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…

Researchers have theorized that programs to promote positive citizenship should begin with an opportunity for adolescents to participate in civic activities, such as community service or political volunteering. In this report, authors expand this theoretical perspective by arguing that programs to promote positive citizenship may need to begin by…

The idea of a set of skills, usually called civic skills, which are required to effectively participate in civic and political life, is integral to many concepts of political participation. This literature search is designed to investigate what is known about civic skills empirically and theoretically including how they are defined and measured,…

Researchers have theorized that programs to promote positive citizenship should begin with an opportunity for adolescents to participate in civic activities, such as community service or political volunteering. In this report, the authors expand this theoretical perspective by arguing that programs to promote positive citizenship may need to begin…

For more than 250 years, Americans have shared a vision of a democracy in which all citizens understand, appreciate, and engage actively in civic and political life. In recent decades, however, increasing numbers of Americans have disengaged from civic and political institutions such as voluntary associations, religious congregations,…

This study describes the civic and political behavior of the American public, with a special focus on youth ages 15 to 25. Using an extensive national telephone survey of 3,246 respondents, the authors describe what citizens are doing, and how often they are doing it. They look at a panorama of 19 core activities--ranging from voting to…

The influence of Kids Voting USA, an interactive civics curriculum taught during election campaigns, is assessed in the context of three field experiments that took place during the fall of 2002. The research sites are Maricopa County, Arizona; El Paso County, Colorado; and Broward/Palm Beach counties, Florida. The authors present findings from…

By and large, scholars of electoral behavior and civil society consider education to be the key predictor of civic participation. Indeed, civic education is held to be a fundamental institution of all deliberative democracies. Yet after decades of empirical research, we still know little about the causal mechanisms through which education fosters…

This progress report provides evidence for persistent influence of Kids Voting USA (KVUSA), an interactive civic curriculum taught during election campaigns. The entire research project consists of multiple waves of student and parent interviews, covering a three-year period. Respondents were recruited from families in Arizona, Colorado, and…

The United States has an extensive network of publicly financed and managed schools and provides almost no financial support to private schools. One of the most fundamental justifications for the status quo is the hypothesis that the regulation of private schools cannot adequately ensure that the desired social benefits of schooling will be…

This literature review is specifically interested in empirical research addressing the relationship between adolescent participation in extracurricular activities and adult political engagement. Relevant research is found in political science, psychology, education and sociology. In order to capture the literature most directly related to the main…