CIRCLE has issued two releases estimating youth turnout in the 2004 presidential election. The first release was issued on November 3rd and provided the earliest turnout estimates based on National Election Pool (NEP) state and national exit polls and a preliminary vote count. The second was a Fact Sheet released on November 8th which provided…

Young people?s interest in the 2004 presidential election is at its highest since 1992. According to a September MTV/The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement (CIRCLE) poll conducted by CBS News, 81 percent of young registered voters are paying close attention to the campaign, compared to 85 percent in 1992, the last…

Ways of enhancing knowledge of political institutions, processes and positions are the focus of many prescriptions for improving civic education and civic engagement among young people. A recent data source including a rigorously developed test of knowledge, provides an opportunity to empirically compare the performance of students in the United…

A survey conducted by the Council for Excellence in Government and The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement (CIRCLE) reveals unprecedented information about the content and significance of civics and social studies classes today. Overall, the curriculum and message of history and social studies classes appear to be more…

Fostering an ethic of active citizenship is typically a key goal for national service. However, national service advocates often assume that national service will act as civic education, paying insufficient attention to what this means and how different policy designs further or undermine different conceptions or aspects of citizenship. This paper…

In recent years, young people? particularly high school students and college freshmen? have exhibited rising volunteering rates. Most Americans report that they volunteer. However, those who say they volunteer range from people who contribute a few hours each year to those who work every day on an unpaid basis. This fact sheets looks more closely…

The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) promotes research on the civic and political engagements of Americans between the ages of 15 and 25. The following topics are covered in this issue of Around the CIRCLE: (1) CIRCLE and The Council for Excellence in Government Release New Poll on Young People; (2)…

Service-learning is a curriculum-based form of community service that integrates classroom instruction and reflection with hands-on service experiences. While the number of schools organizing service-learning activities has not yet surpassed the large percentage of K-12 institutions that simply offer or organize community service, the pedagogy has…

What difference does a sense of trust in a political system, schools, or fellow citizens make for young people's civic and political participation? Some argue that a certain amount of skepticism among adult citizens motivates participation rather than complacency. Is that also true for young people? Or, is there a threshold level of trust…

This fact sheet discusses young people and political campaigning on the Internet. It explains how the Internet has become a powerful force in political campaigns. A survey released by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press on January 11, 2004 found that the Internet is gaining importance as a source of political news, especially for…

Volunteer rates vary tremendously across states and age groups. In recent years, young people have exhibited rising volunteering rates, particularly high school students and college freshmen. When comparing the volunteer rates for different age groups in 2002 and 2003, 16-18 year olds volunteer at consistently higher rates than their college-age…

A shrinking number of Americans are interested in politics?a trend pronounced among younger citizens. Politicians, academics, civic leaders and others are scrambling to find solutions. This study was commissioned by the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) and focuses on local political parties.…

The following report represents the findings from the qualitative portion of the News for a New Generation project. This data provides information about what kinds of news is available for young people, why producers create youth-oriented news the way they do, and what young people say they really want in news. The combination of textual analysis,…

The purpose of this paper is to examine different facets of trust in the political system or civic realm and how they are correlated to the expected civic or political engagement of young people. The nature and effects of trust in social and political institutions have been studied in adults, distinguishing between various types of trust (in…

Many youth-serving organizations are engaging young people in youth organizing and/or in interventions to support specific identity development in response to a need for meaningful opportunities for older and diverse youth to be civically involved in their communities. This paper explores differences in developmental outcomes and supports and…