American freshmen this year discuss politics more than any other class in the past 41 years, according to the results of an annual UCLA study released Jan. 19. The study, led in part by John Pryor '84, also found that students are more opinionated in their political inclinations than they have been in previous years.
In compiling its results, the study used the responses of 271,441 first-year full-time students at 393 of the country's baccalaureate colleges and universities. The report not only examined the political inclinations of freshmen, but also asked them about college finances, whether they performed community service and how ethnically diverse their home neighborhoods were. The results concerning politics, however, differed most from previous years' findings.
The study, first conducted in 1966, reported that 33.8 percent of today's college freshman "discussed politics frequently as high school seniors," up from 25.5 percent in 2004.
College Democrat David Imamura '10 agreed that the members Class of 2010 discuss politics frequently.
"We all saw 9/11," Imamura said. "People can't ignore national issues anymore; everyone knows what is at stake."
Such increased interest in politics has led to higher freshman involvement in political organizations on campus.
"Normally we have five to 15 freshmen join College Republicans," Rahul Sangwan '07, the president of the College Republicans, said. "This year we have around 20 active freshman."
The College Democrats have also reported greater interest from freshmen who, according to the group's vice president, Courtney Merrill '09, compose half of the group's active members.
Besides noting increased political awareness, the study also reported that students have become more polarized in their political views, with fewer political moderates overall. The percentage of students who identified themselves as liberal is at its highest level since the 1970s, while the percentage of students who identified themselves as conservative is at its highest point in the history of the study.
Sangwan argued that society appears more polarized than it is because of increasingly vocal extremes.
"The moderates are marginalized," Sangwan said. "The extremes have outlets for their views and the moderates are drowned out."
College Republican Douglas Zarbock '10 maintained that students aren't necessarily more divided in their political views.
"The extremes are definitely more vocal in their views" Zarbock said. "Most people are moderate. You just don't hear from them."
The study highlighted the divide between liberals and conservatives on social issues. The issue that created the starkest divisions was gay marriage. While 83.7 percent of liberals polled believe that same-sex couples should have the right to marry, only 30.4 percent of conservatives thought so. The right to abortion, the abolition of the death penalty and the legalization of marijuana all drew divided responses as well.
Imamura, however, disagreed with the notion that social issues have led to ideological divisions between freshmen.
"I think there is more unity than people think," Imamura said. "I mean our generation is overwhelmingly in favor of gay marriage."
Zarbock also challenged the assertion that social issues are the most contested among college students.
"Foreign policy has definitely been the most divisive issue," Zarbock said. "Even within parties there is no agreement on how to conduct our foreign policy."
