Stepping Out of the Baby Boomers’ Shadow

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“Millennials are not going to be told what to think,” said Mr. Steven Olikara, 25, co-founder and president of the Millennial Action Project (MAP), a group that hopes to create a political environment in the US with cooperation the governing principle. “They are not like other generations that march to a partisan drum.”

Mr. Olikara explains that while millennials tend to vote Democrat because of their liberal stance on social issues such as gay marriage, they do not believe in “big government” solutions to all the country’s problems.

Although the rift between Republicans and Democrats continues to widen, millennials say they do not see much difference between the two parties.

This is due to the “blanket association of dysfunction throughout government”, said Mr. Olikara, which also adds to the general apathy among young voters. “There needs to be a new political culture in the country.”

In 2013, MAP helped to organise the Congressional Future Caucus – a group of US lawmakers aged 45 and under. The caucus drives legislation on what Mr. Olikara calls “post-partisan” issues such as the sharing economy, job innovation and automatic voter registration.

Through a round table hosted by MAP, 25 public and private sector leaders decided to introduce the idea of social impact bonds – issued by the government to raise private capital for public good.

“There were Democrats and Republicans across the table and they decided they wanted to do this,” said Mr. Olikara, citing it as an example of how young people across the aisle can work together for change.

The inherent diversity of the generation – 44.2 per cent are part of a minority race or ethnic group, making it more diverse than any generation before – would also affect policy decisions and the make-up of government itself.

Already, the Congressional Future Caucus, which has 25 members, has a mix of races, ethnicities and gender – indicative of how the stereotypical white, male lawmaker could soon be a thing of the past.