America in One Room: The Youth Vote for First Time Voters

A historic gathering of over 400 American first-time voters to discuss major policy issues.

In our polarized political world, America in One Room—a series of national Deliberative Polls®—has shown that Americans of all backgrounds can come together to listen to each other’s perspectives and discuss the issues in a civil, mutually respectful way.

In 2024, Close Up, the Deliberative Democracy Lab at Stanford University (DDL), Helena, the Generation Lab, and the Neely Center at the University of Southern California hosted America in One Room: The Youth Vote in Washington, D.C. A nationally representative and scientific sample of first-time voters—the people who will shape political discourse for decades to come—came together to deliberate key policy issues. Now, we’re sharing the impact of this groundbreaking event and working to embed a culture of deliberative dialogue in schools nationwide.

Join students across the country for an online deliberation!

Deliberation has been shown to alleviate polarization, moderate opinions, and produce lasting effects on policy opinions, voting intention, and mutual respect. That’s why Close Up and DDL are hosting free, ongoing, online deliberations to engage students nationwide using Stanford’s AI-assisted Online Deliberation Platform. Each event includes 60 minutes of small-group deliberation on current policy issues followed by a 60-minute plenary session with experts and policymakers, giving students a chance to learn from an array of perspectives and form their own considered opinions.

We will be hosting national deliberations for students during Civic Learning Week (March 10-14, 2025). More information is coming soon!

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What is America in One Room: The Youth Vote?

America in One Room: The Youth Vote gathered a scientific and nationally representative sample of over 400 young Americans in our nation’s capital from July 19-22, 2024, from a variety of geographic, demographic, socioeconomic, cultural, and ideological backgrounds. Over the course of four days, students:

Considered key policy issues facing the country involving the environment, health care, economic issues, and democracy and elections.
Deliberated in small groups in a thoughtful, civil, and substantive fashion.
Had townhall discussions with balanced groups of policy experts.
Completed pre- and post-program surveys on policy attitudes and views on key civic health indicators, including trust in others, tolerance for diverse perspectives, and belief in democracy.

Students returned home as  Civic Ambassadors equipped to hold their own deliberations and gather data on youth perspectives nationwide.

About the Partners

Close Up is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, civic education organization that informs, inspires, and empowers young people to become active citizens. Since 1971, we have partnered with school districts nationwide to serve more than one million students and educators through experiential learning programs in our nation’s capital and in local communities, professional development, and curriculum design and consulting. Our goal is to connect what students learn in class to the real world around them and help them articulate their own views, listen to those of others, and engage with people of different backgrounds with tolerance and understanding. To learn more, visit closeup.org.

The Deliberative Democracy Lab at Stanford University is devoted to research about democracy and public opinion obtained through Deliberative Polling®. The method of Deliberative Polling has been used in over 50 countries around the world through over 150 projects, at varying levels of government and society. To learn more, visit https://deliberation.stanford.edu/.

Helena believes that the most consequential decisions, threats, and opportunities humanity has ever faced will take place in the next 50 years. Helena’s purpose is to find solutions to these challenges and implement them through projects. The Helena membership is a vibrant community of some of the world’s most capable leaders, ranging from Nobel Prize-winning scientists and activists to artists, technologists, explorers, and business leaders. Beyond advancing individual projects, members meet around the world and across disciplines to share ideas through Helena meetings. To learn more, visit helena.org.

The Generation Lab is a data intelligence company studying young people and the trends that shape the future. The Generation Lab translates youth views and behavior for media, academia, businesses, government, and the American public. Whether through a one-day snapshot poll or a multi-year longitudinal study, the organization pursues youth truth for clients and the American public. To learn more, visit generationlab.org.

The Neely Center for Ethical Leadership and Decision Making at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business provides leaders with tools at the intersection of ethics and technology so they can solve one of the most difficult and important challenges of our time: how to align emerging technologies with ethical, human-centered values. By promoting cutting-edge research, comprehensive education, and cross-disciplinary dialogue, the Neely Center strives to ensure that technological advancements contribute to both immediate and enduring societal benefits. To learn more, visit neely.usc.edu/.

University Coalition Partners

America in One Room: The Youth Vote

A historic gathering of over 400 American first-time voters to discuss major policy issues.

Join students across the country for an online deliberation!

What is America in One Room: The Youth Vote?

We’ve assembled a coalition of university partners nationwide.

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