We present findings from the first wave of a longitudinal study of civic and political engagement among undergraduate students at a mid-sized university in the Midwestern United States. We find that high school experiences of civic learning are a significant predictor of three of our four measures of civic and political engagement, namely, the…

To what extent does social origin impact the disposition of students toward becoming politically involved in their future adult life? Using Chilean data from Civic Education Study, 1999 (N = 5688), and International Civic and Citizenship Education Study, 2009 (N = 5192), the present research analyzes, on the one hand, the impact of socioeconomic…

Encouraging students to engage in activities that actively seek to promote social justice is a goal of many educators. This study analyzed college student perceptions around social justice and related activities in a medium-sized, urban university in the United States. Students' open-ended responses to questions assessing their perceptions of…

Each secondary school in South Africa is legally obliged to establish a representative council of learners, a democratically elected, learner-only council. This article looks at how the representative councils of learners are realised in practice in four secondary schools. Three research questions focus on the practice of representative councils…

This article explores how active citizenship can be encouraged through education and community action. It proposes that service learning and a renewed focus on voluntarism can both promote social cohesion between different ethnic and cultural groups while also fostering among the population a greater understanding of and commitment to civic…

Borrowing insights from the Ancient Greek ideal conceptions of a democratic civic space (demos), this article examines the applicability of this framework to four teacher educators' journey to implement social justice in their programs. It is proposed that the three constitutive dimensions of demos (freedom of speech, equality to vote and…

Although citizenship education has received significant official attention in China in recent years, its aim remains vague. At a time when social demands increasingly influence policymaking by the state, this article examines the meaning of citizenship to the state and society in China. Data are derived from a content analysis of the use of…

A long-standing objective of American public education is fostering civically engaged youth. Identifying characteristics associated with likelihood of future voting, a measure of democratic participation that predicts future voting behavior, might yield targets for education programs to increase civic participation. Survey data from urban…

This article provides a critical examination of a common form of adult attempts to promote civic engagement among young people, namely, youth advisory councils. While youth councils have been widely celebrated as an effective way to integrate young people into political processes, little research has explored why some politically active youth…

This article investigates retrospectively and prospectively the educational and career aspirations and experiences of young minority ethnic British citizens. It focuses on one aspect of a larger mixed methods study, that is, qualitative research involving in-depth interviews with a stratified sample of 20 young men and women of minority ethnic…

This mixed methods study considered the relationship between the civic development of college students participating in the Serve Program at Ignatius University and the influence of these students' parents. The Serve Program is a community service learning program that combines coursework in philosophy and theology with a year-long service…

This article reports key findings from in-depth interviews with undergraduate students returning from international service trips (ISTs). These interviews examined students' perceptions of social change activities and assessed students' affinity toward service and activism independently as well as the perceived relationship and interaction between…

Higher educational practices in post-Soviet Central Asia remain predicated on an authoritarian conception of expertise rooted in an objective and universal science. While the substance of such education has changed since the Soviet era, the form of education remains rooted in Soviet-era discursive ideological practices, practices that encourage…

We raise questions about young people's participation in light of findings from a project ("Democracy through Citizenship") funded by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust Limited, and managed by the Institute for Citizenship. Following a six-month feasibility study the project took place over a three-year period in one local authority in the north of…

This article examines recent UK government policy and proposals relating to immigration and citizenship, and the ways in which these policies are presented as means of securing allegiance and integration. From 1997, the incoming Labour government emphasized the importance of informed, active citizenship and social justice. From 2001, the emphasis…