Based on arguments provided in the textbook, are young-adult Americans truly disconnected in the political process? Discuss both traditional nontraditional methods of political participation in your answer.

What will be an ideal response?

Student answers will vary, as this is a rather subjective question. However, students should discuss voting patterns among young Americans and the reasons they fail to vote at the same rates as older voters. Political efficacy may be used as a factor along with the rise in nontraditional means of political participation and the overall sense among young adults that the costs of voting outweigh their benefits, which can also be substantiated by recent research into the rationality of voting vs. nonvoting behavior. Attention should be given to the rising power of social media and nontraditional methods of political behavior and the ways in which individuals such as Amanda Collins, Landen Gambill, and Emma Sulkowicz have gone about impacting institutional processes, laws and procedures through nontraditional means.