{"id":45719,"date":"2024-01-09T13:50:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-09T18:50:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-09-03T11:28:28","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T15:28:28","slug":"tuning-out-americans-on-the-edge-of-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2024\/01\/09\/tuning-out-americans-on-the-edge-of-politics\/","title":{"rendered":"Tuning Out: Americans on the Edge of Politics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide has-sans-serif-font-family has-small-font-size has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--70);padding-top:0\"><\/div>\n\n\n<h1 aria-level=\"1\" data-post-type=\"post\" class=\"has-text-align-center is-style-essay-title wp-block-post-title\">Tuning Out: Americans on the Edge of Politics<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-post-date has-small-label-font-size\"><time datetime=\"2024-01-09T13:50:00-05:00\">January 9, 2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-social-links has-small-icon-size has-icon-background-color is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-social-links-is-layout-3e41869c wp-block-social-links-is-layout-flex\">\n\n\n\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignfull has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-86948393 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video\">\n<video muted playsinline autoplay loop>\n<source src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/01\/lede_1920.mp4\" type=\"video\/mp4\"\/>\n<source src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/01\/lede_1920.webm\" type=\"video\/webm\"\/>\n<\/video>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-prc-platform-feature-loader\" id=\"js-disengaged\"><\/div>\n\n\n<div style=\"height:31px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">In a fractious political environment often dominated by the loudest voices on the left and right, some people are saying: <strong>Count us out<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Last year, we talked to a group of people who, while they may vote, are not strongly attached to <em>either <\/em>political party. They don\u2019t closely follow news about politics or government, though some feel guilty when they don\u2019t. By and large, they look at the nation\u2019s politics as a topic better avoided than embraced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">With the first votes of the 2024 election about to be cast, these are people whose voices are largely overlooked. Last May, we conducted six focus groups of adults who have soured on politics and political news. Here\u2019s what they told us:<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"border-width:1px;padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);--block-gap: inherit\" class=\"wp-block-prc-block-collapsible has-background has-ui-beige-very-light-background-color has-border-color has-ui-beige-dark-border-color\" id=\"how-we-did-this\" data-wp-interactive=\"{&quot;namespace&quot;:&quot;prc-block\\\/collapsible&quot;}\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;collapsibleId&quot;:&quot;how-we-did-this&quot;,&quot;isOpen&quot;:false}\" data-wp-class--is-open=\"context.isOpen\" data-wp-init--scroll-into-view=\"callbacks.onInitScrollIntoView\"><div class=\"wp-block-prc-block-collapsible__title\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.onClick\"><div>How we did this<\/div><button class=\"wp-block-prc-block-collapsible__icon\"><span data-wp-bind--hidden=\"context.isOpen\"><i class=\"icon icon-library__light icon__circle-plus\"><svg style=\"width: 1em; height: 1em;\"><use xlink:href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/plugins\/prc-icon-library\/build\/icons\/sprites\/light.svg#circle-plus\"><\/use><\/svg><\/i><\/span><span data-wp-bind--hidden=\"!context.isOpen\" hidden><i class=\"icon icon-library__light icon__circle-minus\"><svg style=\"width: 1em; height: 1em;\"><use xlink:href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/plugins\/prc-icon-library\/build\/icons\/sprites\/light.svg#circle-minus\"><\/use><\/svg><\/i><\/span><\/button><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-prc-block-collapsible__content\">\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This piece is based on six focus groups conducted in May 2023. A total of 27 Americans participated in the focus groups and were offered an incentive for participation. Researchers prepared a topical discussion guide, and a moderator guided participants through the session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The quotes featured throughout this piece are meant to provide context and broadly illustrate the themes that were discussed in the groups. Quotations are not meant to be representative of all adults who say they do not follow political news. They have been lightly edited for readability. For more information about how the groups were recruited and conducted, <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/01\/PP_2024.1.9_disengaged_METHODOLOGY.pdf\">refer to the methodology<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignfull interstitial is-style-default has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-266daca0 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"min-height:0px;margin-top:10em;margin-bottom:10em\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video\">\n<video muted playsinline autoplay loop>\n <source src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/01\/screens.mp4\" type=\"video\/mp4\" \/>\t\n  <source src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/01\/screens.webm\" type=\"video\/webm\"\/>\n<\/video>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-sans-serif-font-family wp-container-content-29dca9c1 wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:clamp(16.293px, 1.018rem + ((1vw - 3.2px) * 0.989), 25px);font-style:normal;font-weight:400\"><strong>They have a sense that politics is everywhere \u2013 and often in a bad way.<\/strong> They find themselves overwhelmed by how much information they confront in their day-to-day life.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignfull is-style-fluid has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-01302ce7 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained block-visibility-hide-small-screen prc-block-visibility__mobile\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-cover alignfull is-light fixed overwhelm is-style-disable-mobile-collapse\" style=\"min-height:100vh;aspect-ratio:unset;\"><span aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-cover__background has-background-dim-0 has-background-dim\" style=\"background-color:#887d4d\"><\/span><div class=\"wp-block-cover__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-cover-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-large-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-style-fluid scrolly is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-2c90304e wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI feel like you can\u2019t escape it. You get mailings, you get commercials. It\u2019s just always there.\u201d<br><br><mark class=\"has-inline-color has-text-color-color\">\u2013 Woman, 30s, Democratic-leaning<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cGo on Facebook and politics stuff just pops up. No matter where you go on the internet, there\u2019s always some kind of ad or something that pops up [having] to do with politics.\u201d<br><br><mark class=\"has-inline-color has-text-color-color\">\u2013 Man, 30s, Republican-leaning<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou don\u2019t know what to believe; it\u2019s so much information to soak in that you sometimes don\u2019t know if it\u2019s true or not.\u201d<br><br><mark class=\"has-inline-color has-text-color-color\">\u2013 Woman, 50s, Nonpartisan<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI don\u2019t want to watch the news all the time, but I can\u2019t stand not knowing what\u2019s going on.\u201d<br><br><mark class=\"has-inline-color has-text-color-color\">\u2013 Man, 50s, Democratic-leaning<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhen I was young, I remember politics was hearing my parents talk about it, hearing about it on the news, on TV, and then reading about it like once a day in the newspaper. But now it\u2019s like you cannot get away from it. It\u2019s in conversations with people and if you don\u2019t want to have conversations with people, well, it\u2019s on Twitter [X] and it\u2019s on Facebook.\u201d<br><br><mark class=\"has-inline-color has-text-color-color\">\u2013 Woman, 30s, Republican-leaning<\/mark><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group interstitial is-style-default has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-266daca0 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"min-height:0px;margin-top:10em;margin-bottom:10em\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video\">\n<video muted playsinline autoplay loop>\n <source src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/01\/megaphones.mp4\" type=\"video\/mp4\" \/>\n<source src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/01\/megaphones.webm\" type=\"video\/webm\"\/>\n<\/video>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-sans-serif-font-family wp-container-content-29dca9c1 wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:clamp(16.293px, 1.018rem + ((1vw - 3.2px) * 0.989), 25px);font-style:normal;font-weight:400\"><strong>Many \u2013 but not all \u2013 of these people vote.<\/strong> While they acknowledge they could be more engaged with following politics, many say they have no desire to, or say it\u2019s important to avoid the topic to protect their mental health.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignfull is-style-fluid has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-cover alignfull is-light fixed voters is-style-disable-mobile-collapse\" style=\"min-height:100vh;aspect-ratio:unset;\"><span aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-cover__background has-background-dim-0 has-background-dim\" style=\"background-color:#2d4758\"><\/span><div class=\"wp-block-cover__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-cover-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-large-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-style-fluid scrolly is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-2c90304e wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou just get tired of the arguing and bickering back and forth and watching political ads during election season. They just kind of put you off too. So, I\u2019m still gonna vote but I don\u2019t see myself getting more engaged in the process.\u201d<br><br><mark class=\"has-inline-color has-text-color-color\">\u2013 Man, 50s, Democratic-leaning<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWith certain topics, I wish I was a little bit more engaged, but I try not to cross those boundaries just because I don\u2019t feel like dealing with the different opinions sometimes. I can\u2019t deal with the notifications 24\/7, so I try to stay away from it.\u201d<br><br><mark class=\"has-inline-color has-text-color-color\">\u2013 Woman, 20s, Nonpartisan<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI feel like if I could get my voice out there more, I would be more involved. But it\u2019s just hard. I\u2019m not one of the important people, you know what I mean?\u201d<br><br><mark class=\"has-inline-color has-text-color-color\">\u2013 Woman, 40s, Republican-leaning<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019d like to do better [with my own political engagement]. Because sometimes I feel like, well, I have a cousin that always wants to talk politics and sometimes she just comes out of left field and I\u2019m like, \u2018What is that? I haven&#8217;t heard that. Wait, what!?\u2019\u201d<br><br><mark class=\"has-inline-color has-text-color-color\">\u2013 Woman, 60s, Democratic-leaning<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt can really affect your mental health. You start getting into heated conversation going back and forth with somebody over something you really can\u2019t control. There\u2019s just no point in that.\u201d<br><br><mark class=\"has-inline-color has-text-color-color\">\u2013 Man, 40s, Republican<\/mark><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignfull interstitial is-style-default has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-266daca0 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"min-height:0px;margin-top:10em;margin-bottom:10em\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video\">\n<video muted playsinline autoplay loop>\n<source src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/01\/slot1.mp4\" type=\"video\/mp4\" \/>\t\n<source src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/01\/slot1.webm\" type=\"video\/webm\"\/><\/video>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-sans-serif-font-family wp-container-content-29dca9c1 wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:clamp(16.293px, 1.018rem + ((1vw - 3.2px) * 0.989), 25px);font-style:normal;font-weight:400\"><strong>Most are frustrated with the two parties.<\/strong> They often don\u2019t feel represented by either party or feel that the parties are too extreme. And while some would prefer for there to be no parties at all, others wish there were more than two.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignfull is-style-fluid has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-cover alignfull is-light fixed  two-party is-style-disable-mobile-collapse\" style=\"min-height:100vh;aspect-ratio:unset;\"><span aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-cover__background has-background-dim-0 has-background-dim\" style=\"background-color:#cc9e2b\"><\/span><div class=\"wp-block-cover__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-cover-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-large-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-style-fluid scrolly is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-2c90304e wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSee we don\u2019t live in a true democracy anymore when it\u2019s only between two [parties]. Yes, you can run for president under other political parties, but you\u2019re never gonna win unless you\u2019re Republican or Democrat. So as far as that goes, I feel like it\u2019s more of a democracy with an illusion of choice.\u201d<br><br><mark class=\"has-inline-color has-text-color-color\">\u2013 Woman, 40s, Republican-leaning<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI hate the fact that you\u2019re forced to pick between the lesser of two evils when voting. No, I don\u2019t want either of them. Next.\u201d<br><br><mark class=\"has-inline-color has-text-color-color\">\u2013 Man, 20s, Nonpartisan<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOriginally the idea is that we vote for them, that they should act on behalf of the people. But once they all get in the office, it\u2019s all about themselves. It\u2019s never about us. Doesn\u2019t matter what party.\u201d<br><br><mark class=\"has-inline-color has-text-color-color\">\u2013 Man, 50s, Democrat<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI believe that a lot of politicians do go into it with good intentions and they think they\u2019re gonna do good and they can do this or that. But then they get involved with the worst politicians. And little by little, I think they just fall in line basically with the others and become one of the group.\u201d<br><br><mark class=\"has-inline-color has-text-color-color\">\u2013 Woman, 60s, Republican-leaning<\/mark><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignfull interstitial is-style-default has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-266daca0 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"min-height:0px;margin-top:10em;margin-bottom:10em\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video\">\n<video muted playsinline autoplay loop>\n <source src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/01\/talk_bubble.mp4\" type=\"video\/mp4\" \/>\t \n<source src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/01\/talk_bubble.webm\" type=\"video\/webm\"\/><\/video>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-sans-serif-font-family wp-container-content-29dca9c1 wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:clamp(16.293px, 1.018rem + ((1vw - 3.2px) * 0.989), 25px);font-style:normal;font-weight:400\"><strong>Many of the participants pointed to the vitriol and negativity in politics today<\/strong>, noting that there is too much fighting and not enough progress being made on issues that are important to everyday people.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignfull is-style-fluid has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-cover alignfull is-light fixed vitriol is-style-disable-mobile-collapse\" style=\"min-height:100vh;aspect-ratio:unset;\"><span aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-cover__background has-background-dim-0 has-background-dim\" style=\"background-color:#d63c07\"><\/span><div class=\"wp-block-cover__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-cover-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-large-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-style-fluid scrolly is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-2c90304e wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou know, people really can\u2019t have a good, fair conversation and be decent about it when it comes to politics &#8230; they always wanna start an argument about it because no one can see it from the other person\u2019s perspective. So you know they can\u2019t be open-minded and say, \u2018Well you have a good point but look at how I see it also.\u2019\u201d<br><br><mark class=\"has-inline-color has-text-color-color\">\u2013 Man, 40s, Republican<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSo when I was younger, you got to hear more about what the politicians stood for and now all you get to hear from one side is how horrible the other one is. But then you don\u2019t know where they actually stand because they\u2019ve spent more time bashing each other.\u201d<br><br><mark class=\"has-inline-color has-text-color-color\">\u2013 Woman, 60s, Democratic-leaning<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think it\u2019s crazy how this world revolves around negativity so much, especially the politics. When people are trying to take office, they always have something negative to say about somebody else. No matter if it\u2019s true or not.\u201d<br><br><mark class=\"has-inline-color has-text-color-color\">\u2013 Man, 30s, Republican-leaning<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s stagnant. There\u2019s not a lot of meaningful change going on and there hasn\u2019t been for easily 15 or 20 years. A lot of problems go unsolved for long periods of time.\u201d<br><br><mark class=\"has-inline-color has-text-color-color\">\u2013 Man, 20s, Democratic-leaning<\/mark><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignfull interstitial is-style-default has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-266daca0 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"min-height:0px;margin-top:10em;margin-bottom:10em\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video\">\n<video muted playsinline autoplay loop>\n<source src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/01\/Tree.mp4\" type=\"video\/mp4\" \/>\t   <source src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/01\/Tree.webm\" type=\"video\/webm\"\/>\n<\/video>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-sans-serif-font-family wp-container-content-29dca9c1 wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:clamp(16.293px, 1.018rem + ((1vw - 3.2px) * 0.989), 25px);font-style:normal;font-weight:400\"><strong>How would these people change politics?<\/strong> Their ideas run the gamut: While some discussed changes to the Electoral College, term limits or reducing the role of money in politics, others said they simply would like more choices, less negativity and more progress on important issues.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignfull is-style-fluid has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-cover alignfull is-light fixed changes is-style-disable-mobile-collapse\" style=\"min-height:100vh;aspect-ratio:unset;\"><span aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-cover__background has-background-dim-0 has-background-dim\" style=\"background-color:#646a30\"><\/span><div class=\"wp-block-cover__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-cover-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-large-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-style-fluid scrolly is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-2c90304e wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think that we need a new third political party, an option for that gray area, and hopefully that gray area would be thinking of our future and actually doing something about it.\u201d<br><br><mark class=\"has-inline-color has-text-color-color\">\u2013 Man, 20s, Nonpartisan<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think that anybody should be able to run for any office and it shouldn\u2019t matter who\u2019s funding you.\u201d<br><br><mark class=\"has-inline-color has-text-color-color\">\u2013 Woman, 40s, Republican-leaning<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI would like to see a more educated voting populace of whatever issue they vote on. I would like to think they know the issues and I don\u2019t think they do.\u201d<br><br><mark class=\"has-inline-color has-text-color-color\">\u2013 Man, 50s, Democratic-leaning<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think the Electoral College ought to be changed for the presidential election. It doesn\u2019t make a lot of sense to me, and I would get rid of it. It should just be based on the amount of votes.\u201d<br><br><mark class=\"has-inline-color has-text-color-color\">\u2013  Woman, 60s, Republican-leaning<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think it\u2019s logistically not possible at all. But I would say for one election campaign, take all of the funding from everyone. Or at least cap it for everyone and put every candidate on equal funding. The views decide the voters.\u201d<br><br><mark class=\"has-inline-color has-text-color-color\">\u2013  Man, 20s, Republican-leaning<\/mark><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">For more about how we did this, read the <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/01\/PP_2024.1.9_disengaged_METHODOLOGY.pdf\">essay&#8217;s methodology<\/a>. For more about how the general public feels about these topics, refer to &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2023\/09\/19\/americans-dismal-views-of-the-nations-politics\/\">Americans\u2019 Dismal Views of the Nation\u2019s Politics<\/a>.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Note: This essay is designed to be a snapshot of how some Americans who are not particularly engaged with politics feel about the system. These focus group participants do not necessarily represent the broader population of all less engaged Americans.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>This publication is a collaborative effort based on the input and analysis of the following individuals: Carroll Doherty, Jocelyn Kiley, Hannah Hartig, Gabe Borelli, Rebecca Leppert, David Kent, Andrea Caumont, Claire Dannenbaum, Andy Cerda, Shanay Gracia and Katy Lin (former intern).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Illustrations by Christian Northeast. Design, production and web development by Alissa Scheller, Reem Nadeem and Chris Baronavski.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Untethered from partisan politics and uninterested in keeping up with political news, here is how some Americans view the current state of U.S. politics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":437,"featured_media":57761,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"layout-essay-no-breadcrumbs","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","sub_headline":"Untethered from partisan politics and uninterested in keeping up with political news, here is how some Americans view the current state of U.S. politics.","sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","bylines":[],"acknowledgements":[],"displayBylines":false,"prc_watchers":[],"relatedPosts":[],"reportMaterials":[],"multiSectionReport":[],"package_parts__enabled":false,"package_parts":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,57,56,418],"tags":[],"bylines":[],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"level_of_effort":[],"primary_audience":[],"information_type":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[458],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[],"research-teams":[520],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-45719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-democracy","category-political-civic-engagement","category-political-discourse","category-political-polarization","formats-report","research-teams-politics"],"label":false,"post_parent":0,"word_count":1561,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2024\/01\/09\/tuning-out-americans-on-the-edge-of-politics\/","art_direction":{"A1":{"id":57761,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/01\/PP_24.01.02_Disengaged_feature-1-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/01\/PP_24.01.02_Disengaged_feature-1-jpg.webp?w=564&h=317&crop=1","width":564,"height":317,"caption":"","chartArt":false},"A2":{"id":57761,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/01\/PP_24.01.02_Disengaged_feature-1-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/01\/PP_24.01.02_Disengaged_feature-1-jpg.webp?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"caption":"","chartArt":false},"A3":{"id":57761,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/01\/PP_24.01.02_Disengaged_feature-1-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/01\/PP_24.01.02_Disengaged_feature-1-jpg.webp?w=194&h=110&crop=1","width":194,"height":110,"caption":"","chartArt":false},"A4":{"id":57761,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/01\/PP_24.01.02_Disengaged_feature-1-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/01\/PP_24.01.02_Disengaged_feature-1-jpg.webp?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"caption":"","chartArt":false},"XL":{"id":57761,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/01\/PP_24.01.02_Disengaged_feature-1-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/01\/PP_24.01.02_Disengaged_feature-1-jpg.webp?w=720&h=405&crop=1","width":720,"height":405,"caption":"","chartArt":false},"social":{"id":57761,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/01\/PP_24.01.02_Disengaged_feature-1-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/01\/PP_24.01.02_Disengaged_feature-1-jpg.webp?w=1200&h=628&crop=1","width":1200,"height":628,"caption":"","chartArt":false}},"_embeds":[],"watchers":[],"table_of_contents":[],"report_materials":"","report_pagination":{"current_post":null,"next_post":null,"previous_post":null,"pagination_items":[]},"parent_info":{"parent_title":"Tuning Out: Americans on the Edge of Politics","parent_id":45719},"materialsOrdered":[],"chaptersOrdered":[],"partsOrdered":[],"partsEnabled":false,"datacite_doi":"","prc_seo_data":{"title":"Tuning Out: Americans on the Edge of Politics","description":"Untethered from partisan politics and uninterested in keeping up with political news, here is how some Americans view the current state of U.S. politics.","og_title":"Tuning Out: Americans on the Edge of Politics","og_description":"Untethered from partisan politics and uninterested in keeping up with political news, here is how some Americans view the current state of U.S. politics.","schema_type":"Article","noindex":false,"canonical_url":"","primary_terms":{"category":57},"custom_schema":[],"og_image":57761,"indexnow_submitted_at":null,"gsc_index_status":null},"prepublish_checks":{"prc-image-alt-text":{"status":"complete","message":"No image blocks in content.","data":null},"prc-about-this-research":{"status":"incomplete","message":"Add an \"About this research\" details block.","data":null},"prc-paragraph-count":{"status":"complete","message":"Found 37 paragraphs.","data":{"count":37}},"prc-internal-link":{"status":"complete","message":"Found 3 internal links.","data":{"count":3}}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/01\/PP_24.01.02_Disengaged_feature-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"relatedPostsOrdered":[],"bylinesOrdered":[],"acknowledgementsOrdered":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/437"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45719"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45719\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":273443,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45719\/revisions\/273443"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45719"},{"taxonomy":"bylines","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bylines?post=45719"},{"taxonomy":"collection","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/collection?post=45719"},{"taxonomy":"datasets","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/datasets?post=45719"},{"taxonomy":"level_of_effort","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/level_of_effort?post=45719"},{"taxonomy":"primary_audience","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/primary_audience?post=45719"},{"taxonomy":"information_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/information_type?post=45719"},{"taxonomy":"_post_visibility","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_post_visibility?post=45719"},{"taxonomy":"formats","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/formats?post=45719"},{"taxonomy":"_fund_pool","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_fund_pool?post=45719"},{"taxonomy":"languages","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/languages?post=45719"},{"taxonomy":"regions-countries","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/regions-countries?post=45719"},{"taxonomy":"research-teams","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research-teams?post=45719"},{"taxonomy":"workflow-status","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/workflow-status?post=45719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}