Nearly all of the turnout decline is generational replacement, not individual change

Evidence

The distinction between intracohort and intercohort change is crucial to understanding what’s been happening to turnout in America over the last thirty years. Very little of the net decline in voting is attributable to individual change, and virtually all of it is generational. Throughout their lives and whatever their station in life and their level of political interest, baby boomers and their children have been less likely to vote than their parents and grandparents. As boomers and their children became a larger and larger fraction of the national electorate, the average turnout rate was inexorably driven downward. — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 87

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Generational succession explains roughly half of America’s civic decline since the 1970s — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 981; Declining social trust reflects generational succession, not individual change — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 463; Generational effects alter society even when individuals stay the same — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 858

Broader Connections

• Declining social trust reflects generational succession, not individual change #corroborates (0.95) — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 463
• Generational effects alter society even when individuals stay the same #expands (0.85) — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 858