Modern politics become personalized as individual characteristics of voters and candidates assume greater importance in political discourse. Although personalities of candidates capture center stage and become the focus of voters' preferences, individual characteristics of voters, such as their traits and values, become decisive for political…

Campus voter registration and education programs are powerful and proven tools for building voter participation. Young people who go to college are far more likely to vote than their peers who do not. U.S. Census Bureau data on the 2000 general election show that those with bachelor?s degrees were twice as likely to vote (75 percent) as were those…

The papers in this collection were written by an interdisciplinary group to address two main questions: What conditions deter young 'involvement in politics and civic life? What reforms could enhance youth engagement? Most of the contributors met face-to-face in Washington, DC in March 2005 to discuss their papers and the general issue of youth…