If you watched the 2023 TikTok Congressional hearings, you most likely noticed many representatives, even across party lines, have two things in common — they are old and don’t understand how technology works. If you did not, I encourage you to. It will be both humorous and deeply concerning. 

Within the 119th Congress, 137 representatives fall between the ages of 60 and 69, 98 range from 70 to 79 and 18 are 80 to 89 years old, according to Pew Research. One representative is over 90 years old. By contrast, only 38 representatives are under 40 years of age and one, Florida Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost, is a member of Generation Z. 

There is something to be said for bringing career experience to the table in government and public policy, but new ideas and perspectives are also essential for moving forward and increasing representation. 

In the face of climate change, gun violence, economic instability, rapid advances in AI and an increasing partisan divide, among other issues, the stakes for Gen Z are high. We’re simply going to be around longer than older generations to face the future consequences of our current actions. We should do everything we can to have a hand in deciding what that future will look like. 

Gen Z is severely underrepresented in government and the most direct way to address that is for more Gen Z candidates to run for office and for young voters to elect them. 

Preeyal Parekh, co-communications director for the Undergraduate Political Science Association (UPSA) at the University of Minnesota, said politics is an important avenue for young people to address the issues they worry about, such as making a living and providing for others. 

“I think people tend to disassociate politics and just write it off as like, ‘Oh, I don’t want to get into politics, I don’t want to talk about things that are maybe uncomfortable to talk about,’” Parekh said. “But those uncomfortable things are exactly what will make or break your future.” 

Parekh said Gen Zers have a unique opportunity to increase their representation in office and address the issues that impact them most. 

“I think that it’s very important for Gen Zs to be involved in politics,” Parekh said. “It would be the best route for our generation to take because we need to control our future through our own hands.” 

In the effort to take our future into our own hands, we also must learn to work together, even if we disagree. We are all facing the same future, regardless of how we view the present. 

Emma Weilage, co-communications director for UPSA, said looking up to Gen Z candidates can encourage others to run for office. 

“Representation is everything,” Weilage said. “So if you see someone who looks like you in a position like that, you see yourself in that position.” 

However, there are not many Gen Z politicians and candidates to look up to, and being seen as a viable candidate for office can be one of the most difficult barriers Gen Z must overcome when running for office, Weilage said. 

“‘Why should I vote for someone so young, you don’t have experience,’ compared to their opponent, who’s had career experience, political experience, whatever it is,” Weilage said. “So I think just being taken seriously, and then the finances is super difficult to overcome.”

Long-standing ideological beliefs can also make it difficult for Gen Z candidates to establish themselves in political spaces, especially female candidates up against both age and gender limitations, according to Weilage.

“I saw this one person, it was like a Republican, I think, who was Gen Z, who ran for office,” Weilage said. “She said her hardest part was being a woman and Gen Z, and just having her constituents be like, ‘Oh, well, you should be at home doing all this stuff and not run for office,’ so that was one of her biggest challenges.”

Weilage said she took a class where the professor had students take a survey that viewed their own qualifications to run for office, which highlighted the internalized misconceptions many people have about women running for office. 

“It’s like, ‘Do you think that you’re qualified to run for office?’ and the men in the class said yes at a much higher rate than the women even though they have the same qualifications, the same education,” Weilage said. “It’s the imposter syndrome and not thinking that they’re good enough to run.”

Weilage said education is an important place to start addressing these misconceptions and limitations. 

“I feel like it could start with education, social studies, government,” Weilage said. “The school system could show all these people, not just these old white men in office, but also the women in office, the people of color in office, and kind of plant that in their brain that the government is reflective of everyone, so you can run for office as well.”

While Gen Z needs to increase their representation in government, running for office is not for everyone. But, that does not mean you cannot make a difference. 

“I definitely think Gen Z should run for office and not be discouraged, because their voice matters just as much as people who’ve been in office for like 50 years,” Weilage said. “ I think running for office can be very intimidating for people, so there’s other ways to get involved with politics, like working on a campaign.” 

Simply using credible sources of information to be informed is an important place to start and a way for people to be involved in politics if they are not able to participate in other ways, according to Parekh. 

“Just be in the know of what’s happening around you,” Parekh said. “Talk with your peers about the important things that’s happening right now, the important things that’s actually happening in the world. And because you are educated, you have the potential to educate the ones around you who may have the ability or actually want to directly involve themselves.”

Politics can be overwhelming, especially right now, but a future without the engagement and initiative of young people in office is even more worrisome. 

It can be difficult to know what direction we are going as a country right now and the future is painfully uncertain, but that is all the more reason to get involved. Educate yourself and others, join a campaign or run for office. 

Gen Z, take the wheel.