This mixed-methods dissertation investigates the complicated relationship between the quality of formal educational attainment and political participation in the United States. Numerous federal-level education reforms, influenced by the Corporate Education Reform (CER) movement, have impacted the quality of educational attainment, and the formal and informal democratic skills traditionally learned in schools. Using quantitative methods, this interdisciplinary work examines state-level variation in Common Core State Standard (CCSS) implementation, civics classes, and exam standards, charter school enrollment, and the number of years students are required to take social studies classes. I argue that these varying conditions, as well as the dilution of the quality of formal educational attainment caused by CER, has impacted the ways high school students grow into participatory citizens. Using qualitative methods, I explore the ways educational standards in one state, over time, shaped teachers' perceptions of civics education, and how schools have acted as democratic spaces that shape future participatory citizens. This study design allowed for combined approaches to address a complicated question: how changes in the education system, influenced by privatization reforms, have impacted political participation. Results from the quantitative chapters indicate that Common Core State Standards implementation, social studies year requirements, and charter school enrollment all have negative and statistically significant relationships with voter turnout rates and a varying impact on political donations and the partisan direction of donations. The results from the qualitative analysis provide insight into how democratic spaces in schools have been altered through federal and state reforms and increased privatization in the social studies and civics marketplace. The final chapter revisits the implications of both the quantitative and qualitative chapters and presents policy implications and possibilities for future research. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]