features
fall 2024
By Andrea Grant
Senior Asma Akbar grew up in primary-obsessed New Hampshire. She met presidential candidates, mobilized politically active young people, and attended a national debate before she could even vote. But it’s her time at Suffolk, she says, that has opened her eyes to what the rest of the country might be thinking.
“I don’t have to be in my own bubble all the time. I can listen to what other people are saying and try to understand where they’re coming from,” says Akbar, a politics, philosophy, and economics (PPE) major.
Seeking more ways to do just that, Akbar enrolled in one of Suffolk's political research courses. Students learn how a poll is constructed, how to avoid bias in questions, and how to ensure the sample is representative of the broader population. They work on their own real surveys and have significant latitude as to what they want to poll.
This spring, Akbar and her classmates decided they wanted to better understand the views of young people in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania. So they created a 33-question poll, then spent a weekend in March calling Pennsylvanians ages 18 to 30. More than wanting to gauge the state of the presidential horse race, they wanted to know how young Pennsylvanians on all sides of the political spectrum were feeling about some key issues, and also about their quality of life and confidence in what the future holds. The results were sobering.
When asked whether they were more hopeful or fearful about the future of America, two-thirds said they were more fearful. Nearly two-thirds also said they felt the quality of life for young people in Pennsylvania was either fair or poor. A whopping 85% said they support term limits for politicians in Washington, with strong support from all political persuasions. Three-quarters said there are not enough mental health resources in their state.
Perhaps most significantly, more than two-thirds of the Pennsylvanian respondents said they believe their voice is not heard in political decisions that affect them. That means they feel disconnected from the very infrastructure that supports our democracy.
Politicians should take notice, says David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center and a nationally recognized polling expert. As they age into the electorate, Gen Z, those born between 1997 and 2012, could make all the difference in tight political races, which have become the new norm. Keenly aware of this, Paleologos works closely with Suffolk students to bring their voices into SUPRC polls so the data accurately reflects the opinions of this growing demographic.
“No offense to older people,” explains Akbar, “but they might be asking the wrong questions. Politicians need to start actually listening to the younger generations who are going to be living with their decisions for the longest. Because if Gen Z doesn’t agree with them, we will fight for change.”
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Asma Akbar and other students in Suffolk’s political research course designed their own poll to better understand the views of young people in the battleground state of Pennsylvania.
