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…

No other group is as disengaged from elections as youth. Voter turnout in the United States trails that of other industrialized societies, and is particularly anemic among youth between the ages of 18 and 24. The purpose of this study was to assess whether young people's expertise with information technology could be harnessed to stimulate a…

Civic involvement is a powerful opportunity in which young citizens can be more engaged in society. It provides young citizens with various opportunities to see themselves as contributing members to the community-at-large. Civic involvement enhances citizenship and civic engagement, allowing young citizens to develop a sense of community as an…

Volunteering rates among young people are generally higher than they are among adults 26 and older. However, measuring volunteer rates among all adults is a difficult task. In recent years, efforts at measuring volunteering have produced widely different estimates, largely because of the methods employed to measure volunteering. For example, the…

Several nonprofit organizations provide instructional materials and guidance to support experiential civic education in schools. General evidence from national surveys suggests that the use of these products and methods improves students? political and civic knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors. This paper reports the result of a particular…

On December 1 and 2, 2005, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, the American Political Science Association's Standing Committee on Civic Education and Engagement, and CIRCLE (The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement) convened 22 distinguished scholars from political science, developmental psychology,…

This fact sheet compares the numbers of 18-25 year-old immigrants by nativity status, gender, race, ethnicity, geographic distribution, country of origin, year of arrival, marital status, educational attainment, and assesses population trends from 1994-2006. These numbers are based on Current Population Survey data. An appendix presents: 2006 At a…

This fact sheet presents data on the role that "moral values" played in the 2004 youth vote, based on the National Election Pool (NEP) national exit poll. It concludes that the defining moral characteristic that separates today's youth from older generations may be their increased tolerance for other religions, races, and sexual orientations.…

One reason to offer sports in school is to teach youth the values, skills, and habits that will make them more active, engaged, and responsible citizens. Past evidence on the civic effects of sports is mixed, but points to some potential positive civic effects. This fact sheet uses recent data from the 2002 National Youth Survey of Civic…

This year's elections follow a presidential election that witnessed the highest level of national youth voter participation in over a decade, and a voter turnout rate among 18 to 29 year olds of 47 percent, up 9 percentage points over 2000. This fact sheet reports the characteristics of young voters nationally, including estimates of the number of…

On November 8th, CIRCLE released preliminary estimates showing that youth voter turnout rose to approximately 24% of eligible young voters between the ages of 18 and 29. This fact sheet presents information about young voters' political preferences, the issues that concerned them, and updated turnout estimates. Most of the information presented in…

This fact sheet compares the numbers of 18-25 year-old residents and citizens by gender, race, ethnicity, geographic distribution, marital status, military status, unemployment, educational attainment, and assesses population trends from 1968-2006. It explores such demographic characteristics of young people using data from the March Annual…