Close Up Foundation
Project Title
Toward a deliberative poll on youth voting
Date
Sep. 12, 2024
Duration
12 months
Description
Today’s youth will shape political discourse for decades to come, but they are reaching voting age in a highly polarized time. The United States faces deep divisions, yet polls demonstrate that individuals from all political affiliations, socioeconomic backgrounds, races, and genders are capable of congregating to listen and understand differing perspectives. Founded in 1971, Close Up Foundation is a nonpartisan civic education organization that believes a strong democracy requires active, informed participation by all citizens. Close Up Foundation has partnered with schools nationwide to serve more than one million students and educators through resources that give participants a deeper understanding of history, government institutions, current issues, and the role of citizens. Close Up Foundation, in partnership with the Deliberative Democracy Lab at Stanford University (DDL), Helena (Group Foundation), and the Generation Lab, will convene 500 young Americans in July 2024 for America in One Room: The Youth Vote, a large-scale experiment in democracy to engage a representative sample of first-time voters in civil discourse about policy issues impacting them.