The goal of this study was to identify teacher-reported practices related to teaching the 2018 US Midterm Elections and contemporary social and policy issues. In particular, we sought to identify factors that helped explain why teachers were or were not engaging students in the midterm elections and related contemporary issues and what contextual…

The results of the 2016 British referendum on membership of the European Union and the presidential election in the United States of America initiated political changes that will arguably have resounding impacts, within and beyond the UK and the US for years to come. Much of the rhetoric accompanying these political victories appears to confront…

Purpose: Preparing citizens for participation in pluralist democracies also requires a type of citizenship education that fosters critical democratic citizenship (CDC). This study inquires into an educational activity with a long history in many EU-countries: mock elections. It explores the extent to which elements of CDC-literacy, competences and…

Researchers have found that when young people participate in discussions of controversial political issues, they often become more politically engaged and informed (Hess, 2009). Nonetheless, some educators avoid fostering such discussions because they can become heated and distract from academic learning (Hess, 2002). Presidential elections,…

Infusing content about elections has not been an issue for social studies teachers, but rather contextualizing race discourse in discussions of elections has served as a curricular cessation for social studies teachers. This is especially concerning given that teachers' attempts to remain neutral with regards to race consequently results in a lack…

In the United States courses on civics or government are often marginalized in most states' social studies curricula in favor of courses in United States or world history. The origins of this history-dominated approach have roots in the debates between the American Historical Association and the National Education Association at the turn of the…

This article presents what the authors consider to be the ten top websites for teaching about issues in the election season. These include: (1) The Annenberg Political Fact Check--a non-partisan organization that assesses the accuracy of candidates' information in ads, speeches, and debates; (2) The Living Room Candidate: Presidential Ads…

During the six weeks before the 2008 elections, I conducted a contest for the 72 students enrolled in my upper-division course Campaigns and Elections. Using contract prices posted by Intrade.com, an electronic gaming market based in Dublin, I asked students to choose among 10 political outcomes. The "contracts" earned by each choice…

Last summer, California and Massachusetts became the sixth and seventh states--along with Hawaii, New Mexico, Vermont, Rhode Island, and Maryland--to send a resolution to the U.S. Congress calling for a constitutional amendment to (1) end the court's extension of personhood rights to corporations, and (2) enable the government to definitively…

Latino students, in particular, often feel alienated from politics, especially at the federal level, and this political disengagement often correlates with the immigrant status of students or their families. However, recent research suggests that the amount and quality of social studies coursework taken by immigrant students can reverse these…

An experiential political science course at the college level offers students a chance to volunteer their time to help in both national and local elections. Techniques and methods of evaluation are discussed. (JR)

Four ideas can be used to help students analyze the upcoming 1976 presidential election: expected vote and departures from it; impact of mass media on voters; use of public opinion polling; and connection between electoral and popular votes. (AV)

Provides a taxonomy of subskills needed to interpret political cartoons. Focuses on two of the subskills (caricature and symbolism) in detail. Includes copies of political cartoons that all pertain to the electoral process, guidelines for selecting cartoons for classroom use, and a list of resources. (CMK)

The power of civic education to elicit positive student outcomes has been empirically documented. However, the field is only now beginning to understand the causal processes that bring about these positive changes in young people. "The Civic Mission of Schools" report commissioned by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and CIRCLE (2003) lays out…

Improved understanding of political events and increased analytical skills are two contributions of a study of video taped media coverage of important political events, such as national elections. An appendix presents excerpts from the three major television networks' commentaries on election night 1972. (Author/DB)