The 1971 passage of the Twenty-Sixth Amendment to the US Constitution was a significant step in advancing voting rights that offered a new route for young people to participate in public life. While met with enthusiasm in many quarters, the question of where a substantial segment of the youth vote--college students--would cast their ballots was a…

This paper considers the functions and effects of "representation" in politics and education. The voting age for public elections in Japan has been lowered from 20 or older to 18 or older, calling for a shift in the curriculum to the basics of political participation and competence. In this paper, while focusing on the political issues…

When the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates head into the general election this fall, they will be courting votes from a statewide electorate that has dramatically shifted over time, mirroring the political polarization that is happening across the country. Over the last three decades, Wisconsin's political geography has evolved…

This paper examines prime minister Robert Menzies decision to support science education in Australian schools in 1963. This was a landmark shift in policy for the federal government, but in many ways mirrors the decision of Eisenhower who brought down the National Defense Education Act (NDEA) in 1958. The paper uses a transnational approach to…

The recent decline in voter turnout, a trend largely attributed to lack of youth participation, has focused the attention of many scholars on the study of young people and politics. While great strides have been made in understanding youth disengagement, one dimension of the field that remains understudied is the development of political interest.…

Adolescent voluntary associations are particularly well positioned in the life course to encourage voting as youth become full citizens. Extracurriculars socialize students into voting by habituating them to civic engagement and by connecting them to politically engaged cultures. We establish this argument by testing the effects of high school…

Political scientists and sociologists have long established significant differences in civic engagement between women and men. Utilizing data from the 2006 Civic and Political Health of the Nation Survey, and several other sources, new information is provided on the civic engagement of youth, confidence in government, and following public affairs…

The impact of involvement in high school athletics and nonsport extracurricular activities on political engagement among young Black adults was examined. We developed a conceptual model to identify school engagement factors and assess their influence on political participation (i.e., voter registration and voting behavior) of Blacks in early…

The Democrats have their best chance in 10 years to make major gains in the congressional elections on November 7, 2006 while Republicans are striving to retain control of both the House and the Senate. For Republicans to lose control of both houses of the legislature, the Democrats need net gains of 15 House seats and six Senate seats. This…

The landmark Civic Mission of Schools report of 2003 laid out an argument for the role of schools in promoting youth civic engagement and presented a range of promising ideas and practices to accomplish that. In this study we describe the civic engagement outcomes that Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) in Louisville, KY, has chosen to promote…

This Working Paper presents an overview of findings from research that addresses whether, and to what extent, gender is salient in the development of norms of citizen behavior and key precursors to citizen engagement. A variety of data is used to illuminate the complexity of gender's relationship to citizen engagement among today's youth. The bulk…

This paper analyses the data obtained from the findings on Hong Kong, as a part of the IEA second civic study. Because the survey was conducted two years after Hong Kong's return to China, the findings reflect concepts and attitudes toward citizenship among Hong Kong students shortly after the change of sovereignty. The study shows that Hong Kong…

Examines political relationships between Asian Americans and Latinos in the San Gabriel Valley, Los Angeles (California), focusing on an Asian-American organization dealing with redistricting and reapportioning, and reviews how this group allied with its Latino counterpart. The importance of federal law and legal precedent is demonstrated. (SLD)

The involvement of parents in the community school board elections in New York City in May 1989 was to be closely watched. Puerto Rican and other minority parents must seize the opportunity provided by the elections as a first step toward determining the educational agenda for their children. (SLD)