Group Of Young People Standing At The Entrance Of Voting Room

Young Adults in this Election Year: Rebuilding Broken Trust in Institutions and Leaders

As the United States faces a divisive presidential election in November 2024, there is a crisis of trust in our nation, especially among young people. Younger generations are losing trust in government, economic institutions, media, and organized religion. This dialogue will explore root causes of diminishing faith in political and social institutions through the lens of Catholic social thought. 

Four remarkable leaders will share and explore how media narratives, political missteps, public policy, and other forces have contributed to growing distrust and how young people can hold institutions accountable and help restore integrity and rebuild confidence in these institutions.

Participants

  • Yuval Levin is the director of Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he also holds the Beth and Ravenel Curry Chair in Public Policy. He served as a member of the White House domestic policy staff under President George W. Bush.
  • Sr. Eilis McCulloh, H.M., is the Grassroots Education and Organizing Specialist at NETWORK Advocates for Catholic Social Justice where she works with religious congregations and their sponsored ministries to develop advocacy skills.
  • Brandon Vaidyanathan is an associate professor and chair of the Department of Sociology and director of the Institutional Flourishing Lab at the Catholic University of America. He is the author of Mercenaries and Missionaries: Capitalism and Catholicism in the Global South (2019).
  • Justin Vassallo is a writer specializing in American political development, political economy, party systems, and ideology, as well as a columnist at Compact magazine and contributor to Commonweal magazine.
  • Anna Gordon, program director of the Initiative, will moderate the conversation.

This gathering will have three parts:

6:00 – 7:00 p.m. | Welcoming Happy Hour 

Meet and network with other young leaders over food and drink

7:00 – 8:00 p.m. | Dialogue

A conversation on “Young Adults in this Election Year: Rebuilding Broken Trust in Institutions and Leaders” with four leaders

8:00 – 9:00 p.m. | Reception

Continue the conversation with other young leaders over food and drink

This Salt and Light Gathering is for Catholics under 40 years old in Washington to help them explore links between faith, Catholic social thought, and their lives and work. Learn more about the Initiative’s Salt and Light Gatherings online.

Recording and Accessibility​

For those who cannot join us in person, the dialogue starting at 7:00 p.m. EDT will be livestreamed and posted online for later viewing.

All in-person accommodation requests should be sent to cathsocialthought@georgetown.edu by September 20. A good-faith effort will be made to fulfill requests.