U.S. youth's disillusionment and disconnection from American politics

Editor's note: Xu Ying, a special commentator on current affairs for CGTN, is a Beijing-based international affairs commentator. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

Conducted jointly by ABC News, The Washington Post and Ipsos, a new poll released on April 27 shows that U.S. President Donald Trump's approval rating at the 100-day mark has hit the lowest level of any American president in the past 80 years.

In addition, a recent article titled "Young Men are Already Souring on Trump," published on April 25, reports a growing disillusionment among young American men toward both the Trump administration and congressional Democrats. A Harvard poll finds that 59 percent of men aged 18 to 29 disapprove of Trump's early entry into his second term, nearly half believing he'll damage the economy. Yet, their dissatisfaction spans the aisle; 71 percent also disapprove of Democrats, indicating deepening political cynicism and potential volatility in future voter behavior.

This means that the American political-economic system, long hailed as a model of Western liberal democracy and market vitality, is undergoing an identity crisis. This transformation has shaken institutions and is now palpably visible in the political alienation of one of its most traditionally engaged demographics: young men. 

This striking ambivalence points to a deeper crisis: Neither party commands the trust of the emerging generation. And for good reasons.

The Trump administration's second term has aggressively consolidated executive power. Institutions such as the Federal Reserve, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission have faced increasing political interference. What were once technocratic bodies, buffered from direct presidential pressure, are now drawn into the gravitational pull of short-term partisan agendas. Through a combination of executive orders and loyalist appointments, the Trump administration has chipped away at the autonomy of agencies critical to financial regulation and monetary policy.

While defenders may argue that these moves reflect populist oversight of the so-called deep state, the result has been increased policy volatility and declining global confidence in America's economic stewardship.

For young people, many of whom came of age during the 2008 crash and endured the pandemic-era job market, these are not abstract concerns. They live them daily. The prospect of an intentionally engineered economic disruption to centralize power, while once considered the stuff of conspiracy, now feels disturbingly plausible to a generation raised on institutional dysfunction.

What's more, trade policies have rattled the foundations of globalization. Imposing tariffs on core trade partners, including China and the EU and engaging in retaliatory measures have created ripple effects across industries.

For a generation saddled with student debt, shut out of homeownership and already underemployed, rising prices on goods and uncertain job markets intensify the belief that neither the government nor the market is working in their favor.

Yet, young men are not flocking to the left either. The same poll finds overwhelming dissatisfaction with congressional Democrats. Why? Because the opposition party has offered no compelling counternarrative. Instead of championing bold economic restructuring or meaningful institutional reform, Democrats have often focused more on incrementalism, identity politics, or internecine ideological purity tests. They have failed to harness the energy of an alienated generation, offering few answers to systemic disillusionment.

This lack of a political home is particularly acute for young men. Many young men report feeling excluded or villainized by mainstream political narratives. Some drift toward reactionary online spaces; others disengage altogether. The outcome is a vacuum in the democratic process, a space where resentment festers and neither traditional conservatism nor liberalism speaks to the insecurities or aspirations of youth.

From a theoretical standpoint, we're witnessing a textbook case of institutional erosion. The institutions built to regulate and stabilize have gradually become tools of political leverage. The executive's increasing encroachment into economic policy mirrors tactics used in hybrid regimes, where manufactured or organic crises justify extraordinary centralization of power. As new institutionalism suggests, reversing course becomes exponentially harder once this path is carved.

This is not just a domestic problem. The U.S.'s credibility in the world is weakening. Foreign governments, central banks and international organizations no longer believe the American institutions. As young Americans do, they see that the notion of a neutral, rules-governed economy is being rewritten.

Politicians, professionals, or amateurs must confront the systemic rot rather than paper over it. They must take young people's economic and political despair seriously, not merely in rhetorical flourishes but in transformative policies that speak to job security, housing and civic empowerment. 

Civil society, universities, think tanks, media and grassroots organizers must seize the moment to reimagine a political culture that does not default to cynicism. Americans need spaces where young men and women alike can see themselves not as pawns in a partisan war but as agents of a shared future.

The international community must recognize that America's internal disaffection is not isolated from global risk. A disengaged, disillusioned generation in the world's most powerful country poses challenges far beyond its borders, from the stability of alliances to the integrity of global markets.

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