This study examined the association between teacher-student and student-student relationships on societal involvement in Dutch primary and secondary schools. In addition, it studied differences in the effects of teacher-student relationships and student-student relationships among students from various parental backgrounds on societal involvement,…

Utilizing data from the 2009 College Senior Survey, this study measured and compared social agency and civic awareness among undergraduate students enrolled at four types of institutions: Baptist, CCCU, Catholic, and nonsectarian. Comparisons were made through paired-sample t-tests and ANOVA analyses. A series of separate multiple regressions were…

In the democracies of today, school often have a dual role to play. Not only should they give students the knowledge they need to enter the labour market, they should also teach young people about democracy, and develop students' capacity to exercise their citizenship. A third task for schools is to enhance political equality in society by…

The development of college students' civic identity is understudied, but worthy of attention because of its salience to many students and higher education's commitment to fostering an engaged citizenry. Using 45,271 participants from the 2009 Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership, this study uses structural equation modeling to explore…

Proponents of civic engagement extol the virtues of the college experience for enhancing students' capacities for democratic participation, yet few studies have examined the organizational contexts of such actions. This article applies theory regarding social movements in organizations to highlight the relationship between campus curricular…

Although the determinants of trust in governments have received significant attention in the literature on political trust, there has been no attention paid to whether environmental concerns affect governmental trust. Yet, if individuals are worried about local and global environmental degradation, they may think that the government has failed in…

This study analyses the impact of democratic decentralisation on the chances of socially excluded groups to participate in newly created local governance institutions--Panchayati Raj Institutions--in three Indian states. This institutional reform included a quota for the disadvantaged--women and lower castes--to ensure their effective…

To counterbalance research emphasis on conventional forms of political participation such as voting, discussing politics, and donating campaign money, the paper presents data from a crossnational study, conducted in 1974, of unconventional as well as conventional participation. "Unconventional participation" is interpreted as including…