These findings hint at a generational transformation in how Americans relate to political legitimacy. Older Americans are unified in their faith in the Constitution. Middle-aged Americans are split by education, sorted into different legitimacy frameworks. And younger Americans are divided and diverse, with no dominant view and increasing weight placed on personal belief and public opinion.
Wheatley Constitutional Government Fellow Jeremy Pope, along with BYU student Rebecca Bankhead, contributed an analysis to Deseret News about a generational disconnect in what Americans see as legitimate government policies.