High-level literacy skills are required for full participation in the democratic process through voting. Consequently, adults with low-level literacy skills are at a disadvantage. This work investigated the disparity between the readability of U.S. ballot propositions for year 2022 state elections and grade level reading estimates ([less than or…

The 1971 passage of the Twenty-Sixth Amendment to the US Constitution was a significant step in advancing voting rights that offered a new route for young people to participate in public life. While met with enthusiasm in many quarters, the question of where a substantial segment of the youth vote--college students--would cast their ballots was a…

The world is experiencing a democratic recession, and in the United States, core democratic beliefs are under attack. As a key social organization, academic institutions have a central role in the protection of democracy. Boards, presidents, faculty, and students have the ability--and responsibility--to protect and advance democracy. A course in…

While the model of deliberative democracy gives a crucial role to dialog, empirical evidence has not yet established if discussion helps to reach a better understanding of political issues and, above all, if individuals are prepared to change their views. It is still unclear when the deliberative model, and more specifically discussion, could be…

This book examines how racist political rhetoric has created damaging and dangerous conditions for Students of Color in schools and higher education institutions throughout the United States. The authors show how the election of the 45th president has resulted in a defining moment in U.S. history where racist discourses, reinforced by ideologies…

Focusing on youth attitudes during a time of political upheaval in Catalonia, we study 1,438 high school students, aged 15 to 16, nested within 30 high schools. Using multilevel analyses, we examine their perceptions of the importance of voting across different election types (independence referendum, local, subnational, national, supernational)…