Young Americans’ degree of political activity, the form(s) that activity takes, and what it implies about the future of American politics have all received attention from political scientists in the last decade. Positive accounts of youth political engagement, with “youth” often defined as those between the ages of 18–29 years, often push back against the conventional wisdom of contemporary young people as politically disengaged or apathetic, particularly when judged against the heyday of youth activism in the 1960s. Both anecdotal media reports and survey data suggest that today’s youth are interested in a range of issues, including gun violence, police brutality, and immigration, and that they tend to communicate their views on these issues through posting online and protests. Although these tactics have been dismissed by some as unlikely to influence political elites, the upswing in the youth vote in the 2018 and 2020 election suggests a deeper level of traditional participation than expected.

In The Political Voices of Generation Z, Laurie L. Rice and Kenneth W. Moffett seek to determine what links exist between young people’s seemingly preferred forms of participation—posting online and protesting and engaging in traditional civic and political activities—and contacting elected officials. As the authors note, if in fact the growth in youth activism through “outsider tactics helps produce increased electoral and governmental involvement, then young adults’ voices are more likely to matter” to politicians (p. 13).

Drawing on survey data collected on the day after the 2018 and 2020 elections, Rice and Moffett conclude that “posting about political issues is associated with higher levels of political participation,” with the caveat that the effect differs by issue (p. 21). For example, posting about #MeToo, the Supreme Court nominations of Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, and gun control was associated with higher levels of political and civic activities, whereas posting about (or even protesting) immigration was not (p. 21).

After an introductory chapter explaining the importance of considering the political commitments of this age demographic, the following five chapters focus on the likelihood that posting online or attending a protest dedicated to a particular issue is associated with engaging in other political or civic activities. In order, the chapters highlight the #MeToo movement; the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court; gun violence, with a particular focus on the Parkland shooting; immigration, including family separation, the border wall, and DACA; and the Black Lives Matter movement. Each chapter begins with an overview that concisely lays out how a particular issue gained the attention of Gen Z and a framework for why one might expect young adults to be motivated to take political action on that issue. For example, chapter 2 establishes #MeToo as a social movement and explains how social movements serve to mobilize political activity (pp. 33–36). The following chapter on the nominations of Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court draws on prospect theory to hypothesize why young adults “who viewed these nominations as a threat [to established rights such as abortion or same sex marriage] might have a greater incentive to participate than those who thought they would help advance their interests” (p. 68). Notably, over the course of these five case-study chapters, Rice and Moffett offer clear, succinct introductions to social movements and prospect theory, as well as media framing, focusing events, group identification, and anxiety. Finally, chapters 7 and 8 examine whether, in each of these five areas, the outsider strategies of posting online and protesting led to participation through the insider tactic of sharing views with elected officials.

The link the authors establish between posting online and more traditional activism (at least on some issues) undermines charges of youth “slacktivism.” Furthermore, their diverse findings across issue areas provide a necessary reminder to be cautious in our assumptions that the way young adults respond to one issue will necessarily carry over to others. Offering a robust explanation for how or why individuals move from posting online or protesting to other activities is outside the scope of Rice and Moffett’s work. However, by effectively demonstrating which political issues lead to these connections, the authors lay necessary groundwork for such a project.

Finally, a research design choice by Rice and Moffett merits attention: the authors dispense with the traditional age band of 18–29 years in their analysis, critiquing it as overly broad given the different stages in the life cycle and often in participation rates covered by it. Instead, Rice and Moffett limit their analysis to those between the ages of 18 and 25 years, which encompasses the youngest two years of the Millennial generation and the oldest six years of Generation Z. I appreciate the authors’ recognition of the tremendous differences that hide within this age range. Given their interest in determining whether posting online or protesting on a particular issue is associated with more traditional activities, limiting the survey to a younger group of young adults likely creates a stronger test while also allowing for a more focused narrative at the start of each chapter about how young adults would have encountered a particular issue.

By explicitly assessing the relationship between posting about a political issue online or joining a protest and the likelihood of engaging in traditional political and civic activities or contacting an elected official, Rice and Moffett connect activities and issues that are often siloed in this research. I recommend this book for anyone interested in the political views and behavior of Gen Z or in the connection among online posting, protests, and more traditional forms of political and civic activity. I particularly recommend that individuals teaching undergraduate courses in political activism or behavior consider this text. Each chapter offers a brief overview of a contemporary political issue under consideration while also offering insight into how political science as a discipline can provide a framework for understanding individual views of, and activism surrounding, those issues from the standpoint of Gen Z.