The U.S. Constitution is the most well-known governing document in the country--studied by students, endlessly interpreted and reinterpreted by judges and political pundits, and placed in the category of near-religious reverence by many Americans. In the last 50 years it has been amended exactly once, in a ratification process that took over 200…

Higher levels of civic and community engagement in higher education are positively associated with students' academic performance and they also build upon citizenship skills such as informed voting. Yet, while these are worthy and important outcomes of higher education, students from disadvantaged backgrounds can have more difficulty navigating…

Despite the recent turmoil in the U.S. economy, most libraries that were tracked by "Library Journal" won their referenda at a rate just slightly lower than 2007. Nearly three-quarters of operating referenda passed. Building referenda under $10 million passed at a whopping 85%, with those over $10 million batting slightly better than…

Education issues are poised to break through the din of presidential politics and economic anxiety in more than a dozen states next month, as voters confront ballot questions and constitutional amendments involving K-12 policy and school finance. High on the list are gambling referendums in six states--Arkansas, Colorado, Maine, Maryland,…

The vote-by-mail procedure is presently being tried in Oregon. Supporters claim it is good for democracy because it increases the number of persons involved in decision making. Opponents say it encourages participation by people who know little or nothing about issues on the ballot. (MLF)

QUESTIONNAIRES WERE SENT TO A 10 PERCENT SAMPLE OF INCONSISTENT VOTERS IN TWO OREGON PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICTS WHO HAD NOT VOTED IN A PREVIOUS, UNSUCCESSFUL SCHOOL BUDGET ELECTION, BUT WHO HAD VOTED IN A SUBSEQUENT SUCCESSFUL ELECTION. DESPITE DEMOGRAPHIC DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE DISTRICTS IN LEVEL OF SCHOOLING COMPLETED, OCCUPATION, INCOME, PERIOD…

Explores correlates of legislator voting on educational legislation and the degree to which education issues are unidimensional. Differences in partisan affiliation, constituency, and personal background are examined as major explanatory factors for voting variations. (Author)

Examines this fall's record number of school-related citizen initiatives, which appear to be the work of earnest do- gooders and a healthy sign of democracy in action, noting that as Oregon's campaigns show, direct democracy has become politics as usual. (SM)

This Oregon curriculum resource guide about elections is intended for use by secondary social studies teachers who may already be teaching about elections, but need additional information and ideas to integrate into their classes. The guide is organized so that teachers may select individual lessons and activities to use in the existing…

THE VOTING RESULTS OF 13 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARIES, PARTISAN, NONPARTISAN, AND REFERENDUMS ELECTIONS HELD BETWEEN 1954 AND 1964 IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA, WERE STUDIED TO ASSESS THE EFFECTS OF PARTY AFFILIATION, CLASS COMPOSITION, AND RACE. THIS STUDY WAS A REPLICATION OF THE MAIN PORTIONS OF A DES MOINES STUDY (SEPTEMBER, 1963) AND RELATED THE RESULTS OF…

In November 1972, electorates in California, Colorado, Michigan, and Oregon decisively rejected consitutional amendments that (according to their supporters) would have reduced or eliminated reliance on the property tax as a means of financing education. School finance reformers were perplexed by these defeats. This study sets out to explain the…

The nation faces a youth citizenry that is disengaged and lacks the necessary knowledge, skills and dispositions to participate in and carry out their civic duties. This ECS Policy Brief summarizes the state-level goals and accomplishments of the Youth Legislative Engagement project and is intended for state policymakers, education leaders and…

A survey of absentee voting in the Highline (Washington) School District revealed that mailed-in ballots have no better than--and often less than--a 50-50 chance of favoring school finance issues. School officials should reconsider encouraging the growth of voting by mail. (IW)

This paper presents the results of an investigation into the issue of statewide tax and expenditure limitations (TELs). Through the use of public opinion surveys and case studies of the campaigns, the author explains the politics of the TEL issue. Chapter 1 uses a multivariate analysis to determine whether or not differences exist in the voting…

Cross-sectional analysis of 1971-1972 budget elections and expenditure data in 111 large K-12 school districts in Oregon indicates that the "agenda control" and "fiscal illusion" models predict expenditure levels better than the standard "median voter" model. The median voter model assumes that district expenditures…