We examine whether policies that enable families to opt out of locally provided public services are associated with reduced political participation. Our study is focused on two types of school choice policy in Michigan: inter-district choice and charter schools. Do parents who send their children to schools of choice or charter schools vote at…

Women in the United States have outpaced men in both voter participation and educational attainment in recent decades. Since education is closely tied to political participation, we consider these trends in tandem and assess how much of the gender gap in voting is attributable to differences in educational attainment, differential returns to…

We study how colleges shape their students' voting habits by linking millions of SAT takers to their college-enrollment and voting histories. To begin, we show that the fraction of students from a particular college who vote varies systematically by the college's attributes (e.g. increasing with selectivity) but also that seemingly similar…

With 20 million students across the country, student affairs professionals can affect voting in ways that can have a widespread impact on U.S. politics. Each institution is affected differently by state rules that govern who can vote. This article investigates the effect of state rules on college student voting. Findings suggest that there are…

Purpose: This study identified the attitudes and behaviors of college students regarding their advocacy for climate change adaptation and mitigation. Specifically, perceptions of climate change were assessed and advocacy activities were identified for climate change and/or other topics. Design/methodology/approach: Using convenience sampling,…

The present study examines links between civic engagement (voting, volunteering, and activism) during late adolescence and early adulthood, and socioeconomic status and mental and physical health in adulthood. Using nationally representative data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, a propensity score matching…

Across democracies, education predicts electoral participation and political interest. Here, German students on the pre-vocational and pre-academic educational tracks are compared to show how these differences emerge, and thus indicate how they can be addressed. In a Preliminary Study, a large dataset (3747 participants) revealed that there is a…

Using data from the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement, this study examined the relationship between student and institutional characteristics and college student voting in the 2012 U.S. general election, and how this relationship varied by socioeconomic status (SES). After controlling for several student- and institution-level…

In addition to increasing cognitive skills and preparing students for the labour market, one of the core tasks of education is to prepare citizens for participation in democracy. Considering the ideal of democratic equality, it is important to know the degree to which civic outcomes of education are distributed equally. One feature of the…

As American politics becomes more polarized, it is increasingly necessary for teachers to understand the relationship between education and partisan behavior. Using data from a 2012 CIRCLE survey of 18-24-year-olds, I examine the relationship between students' educational experiences (focusing on exposure to high-quality civics instruction and…

Purpose: Lave and Wenger's Communities of Practice is presented as a conceptual framework for examining extracurricular activities as a part of democratic schools' contribution to students' civic engagement. Data from the IEA Civic Education Study is analyzed to investigate research questions on the association between participation in two civic…

Higher levels of civic and community engagement in higher education are positively associated with students' academic performance and they also build upon citizenship skills such as informed voting. Yet, while these are worthy and important outcomes of higher education, students from disadvantaged backgrounds can have more difficulty navigating…

Despite recognition that youth civic engagement is multidimensional, different modeling approaches are rarely compared or tested for measurement invariance. Using a diverse sample of 2,467 elementary, middle, and high school-aged youth, we measured eight dimensions of civic engagement: social responsibility values, informal helping, political…

To what extent does social origin impact the disposition of students toward becoming politically involved in their future adult life? Using Chilean data from Civic Education Study, 1999 (N = 5688), and International Civic and Citizenship Education Study, 2009 (N = 5192), the present research analyzes, on the one hand, the impact of socioeconomic…

This article examines the effect of union membership on civic and political participation in the late 20th century in the United States. We discuss why and how unions seek to mobilize their members and where mobilization is channeled. We argue that union membership affects electoral and collective action outcomes and will be larger for low…