Survey shows students lean right
According to an unscientific survey conducted by The Utah Statesman, 51 percent of students generally self-align with the Republican Party.
Students were asked if they were registered for a political party and, if not, if they generally agree with one party over the others. Of the 248 students who participated in the survey, 24 percent were registered members of the Republican Party, while another 27 percent selected the Republicans as the party they tend to agree with.
Registered Democrats made up 10 percent, with an additional 8 percent generally agreeing with that party’s platforms.
Michael Lyons, an associate professor in the department of political science who was not involved with the survey, said the number of registered voters on campus is probably lower than the survey suggests, but that the majority of students on campus would likely lean towards the Republican Party.
“What you’re mostly getting in USU is students reflecting the views of their parents and the community around them,” Lyons said. “Most people 17, 18, 19 years old have not given enough thought to issues to formulate what they think.”
Of those students who were registered to vote, 32 percent were not registered for a political party and of the total pool of respondents, 25 percent said they do not agree with a particular party.
Lyons said these numbers of political independence are not uncommon.
“Roughly 40 percent (of Americans) claim to be independent,” Lyons said.
Lyons described himself as a strong advocate of parties and said that often when individuals do not claim a political affiliation, it is more a result of being uninformed on issues than conflicting with the parties’ platforms.
“The more informed you are the more likely you are to have a secure party identity,” Lyons said, adding that older individuals tend to be more secure in their affiliations.
“It’s when you start to pay taxes and government starts to affect you more directly that you become more concerned with politics,” he said.
Lyons also suggested that while college campuses are normally considered liberal-leaning, the academic emphasis of USU coincides with conservative groups. Engineering, science, agriculture and business – the major fields at typical land-grant universities such as Utah State – tend to be made up of conservatives who value order, organization and finite conclusions. Social sciences like political science and humanities that deal more with theoretical applications of behavior tend to lean liberal.
“People with a high tolerance for disorder and ambiguity are more likely to be liberals,” Lyons said, joking that the very topic he was discussing would be an example of the theoretical analysis of human behavior liberal-minded people are involved in.
“We (USU) are not an outlier, we’re part of a broad group,” Lyons said.
While many people frown upon certain aspects of party politics, Lyons said that in a democracy, the formation of groups by like-minded individuals is inevitable.
“There is no such thing as a viable democracy without political parties,” Lyons said. “I would fear any attempt to operate a democracy without parties.”
Lyons said that parties play a crucial role in American politics, framing elections in a way that the average citizen need not spend exhaustive efforts educating themselves on the minutiae of each issue at stake. Without parties, he said, we would be left with what the philosopher Thomas Hobbes described as a “war of all against all.”
“You’re left with interest groups who view issues through narrow prisms of their own self-interest,” Lyons said.
With parties, he said, groups have to take a broad perspective on a wide-range of issues in an effort to reach the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Without parties, politics would likely be reduced to celebrity, name recognition and physical appearance.
“It would be nothing but Arnold Schwarzenegger, retired astronauts and professional athletes,” Lyons said. “The axiom of ‘I vote for the person and not the party’ is one of the most unfortunate beliefs we have in our country.”
Lyons said that he would like to see political parties in ASUSU elections, and suggested that such a format would likely result in a larger voter turnout, issue-centric campaigns and a better understanding among voters and candidates about what is at stake in the elections.
The University of Utah currently uses a party system in their student government elections. Marian Broadhead, elections registrar for the Associated Students of the University of Utah (ASUU), said that new parties are formed each year and students are responsible to fill the 67 positions for which elections are held. ASUU Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates run together on one ticket, similarly to the U.S. Presidential Election, and parties form platforms that address the issues they wish to focus on. Last year, she said, just over 10 percent of the student body voted in the ASUU elections.
ASUU Attorney General Oakley Gordon said that there are typically two to four different parties competing each year, ensuring competition, and in the past, groups that have made implausible claims have lost elections, suggesting that students at The U consider the issues before casting their ballots.
Broadhead said, “You see a lot of students that are interested in their platforms.”
At USU, students are allowed to work together on campaigns but political parties are neither recognized nor endorsed, ASUSU Public Relations Director Lacey Nagao said.
While the office of Student Body President generally draws multiple candidates, other ASUSU offices often go uncontested, such as last year’s election when Brent Crosby claimed the executive council’s second-highest post – executive vice president – without a challenger and Business Senator Skyler Jenks orchestrated a succesful write-in campain after the position fielded a single candidate.
Nagao said voter turnout at USU is closer to 25 percent and the no-party stance is intended to allow candidates a chance to express their individual views.
“We feel at USU if they run individually they can have their own platform,” she said. “We try to stay away from the popularity contest. We feel that a lot of friends would get together.”
Nagao said for this year’s elections, organizers hope to promote the importance and impact of the elections, noting that student leaders are in charge of distributing student funds.
“They really do spend your money,” Nagao said.
In other survey results, 40 percent of students said they voted in the 2008 Presidential Election: 46 percent of whom voted for John McCain, 37 percent for Barack Obama and 17 percent for other candidates. For the upcoming mid-term election on Nov 2, 71 percent of those surveyed said they are planning to vote.
– b.c.wood@aggiemail.usu.edu