult or the problem. Consider steve king, a republican from iowa. He dug his heels in over immigration. In congress challenge democratic senator u. S. Senator Chuck Schumer to a duel over who really has xenophobia. Senate majority leader harry reid frustrated by the millions of dollars the cobra support into elections resorted to attacks on a simple and called that there as unamerican as you can get. Ted cruz, epitomizing willingness to compromise by shutting down the government just because he could even though many of his republican colleagues said they were concerned because they had no plan to reopen the government. So although immigration and Campaign Finance and health care are all topics worthy of this debate and deliberation, thoughtful discussion and progress is often consumed. Its reached the point where elected official on both sides of the aisle are criticized when they behave responsibly. The Republican Party center just senator Lindsey Graham are not being republican enough. Here are the distinctions that by receiving a 92 score out of 100 from the american conservative union. But what did he expect what you supported president Obamas Supreme Court nominee. John mccain received a similar censure from the arizona Republican Party which condemned his quote long and terrible record of voting liberal democrats. Because he thought it with them to end the government shut down. Liberal bloggers berated democratic congressman who cooperate with republicans and mainstream democrats to reduce the deficit. The daily kos popular left leaning blog over to moderate democrats as a pile of suck. These dynamically state little incentive for bipartisan cooperation. I know in this day and age its easy to i roll over glossed over when we see stories of politicians behaving badly. But it doesnt mean Public Policy doesnt suffer when elected officials cant Work Together to get doesnt prevent citizens based on his behavior. Unfortunately, what this means is that small percentage of high school and College Students who do contemporary political leader favorite, a tiny fraction, theyre the only ones interested in running for office themselves. What can we do about this . I told you painted a bleak picture. But our political system is built on the premise that people will rise up and run for office. More than 500,000 elected positions in this country. If the best and the brightest and think of nothing more unappealing than heeding the call to Public Service that compromises the quality of your democracy. There is good news. There is little bit of a silver lining. When we asked young people their goals for the future almost 80 said they cared very much about improving the community and improving society. This is right up there with achieving professional success, getting married and having children. They want to make the world a better place if they just dont see running for office and serving in our Political Institutions as a way to do that. How do we change those minds . There are no easy answers and the key recommendations that im going to quickly propose are not magic bullets. But to try to build on our findings increasing young peoples exposure to politics could go along way toward generating interest in running for office. We know the more you see the more likely you are to find something that is somewhat appealing. Its tricky because that also reaching the to wage through a lot of muck to find an elected official that you think inspires you. To find an example of politicians in a Community Getting things done. If youre willing to wade through the muck you may find a diamond. Or whatever appropriate metaphor you want to use. Let me conclude today with two of the five reasons we play out in the book, to the five recommendation we do out in the book im going to focus on two because you have to to buy the book to find the other three. Why the suggestion is to make political attitude part of the College Admission process. The primary goal is to attend college. 85 of High School Students we surveyed said that was the most immediate goal. Its entirely possible right now to apply to Colleges Even the most prestigious ones and obsolete nothing about politics or Current Events. You can find iraq on a map, thats okay. Weve only been there for more than a decade. You dont know the name of the vice president. No big deal. Will have a new one soon. You ar enough and with which pay controls congress . Will not change anytime soon. You have played time to learn. You can google it later. Why not link political aptitude to the College Admissions process . It to be in the form of an interest exam, an essay, even a quickie little paragraph that chuck is a bit which is a that your application. The mechanism is almost irrelevant. What would be required is letting people know that in order for the application to be taken seriously they need to be able to articulate even briefly some kind of problem, some kind of concern, issue that they care about. A somewhat approach has been used in the past when College Admission officers made it clear that they cared about volunteering in the community. High School Students level of volunteering in the community went through the roof. So it would give College Admissions officers to start valuing political aptitude or political interest among Young Students theres a chance that they would acquire the kind of information and acquire the increased exposure that might actually allow them to find something appealing in the political process. A second suggestion something we called when we like it or not we live in the era of the app. You can upload photos from request goober, find cheap airline tickets, go to a mexican restaurant, do whatever you want to do with a simple touch of an app. And young people do. 81 of people under the age of 25 sleep with the phone next to them in debt. 74 reach for the sport phone as the first thing they do in the morning. 97 report regularly using phones and smartphones in the bathroom. Theres kloden activity, no time of day on the location that is out of bounds for sport phone use, as discussed in some of those might be. Lets take advantage of this Digital World i created an app that makes it easy to find out how to run for office, positions exist at what those responsibilities are. Surprise lake it is quite difficult right now to find out i mentioned to our 5000 elected offices. There is no clearinghouse our database that has a disinformation about what those offices are, what the requirements to our, with responsibilities are how you even find to get on the ballot. This app will allow users to enter an address and would find out every elected position that represents the resident from president of the United States all the way down to dog catcher. Figuring out how to become a candidate would be at your fingertips to educators are clearly incorporate this into their curriculum. And young people who are even the least bit carries the how to run for office would not have to engage in factfinding mission. They might find it somewhat amusing to just type in random addresses and find out what the opportunities are. Its easy to ask a foundation which showcase that these hundreds of thousands of offices are not at all like what goes on in washington, d. C. We could ship at the National List of which people assess the political system to at the end of the day theres no question our political system has done a number on young people. It is turned off, it discouraged them from aspiring to be political leaders and it has alienated them from thinking about a career in politics. Steering a new course will be difficult and we have to be created but its the only choice we have. We will be. I would be remiss not also to implore politicians to think about the way they do business. When our elected officials cheer failed policies, shut down the government, accused opponents of trying to destroy the country and refuse to do their job, they engage in more than hyperbole. They damage more than the public shortterm trust in government. They undermine in the longterm future generations interest in faith and the system and their aspirations to be a part of the trick to make it less likely their parents will drill politicians names in the palmer said, that those toddlers will become politically interested teenagers, active young adults, and middleaged political candidates do people always ask me if im happy i lost my election to dubya like i dodged a bullet . While but i want to be in washington . I can take theres nothing i would rather be than in washington. Except here with you right now, of course. There was no bullet to dodge but i still think politics is noble. I still think heating a call to Public Service is the best thing we can do. The goal for the future to make sure im not the anomaly. Thank you. [applause] thank you, jennifer lawless. Youre listening to Westminster Town Hall forum broadcaster westminster Presbyterian Church. I am the senior minister of westminster Presbyterian Church and moderator of the forum for our speaker today is jennifer lawless. Professor of government at American University and an author of the book running from office why Young Americans are turned off to politics. While the ashes collect questions from in his audience i want to thank again the cosponsors of todays forum. Hennepin county library with money from the minnesota arts and Cultural Heritage fund and the online news source. Those following on twitter me tweet questions to us and were especially interested in questions from the students from Fridley High School who are here in the audience with us today. I would like to invite the radio on his to join us at Westminster Church for our next forum on thursday november 19 at noon when Foreign Policy expert andrew will explore the topic the indispensable nation, america and the middle east. Our events are free and open to all and further information can be found at our website, Westminster Forum. Org. Now dr. Lawless they could return to the pulpit on will present the question from our audience. First question has to do with slicing the data that you receive. Do you see any variation from a white student and students of color in a material that youve looked up . All of the dead i gave you were at the aggregate level. There was some variation. White students were actually tht less likely than africanamericans and latinos to say they were interested in running for office. Christian evangelicals were more likely to say they were interested in and among the College Students women were less likely than men to say that they were interested or although this variation is important, it is still hovering around this general 90 baseline of no interest whatsoever. So its not like the results are being driven by one small group of people that are particularly turned off. North or south, east or west, high school or college, men or women cross ethnicity, across religious affiliation young people are turned off of politics spirit many of us have been watching the debates for both republican and democratic president ial candidates. Do you think those debates are doing much to change the attitude of young people toward politics . But i think these debates are reinforcing every single word i just talked about. [applause] spin last night after the cnbc debate, cnn put together a real of the highlights from the debate and that included kathleen nothing about substance, nothing about success, nothing about getting things done. It was the most amusing barbs and aha moment from the debate. I will say its difficult because in some ways this is what viewers want. We can blame the media and we can blame some of these debate moderators at the ratings have through the roof this time around. Anyone donald trump and ben carson said that if they did not core to their preferences regarding format length of time they would pull out, cnbc had to come in because they know thats where theyre getting the ratings from. Spiff how to become the political political ideologues who are proud not to compromise and the willfully ignorant people to vote for them . This was a question from the audience, not me. It seems to me that the biggest challenge right now is letting people know that we have have been elected offices around the country into many of these positions and in many of these Political Institutions people doing their jobs quite well and compromising, getting things done, communities to thrive. States are being able to advance. The problem is that would look really bad behavior in washington, d. C. We assume that the people engage in that behavior are represented of all elected officials across the board. That becomes the lens through which we assess government and politics. I think one of the best ways to chip away at the idea that doing nothing is, in fact, a legitimate message to govern is to highlight some examples of the state and local level where people can come together. Keep in mind, several thousand elected positions across the country are completely nonpartisan. Not only would you vote for people did not know what they are democrats or republicans are the kinds of issues they are charged with dealing with dont have very clear parts and links to the. And in getting people onto politics by showcasing some of those examples of success might be one way to get around the problem. Who benefits from the turnoff of young people to politics . I dont think anyone does. Except i guess the people that benefit are the student body president s i dont have much electoral competition and they will continue to be in office. If we cant inspired the best and the most interested in the most passion of the next generation to run for office, we are not going to vacant offices. We are going to have the same ol same ol. As result i think generally speaking citizens across the country wind up suffering. Had had the opportunity to present any other findings and conclusions to actual politicians . And if so what was the reaction . Funny and we presented some of the findings to the office of Public Engagement at the white house and they agreed that things are table. We were on a panel with a couple of members of congress recently talking about the book, so to newly elected women in congress, a democrat and republican. They very much blame the media for all of this. Weekenwe then were also on a pas moderated by cnns john king. He blames members of congress. What we have seen from both the media and and elected officials is the general sense that the findings are probably right, and what we are picking up in our surveys of with these interviews is the current state of affairs. Who is to blame is a different question. From our perspective were happy to blame both of them and just move on. You talked about the attitudes of young people towards the political process into politicians. Do young people vote . And if so, what moves them to vote and maybe not have good attitudes towards a politician question to participate in the process . Win overtime young people have been the least likely to vote. Voter turnout in general is nothing to praise ourselves about in this country. And for young people its even lower but that is the one area where would you seem to have seen at least sustained levels of engagement that it was the one area where when asked young people of any political activity they have experienced in their home, they get sick about a third said they would never going to vote with the parents or their parents voting themselves. Thats the one area where does still seemed to be this civic duty attached to it. Thats were messages of Civic Engagement and Political Engagement tended to end. Whatever is motivating them to vote is not sufficient to motivate them to increase their exposure to politics more broadly. This is from a student in the audience picked up to participate in a Minnesota Youth and government model as we program, a 1600 students strong mock minnesota legislature, what do you have to say to and about students who are actively involved with politics and that even run for mock office already . Thats the best thing you can possibly do. So we know if youre involved in political extracurricular activities, either in high school or college, youre far more likely to develop the political bug and sustain it through life. What happens is tha about a youg peoples involvement in things like Student Government and debate team, mock trial are low. Does not the kind of activities that most people are interested in pursuing as High School Students or College Students. But when those ingredients are there and we have that exposure, its one of the hardest hurdles to clear initially. Once youve done it is likely are going to continue to seek a political knowledge and information and ultimately run. Youre going to think about dirg them into places where they might actually achieve. The best thing we can do is encourage teachers and coaches and mentors to start thinking about politics and to start thinking about Electoral Office as a path that should at least be on the radar screen in the future. Because if you receive that encouragement to run, it doesnt matter the source. That plants the seed, and its something you think about later in life. We have several questions come anything through the internet focusing on the costs of running a political campaign. Is that turning off young people, does the decision of Citizens United make a difference to them . You know, i wish it did, because that would suggest they knew what Citizens United was. [laughter] the typical congressional race now costs well over a Million Dollars or superpacs have invaded our political process makes them decide theyre not going to throw their hat into the ring. The young people were not thinking about the nuts and bolts involved in a campaign, the rigors of withstanding, you know, an 18month race or taking on an incumbent, they just had this visceral reaction to the idea of being involved in politics. So its not like theres any Public Policy thats keeping them out. Its theway that bids is the general with way that business is conducted. Is there a country the u. S. Should look to as an effective way to engage young voters . Political cultures vary so much. Were never going to be a country that has mandatory voting, were never going to send people fines because they didnt show up and vote on election day, but we can try and incentivize political interest. Thats why linking it to the College Admissions process is one particular way. As long as we have this individualism underlying our political culture, its difficult to come up with any kind of national move. The other thing i should note is that young people being turned off to politics, even if its disheartening, its totally fine for all of the incumbents that keep getting reelected. They dont want to do anything thats going to fundamentally change the system and mitigate their likelihood of success. Historically, young people have been very involved Campaign Workers in a political campaign. If theyre not involved now, who is running these campaigns . So theyre the 11 , right . Were always going to be able to identify and find some anomalies, some people that are really political junkies, some people that rally behind a candidate, that are willing to knock on doors. The problem is that that group of people, that tenth of the young people that are out there are not necessarily representative of the rest of the country, and theyre also such a small sliver, it suggests that nine out of ten people feel sufficiently disengaged that they dont want to play an active role. So its not about worrying candidates wont have people knock on doors for them, its about bonding and casting a wider net to insure people from all different backgrounds feel they can engage their government. The narrative that emerged around the first Obama Campaign was that young people were suddenly newly enier eyesed energized in the political process. Its not that surprising, right . Thats a very, very high bar to place on one person, right . Barack obama singed handedly is supposed to change, young, 25 years of you know, 25 years of congressional dysfunction and socialized patterns that suggest young people have no interest in politics. He was able to energize them around that election, but unless there are consistent messages beyond election day that suggest remaining engaged is vital, useful and beneficial, theyre not going to stay. A number of questions about where young people tend to get their news these days. This one from a student. As a student, im much more willing to get my political information from a comedy show than cspan, thinking of the colbert report or the daily show. How would you recommend changing the presentation of information to us to involve us more . Do these shows do damage to young people in terms of the political process . So the shows actually dont do damage. We asked people how often do you watch the colbert report. Only about 13 said they watched it even on occasion. So the young people watching these shows are not typical. But exposure to politics even on those shows makes you more likely to say youre interested in running for office, because even though theyre satire and even though jon stewart in particular would rate size and highlight criticize and highlight all of the problems, there was also this pretty optimistic understood pinning which is that government has the capacity to do better, and with better people in there, there might be success. If we could get everybody to watch those shows, i wouldnt be concerned. People often ask, well, dont you think shows like house or cards or veep is whats turning people off . No. If you can follow house of cards, youre already very turned on. Is it positive quotes are a selffulfilling prophesy . I think so. As long as the conversation is about whos up, whos down, who gained, who lost, and theres zero attention whatsoever to the margin of error. It reinforces the idea that this is just a game and that this has nothing to do with substance, with solving problems. Again, its tricky because you as a candidate want to raise money, and one of the best things you can do to motivate donors is to highlight that you are by ahead in the polls because everybody wants to support a winner. Its very tricky to figure out how to incentivize that. You have run for congress or at least in a primary and said that it was one of the best experiences of your life. We can assume then perhaps you might try again. If you were elected to congress, what would you do to make a difference . Well, i mean, lets be careful here, i dont know one no, im kidding. Look, i think the best thing that as far as congress is concerned, its very difficult right now because there are institutional rules and norms that make it difficult for any one person to change the way things get done. And, actually, it makes it quite easy for a small group of people to on victim and make sure that that to obstruct and make sure people dont get anything done. We can see the recent speaker of the house election and the days leading up to that as evidence of that. But i think one of most important things to do is to actually do what you want and vote your interests and vote your constituents interests, and to do it in a way where you have a general belief in the importance of compromise. Its totally fine to run a campaign as an id log, its totally idealogue, but at the end of the day, there are 35 members of the 435 members of the house of representatives, and everybody can dig in their heels, and nothing will get done. And i think the goal is to make sure you get an outcome thats as close to what you want as possible but that an outcome matters more than no outcome at all. So i would push for outcomes. Hows that for the most vague political statement ever . [laughter] [applause] it was vague. Now, can you specifically say, on the last question, what gives you hope about democracy in america . So ive got to believe that this is a swinging pendulum. In the last 20 years, last 25 years this generation has only seen disfunction, theyve only seen Government Shutdowns, theyre only seen hyperbolic partisanship. But over time there have been a lot of crises and a lot of periods of dysfunction that weve gotten through and weve regrouped from. The civil war, for example, was not a walk in the park. The civil rights era, not so great initially, right . But we pull ourselves up, and we get through these kinds of things. The problem right now is the reason im worried is im not convinced we have the best group of people ready to take on that challenge. And thats why the book is trying to incentivize political aptitude and interest. Because we can swing the other way as long as we have new voices and fresh ideas to help get us there. We always have, and theres no reason to believe we always wont. Thank you, jennifer lawless. Thank you. [applause] join us now for breads and spreads in the great hall, and the books are sold in the hallway to your left. Well see you on the 19th at noon. [inaudible conversations] youre watching booktv, television for serious readers. Watch any program you see here online at booktv. Org. Earlier this year republican president ial candidate marco rubio discussed the release of his book, American Dreams in miami. I wanted to spend a few moments talking to you about the book. The title. Of the