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A trip to London provides an occasion to compare and contrast British politics and attitudes with those in America.Both have, in different ways, divided government. The Democratic president has been frustrated by the Republican House of Representatives and is likely but not certain to be until January 2017.Britain's ruling coalition has been occasionally strained by disagreements between the dominant Conservatives and the junior Liberal Democrats but seems likely to survive until the general election scheduled for May 2015.In America the big-spending policies of the Obama administration have been followed by sluggish economic growth, persistently high unemployment and low workforce participation.The British coalition's cuts in what Americans call discretionary spending have been followed by roughly zero economic growth but relatively low unemployment and relatively high workforce participation.In neither country is any party confident of winning the next presidential or general election. In both countries, young voters may be critical in determining who wins.Young voters in both countries hold libertarian views on cultural issues. They tend to favor same-sex marriage and legalized marijuana, while the elderly tend to be strongly opposed. But there is an apparent difference on economic issues.Americans under 30 tend to support big government policies more than their elders. They're likely to tell pollsters that government should do more to solve problems -- a position rejected by most American voters over the last 30 years.This Millennial Generation was also far more likely to support Barack Obama, who won 66 percent of their votes in 2008 and 60 percent in 2012. Obama carried older voters by only 1 percent in 2008 and lost them to Mitt Romney in 2012.Young Brits seem to take a different view. In British Social Attitudes surveys, they reject the policy of government-paid residential care for the elderly and express approval for big companies.They were born into a Britain where Margaret Thatcher's Conservatives privatized state industries and sold public housing units to tenants. They evidently dislike paying high taxes to support the currently scandal-plagued National Health Services ("ring-fenced" or spared from spending cuts, by the coalition government).And they seem to heartily support the coalition's cuts in welfare spending. They may have a hard time finding jobs, and they resent those who are sponging off the government for life
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Topic: In U.K. But Not U.S., Young Voters Turn Against Big Government (Read 902 times)
