Millennials and Public Service -- Investing Lives in Big Government

In their most recent essay, Morley Winograd and Michael Hais cite a Wall Street Journal poll in explaining that people want unified government because "it will end gridlock in Washington and things will get done." With the Democrats benefiting from this attitude, and with pieces of legislation like the GIVE Act passing through Congress, we can assume that our government will go through a much-needed growth spurt.

With college graduates encountering a hostile job market in the private sector and encountering a president who is more supportive of public service than any other president in recent memory, the number of those applying to government jobs following graduation has skyrocketed. The Washington Post published a story on this trend yesterday.

Two months after President Obama took office vowing to make federal service cool again, career services specialists report an increase among college students who want to work for the government.

"Lots and lots of students lined up for the federal government," said Alan C. More, employer in residence for U.S. government programs at GMU

"What we've seen across the board is an increased interest in government," said Tim McManus, vice president for education and outreach at the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service. "We're hearing from schools that they see government as an employer of choice. Government has been the afterthought option. It's no longer a second choice."

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An annual survey of undergraduates by the Partnership for Public Service and Universum USA released in January found that government and public service was the most popular of 46 career options for American undergrads, with 17 percent naming it their top choice.

One aspect of these numbers that could be particularly interesting down the road is the number of Millennials who invest themselves and their quality of life in the government. In other words, due to the current state of the economy, the Millennials' tendency toward service, and Obama's call to action, this generation of Americans might not only be conditioned to vote for Democratic Party ideals, but many may also count on the government for jobs and their livelihood over the next several decades. Thus, we'll have a generation of Americans who might be initially resistant to downsizing government partly because it's part of who they are. This is yet another example of Howe and Strauss's generational cycle at work, as the G.I. Generation exhibited similar views on government, seen especially well in the Social Security debate in recent years.

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