This piece looks at how Americans view the importance of living in a democracy. A recent survey indicates millennials are less enthusiastic in this regard than are the prior two generations. But what does this difference indicate? Ronald Inglehart suggests that the economy may be affecting millennials’ relative lack of enthusiasm. After all, they entered the job market at the start of the Great Recession, and economic insecurity, says Inglehart, tends to make people feel disaffected from their government.

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