By: Zi Yuan Wong
It is November 6th and election season has passed. The results are in, and it ended up being something many are not expecting: the Republican Party had won the 2024 election and recaptured a majority in every major branch of government, ensuring their future dominance in the political sphere for the next four years.
A large part of the victory is the youth vote, where a large percentage of young people, particularly younger white men, helped propel Donald Trump to the presidency. Before this election, there is always an assumption that younger voters will always be more liberal than their elders, but the results have shown that this is no longer the case.
The exodus of younger people towards conservatism reminded me of what is happening back in my home country, where the youths are increasingly religious and supporting conservative parties. Lowering the voting age was thought to improve the liberal vote, but the opposite happened, and the local Islamic party got a larger share of government seats compared to other individual parties.
After spending time recovering from the election fatigue (by indulging in ice cream), now is the time to answer the question: What draws young people to vote to vote conservative and helping the Republican Party to secure victory?
The secret to the GOP’s success with the youth vote is not because of their policies, but because they are able to capitalize on the apathy of the young. The signs are apparent leading up to the election, where polls suggest that despair, coupled with disillusionment of modern politics has driven younger American men towards conservatism. Facing economic uncertainty and believing that politicians failed to live up to their promises of improving their lives, many wanted to shake up the status quo by voting for the opposing party and supporting the anti-establishment platform spouted by Donald J. Trump.
While it looked like young men in recent times are becoming more conservative, but on closer inspection, data paints a slightly different story. Despite the reports, Republican support from younger men has always been statistically consistent for decades. Instead, it is younger women who are turning sharply towards the left. A series of events like the MeToo movement, the repeal of Roe v. Wade, coupled with increased college and workplace participation has called young women to get deeply involved in politics. This seismic shift of women towards liberalism has widened the political gender gap and made the young men seem more conservative than they are.
Another potential contributing factor of young men’s turn to conservatism might be the lack of social guidance. Lacking male role models and facing an uncertain future, young men are increasingly retreating to the darkest parts of the internet. There, they are susceptible to influencers like Andrew Tate who shows them the path forward to success, despite the misogyny and sexism involved. Through the influence of the ‘manosphere,’ a collection of media where young men gather to learn about masculinity, they came to believe that they are unfairly left behind by women and deserve much more, driving them to embrace conservative values instead of liberal ones.
The increased conservatism among young people can be traced back to multiple factors. Apathy and disillusionment either prompted them to vote for the opposing party, or not vote at all. Next, the doubling down of young women in liberal politics also made conservative support among younger men much more evident than before. Lastly, the ‘manosphere’ had capitalized on the fears of young men that they will be left behind in life, pushing them towards toxic masculinity where women are inferior and should stay away from roles associated with men. Ultimately, it is too early to tell whether my generation will be more conservative going forward, but it will be interesting to witness how this current shift to conservatism will affect the lives of everyone involved.