[Note: This posting,
the previous posting, and at least the one to follow are a restatement of what
has been addressed previously in this blog.
Some of the sentences to come have been provided before but the concern
is that other information has been discovered and an update seems
appropriate. The blog has not changed
the overall message, that civics education is seriously deficient, but some of
the evidence needs updating.]
While
a current view of political knowledge among Americans – especially secondary
students – seems to have a more nuanced quality, the last posting still made
the claim that there are serious deficiencies in that knowledge. So, generally one can judge that American
efforts – primarily through the nation’s civics education program – in imparting
political knowledge – or, as it is referred to in current research, civic
literacy – has seriously fallen short of being effective.
How does this lack of knowledge and,
one can surmise, understanding of governance and politics affect other aspects
of citizenship? How does it affect civic
engagement, social empathy, civility, and law-abiding behavior? A look at these aspects follows in this
posting and, at least, the one to follow.
Of course, by looking at civic
engagement, one is investigating not only the activity, but also how its performance
relates to any benefits one derives from that activity and what skills one
exhibits in performing those activities.
There are various operational definitions for civic engagement; one of
them is offered by Thomas Ehrlich: “[T]o
make a difference in the civic life of our communities … It means promoting the
quality of life in a community through both political and non-political
processes.”[1]
As with political knowledge, the level
of civic engagement has been affected by the nation’s current political
landscape – its issues, concerns, and fears.
Citing the same Pew Research Center study[2]
highlighted in the last posting, one gets the same recent uptick in civic
engagement that was noted in levels of civic literacy. This is particularly true if one looks at
political engagement, that form of civic engagement most relevant to civics
education.
Here
is a summary of those findings:
Many
Americans participate in politics, either by volunteering for or donating to
campaigns, attending protests or meetings, contacting officials or expressing
their views on social media. Overall, a
large majority (67%) reports having engaged in at least one of these activities
in the past five years; nearly half (46%) say they have done so in the past
year alone.
About four-in-ten Americans (42%) say
they have publicly expressed support for a political campaign on social media
in the past five years, and 29% say they have done this in the past year.
Nearly as many (40%) say they have
contacted an elected official in the past five years, while 23% have done so in
the past year. Smaller shares – slightly
less than a third – report making donations to campaigns (29%), attending local
government meetings (29%) or attending political rallies or events (28%) in the
past five years. And 16% say they have
worked or volunteered for a political campaign in the past five years (5% in
the past year).
This needs a bit of interpretation. This writer believes that as a result of the
2016 election, large segments of the citizenry – mostly Democrats, liberals,
progressives, socialists, other left-leaning voters, and even many Republicans
– were shocked and dismayed by Trump’s election. They viscerally felt they needed to do
something. So, they chose to participate
in the types of activities that can be called political engagement such as
attending political meetings. But time
has passed.
Consequently, Americans’ engagement currently
has returned to what it has traditionally been – low levels – and the
percentages reflecting more recent behaviors, fall to the twenty percentage
point levels and more in line with how Americans engaged politically before
2016. One should note, the 67%
participation rate reported in the above citation includes making comments on
social media – an extremely low-cost form of participation.
Beyond current reportage, as
indicated by the earlier cited Pew research, what does that literature describe
in terms of other civic engagement? This
account starts with motivation in answering that question. It has already addressed a viable factor,
civic literacy. One is disposed to
engage civically if one harbors higher levels of civic literacy.
ISI reports that civic literacy, as a motivator,
turns out to be a chief factor in disposing people to be so engaged.[3] The Center for Information and Research on
Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) reports that young people with lower
levels of political knowledge are less likely to vote.[4] And on that score, a sobering finding is
offered by a Boston Globe
editorial: only one in three Americans
can pass the Naturalization Exam non-citizens need to pass to gain citizenship.[5]
Thom File reports in 2013 that fewer
Americans take the time to vote.[6] To many observers, voting is seen as the
bottom-line level of participation or engagement – just a bit more active than
expressing political opinions on social media.
Yet,
in the last presidential election, the 2016 election, 58.6% of eligible voters
voted (meaning that in this virulent election, 41.4% did not). In a recent mid-term election, 2014, only 36.4%
turned out (again, in 2018, in the middle of this atypical reaction to 2016, that
election had a turnout of 49.3% – a sort of record).[7]
How
about other forms of involvement? Peter
Levine and Eric Liu observe that Americans don’t belong to local, community
organizations as much or go to community meetings as often as in the past.[8] This finding echoes what Robert Putnam
indicates in his 2000 classic work, Bowling
Alone.[9] Adding to this picture, a national task force
found that Americans are also less apt to contact public officials and that
young adults (18 to 29 year-olds) have engaged in civic affairs – such as
voting and other civic oriented activities – to lesser degrees when measured
over the last four decades.[10]
Scott
Keeter, Cliff Zukin, Molly Andolina, and Krista Jenkins offer a set of
behaviors that captures the interests associated with civic engagement as it is
defined above. They are civic
activities, political voice activities, and electoral activities.[11] These writers report research that looks at
such factors from political attentiveness to political volunteerism and how
they are characterized vis-à-vis
these broader categories. Here, below,
are some of their summary findings.
The link between civic literacy and
engagement has already been made.
Partially, the link is how knowledge in these interests motivate
citizens. One motivation is to improve,
through exercising civic activities, the wellbeing of a citizen’s local
community and advancing a citizen’s
self-interest. As such, the range of
interest extends from the individual to his/her community and nation.
Civic
activities include belonging to civically oriented organizations such as
fraternal and religious organizations, volunteer efforts, fundraising efforts
for charitable organizations, and other community problem-solving groups. Of course, civic literacy is further enhanced
if the citizen in question participates in those groups’ activities.
There
is more to consider in terms of these other activities. The next posting will address them by
reporting what relevant research indicates Americans’ engagement is in these
activities.
[1] Thomas
Ehrlich, Civic Responsibility and Higher
Education (Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2000), vi.
[2] “Political Engagement, Knowledge and the Midterms,”
Pew Research Center, April 26, 2018, accessed April 8, 2019, https://www.people-press.org/2018/04/26/10-political-engagement-knowledge-and-the-midterms/ . The factual
information provided in this posting is derived from this source.
[3]
Intercollegiate Studies Institute, Enlightened
Citizenship: How Civic Knowledge Trumps a College Degree in Promoting Active
Civic Engagement.
[4] Center for
Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, “Fact Sheet: What Do
Young Adults Know about Politics? Evidence from a National Survey Conducted
after the 2012 Election,” 2013, accessed
May 15, 2018, https://civicyouth.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/What-Young-Adults-Know-Fact-Sheet-20131.pdf . Note:
this cite attempts to put a positive spin on knowledge levels of young
adults, but reviewing its results, one can judge this positivity as
questionable.
[5] “‘Americans’
Grasp on Civic Knowledge Is shaky at Best, Study Finds” (editorial), Boston Globe.
[6] Thom File, Young-Adult Voting: An Analysis of
Presidential Elections, 1964–2012 (Current Population Survey Reports,
P20-572) (Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau, 2013).
[7] Emily Stewart, “2018’s Record-Setting Voter Turnout,
in One Chart,” Vox, November 19,
2018, accessed April 12, 2019, https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/11/19/18103110/2018-midterm-elections-turnout .
[8] Peter Levine
and Eric Liu, “America’s Civic Renewal
Movement: A View from Organizational Leaders (Medford, MA: Tufts Report, Tufts University, 2015).
[9] Robert D.
Putnam, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and
Revival of American Community (New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 2000).
[10] The National
Task Force on Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement, “A Crucible Moment:
College Learning and Democracy’s Future” (Association of American Colleges and
Universities, 2012), accessed May 7, 2018, http:// www.aacu.org/civiclearning/crucible .
[11] Scott Keeter,
Cliff Zukin, Molly Jenkins, and Krista Jenkins, “The Civic and Political Health
of the Nation: A Generational Portrait,” Center for Information and Research on
Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), accessed on May 10, 2018, https://www.unc.edu/courses/2009ss1/poli/472/001/472%20Summer%2009%20course%20CD/Summer%202009%20Readings/Week%205/Civic_Political_Health%5B1%5D.pdf .
