The potential benefits associated with sociopolitical group involvement for participating youth have been well documented in the existing literature. Yet, little is known about what motivates voluntary participation in such programs among youth. The purpose of this study is to explore what environmental factors influence youth civic engagement…

Building active and informed citizens is a major part of civics and citizenship education in order to enhance and sustain democracies. Civic learning and civic action opportunities within school contexts are commonly claimed to promote an active and informed citizenry. In the present research, we examine the meaning of formal civics education and…

In the democracies of today, school often have a dual role to play. Not only should they give students the knowledge they need to enter the labour market, they should also teach young people about democracy, and develop students' capacity to exercise their citizenship. A third task for schools is to enhance political equality in society by…

In the literature it is expected that a participatory democratic climate is associated with civic and political engagement intentions of adolescents. In this paper we use a three level multilevel analysis to explore these relations: the individual, school and country level. Using data from the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study…

This article uses an educational effectiveness approach to model the impact of student, school, and educational system characteristics on several cognitive and non-cognitive student outcomes related to citizenship education. Using multivariate multilevel analysis, data from the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational…

Participation is at the core of democratic society. However, studies have shown that participation is biased toward those who are better educated, more affluent, and in greater possession of civic skills. Scholars have pointed to the Internet as a possible remedy for the disparity in participation for its potential to lower barriers and increase…

Researchers, politicians, and the public have criticized colleges and universities for not effectively preparing college students to be active participants in their communities and within a democratic society. Institutional initiatives on civic engagement have focused on community service and service-learning initiatives to meet this demand. The…

Since the American Revolution free public education has been a discussion of political debate. The purpose that such an institution should play in society is a debate fervently argued when the founding fathers wanted to build a republic based on meritocracy. The problem this study addresses is the undefined relationship between the goals of…

It is possible that human capital produces positive externalities to the society indirectly, through non-market channels such as health or crime. Another such channel could be the effect of education on the functioning of democratic decision-making. Measures of the functioning of democracy are bound to be controversial, but one such measure--voter…