Youth voter turnout remains stubbornly low and unresponsive to civic education. Rigorous evaluations of the effects of adopting civics tests for high school graduation by some states on youth voter turnout remain limited. We estimate the impact of a recent, state-mandated civics test policy--the Civics Education Initiative (CEI)--on youth voter…

Through civic education and social interactions at school, students are able to develop more or less political knowledge and trust in political institutions. Both precede intended electoral participation. However, it is disputed whether the relationship between political knowledge, trust, and intended participation is consistent across countries.…

Background/Context: Robust civic engagement by young adults supports the aims of a democratic society, as well as college- and university-espoused commitments to the public good. Civic engagement also benefits students themselves. Although voting participation among young adults has shown modest increases from 2016 to 2020, work remains to be done…

Youth voter turnout remains stubbornly low and unresponsive to civic education. Rigorous evaluations of the adoption of civic tests for high school graduation by some states on youth voter turnout remain limited. We estimate the impact of a recent, state-mandated civics test policy--the Civics Education Initiative (CEI)--on youth voter turnout by…

In presidential election years such as 2016, colleges and universities across the country devote substantial time and resources to student debate watch events in hopes of engaging students in the election and of generally enhancing political engagement. Few studies examine the effectiveness or potential role of such events for college students'…

Every four years during the presidential election season, the media focuses on the perceived apathy of young people, and many well-intentioned organizations zero in on mobilizing young voters. This strategy leads to a myopic focus on just registering students to vote without adequate attention given towards the larger task of growing voters and…

Young people must systematically learn to become voters, and this is especially the case for those who grow up with little to no access to structured civic opportunities like extracurricular activities and community organizing. With those principles in mind, and based on 2018 research and experience with practitioners and partners, the authors…

Both direct and indirect influences have been assumed to impact the transmission of political orientations within families. A lower socioeconomic status is related to lower intended political participation of adolescents. Within this context, schools play a crucial role in political socialisation, as citizenship education is assumed to either…

Prior research indicates that individuals are more likely to take political action (e.g., vote, contact representatives, protest) when they have higher levels of "political efficacy," the belief that one's actions can influence political processes. In this mixed methods longitudinal study, I draw on Wenger's and Bandura's theories of…

Background/Context: Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSIs), or those postsecondary institutions that meet the 25% Latina/o enrollment requirement to become federally designated as HSIs, are burgeoning in the United States. Similarly, emerging Hispanic-Serving Institutions (eHSIs), or those postsecondary institutions that enroll between 15% and 24%…

The democratic practice of representative government in the United States is supposed to represent and protect its citizens. Since the United States abolished legalized slavery with the 13th Amendment in 1865, individual states have made many attempts to impede the civil rights and voting rights of African American citizens. Several pieces of…

This chapter presents an analysis on civic values in the Mexican and German youth population (high school education students), considering the set of capabilities and civic dispositions that mobilize young people of both countries, and which together reflect the calls "civic virtues", with the purpose of knowing what characterizes the…

Guides and resources in this kit are prepared for a six week to two month secondary voter education course. The objectives are to prepare and motivate eligible students to register and vote in the presidential election, to participate in the presidential election campaigning, and to increase their overall knowledge concerning the presidential…

The influences of high school community service participation, extracurricular involvement, and civic knowledge on voting and volunteering in early adulthood were examined using the National Educational Longitudinal Study. The major finding in this study is that both voluntary and school-required community service in high school were strong…

Project 18 is a course developed to encourage student involvement in the political system. It attempts to teach the importance of an active, concerned citizenry for the democratic process. (Author)