Political participation is seriously unequal. For example, young adults who finish college vote at almost three times the rate of contemporaries who have dropped out of high school. That gap translates into disparities by race and class. Effective civic education can reduce such inequality and make our democracy more representative. Teaching…

Rancorous dialogue among political opponents is nothing new in the American political system. However, in the past two decades or so, pundits and scholars have noted an increase in the overall intensity and frequency of incivility among elected officials and citizens. At the collegiate level, many universities have undertaken some form of civility…

Young citizens growing up in different societies experience multiple socialization processes that help to shape their values and attitudes toward the political life of their societies. In this cross-national study, researchers asked students directly about their views of what "good" citizens do, how they saw themselves participating in…

The present study shed light on the continuing debate among students of political socialisation regarding the effects of civic education on the upholding of democratic attitudes. Our major conclusion is that civic education, in and of itself, has only minor effects on democratic attitudes of pupils. Furthermore, among pupils who attended civic…

Presents a review of the burgeoning field of Canadian political socialization research as it applies to children and youth, and considers some implications of recent findings for the Canadian studies curriculum. (Editor)

Examines the hazards of teaching school children to have unquestioning trust in the government and its leaders. Suggests that students should be taught the actual rather than an idealized mechanism version of the American politics, and also the importance of the democratic citizen as both supporter and critic of the system. (MK)

Traditionally, civic education has been introduced at the eighth grade level. Research indicates that youngsters begin learning political information and attitudes much earlier. With that in mind, this publication is designed around concepts that can be developed throughout the primary and intermediate grades. Elementary students can begin to…

A study assessed the impact of different kinds of school management techniques on the development of political attitudes among students. The hypothesis was that students in schools which encourage student participation in decision-making will reflect higher levels of political interest, trust, and confidence. It was confirmed. (Author/DB)

Effects of participation by 904 elementary and secondary school social studies students in a political education project are discussed. Objectives of the project, entitled Improving Citizenship Education (ICE), are to assess student political knowledge (factual information, generalizations, principles, thinking and participatory skills), before…

This paper covers the processes of developing an assessment tool to evaluate children's achievement in Civic Education throughout the world. Problems established prior to the study included: 1) uncertainty about a "common core"; 2) the need for special attitude measures as well as knowledge tests; 3) strong out-of-school influences on a child's…

The project's activities during the past year to develop a process for analysis of the working of pressure groups in the political decision-making process are discussed in this report. In addition, information is given on the organization and developmental processes which the team used in the formulation and adaption of a unit. In the first part…

This project's study of pressure groups in Canadian urban government proposes the development of an interdisciplinary social science cirriculum for the secondary school student in grades 9 through 12 which would give meaningful perspective toward the various decision-making structures and processes. Other major objectives are: 1) to enable the…

This report of findings is designed as an initial sketch of some of the political attitudes and values of American High School Seniors at a particular point in historical time and at a single stage in their political development. In the spring of 1965 a national probability sample of 1669 high school seniors at 97 high schools were interviewed…

Democracy entails the concept of orderly liberty, a concept that implies both obedience and constructive skepticism. Since teaching youngsters to be democratic citizens is a central concern of civic education, we must be concerned about whether our youth acquire this concept of orderly liberty. Studies indicate that American youth tend to value…