May 2008

At least 20 percent of eligible Indiana citizens and 15 percent North Carolina citizens under the age of 30 participated in last night’s Democratic primary. In Indiana and North Carolina, unlike most other states, we can only estimate the level of participation in the Democratic primary since there were no Republican exit polls conducted.

• Click here to download the IN & NC press release
• See previous press releases here on 2008 youth voter turnout.

CIRCLE is hiring for the position of Lead Researcher. In July of 2008, CIRCLE will become part of the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service at Tufts University. The Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service prepares students in all fields of study for lifetimes of active citizenship, promotes new knowledge in the field, and builds an enduring and broadly shared ethos of citizenship and public service across Tufts University.

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April 2008

Washington, DC - 14 percent of eligible Pennsylvania citizens under the age of 30 participated in the Pennsylvania primaries, according to preliminary analysis by CIRCLE.
In Pennsylvania, unlike other states, we can only estimate the level of participation in the Democratic primary since there were no Republican exit polls conducted.

• Read the Pennsylvania press release here.
• See previous press releases here on 2008 youth voter turnout.

Youth turnout has been much higher in the 2008 primaries than in recent years. In some states, youth turnout has tripled or quadrupled. More than three million young Americans voted on Super Tuesday. Please see CIRCLE fact sheets on primary results so far:

• “National” results for Super Tuesday (with youth voter information from all Super Tuesday states)
• Alabama (no clear comparison year)
• Arizona (no clear comparison year- updated estimate)
• Arkansas (no clear comparison year-updated estimate)
• California (youth turnout up from 13% to 19%-updated estimate)
• Connecticut (youth turnout up from 7% to 12%)
• Florida (youth turnout triples)
• Georgia (youth turnout triples)
• Iowa (youth turnout triples)
• Louisiana (youth turnout doubles)
• Maryland (youth turnout up from 11% to 15%)
• Massachusetts (youth turnout doubles)
• Michigan (no clear comparison)
• Missouri (youth turnout triples)
• Mississipi (youth turnout triples)
• Nevada press release (no clear comparison)
• New Hampshire (youth turnout rises sharply)
• New Jersey (no clear comparison year)
• New York (youth turnout steady while overall turnout falls)
• Ohio (youth turnout rises sharply)
• Oklahoma (youth turnout triples)
• South Carolina (no clear comparison)
• Tennessee (youth turnout quadruples)
• Texas (youth turnout nearly triples)
• Utah (no clear comparison year)
• Virginia (no clear comparison year)
• Wisconsin (no clear comparison year)

• Fact sheet on the demographic make-up of young voters in NH, MI, NV, SC & FL, as well as information on young people’s top issues and vote choices. Voter turnout data are also presented.

• Fact sheets on upcoming primary or caucus states (updated April 18–includes IN, KY, NC, and PA):

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by CIRCLE and Rock the Vote

Authors: Karlo Barrios Marcelo, Mark Hugo Lopez, Chris Kennedy, and Kat Barr

March 2008

The report, Young Voter Registration and Turnout Trends, takes an in-depth look at historical trends in youth voter turnout, the demographics of young voters, and the politics of the youth vote. The report offers research and data on young voters broken down by state, gender, ethnic group, religious affiliation and other key demographics for the 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2006 elections.

• Read the press release.
• Special Report: Young Voter Registration and Turnout Trends
• Visit Rock the Vote’s Research page.

New CIRCLE Research Reveals Higher Income School Districts Offer More Opportunities to Learn about Politics and Citizenship

February 2008

Although half of young Americans ages 18-29 have never enrolled in college, 79 percent of the young voters on Super Tuesday attended college, according to new CIRCLE research. This gap was also evident in youth turnout rates: one in four eligible young voters with college experience voted on Super Tuesday, compared with one in 14 eligible young voters with no college experience. Click to download the research:

• Fact sheet on the youth vote in the 2008 Super Tuesday States (with detailed demographic data)
• Press release on the deep divide in the primary youth vote
• Listen to the NPR Story “Non-College Kids Outsiders to Rising ‘Youth Vote.” with CIRCLE director Peter Levine

Instead of making things more equal, school systems exacerbate this political inequality by providing more opportunities to learn about politics to higher income students, white students, and academically successful students, according to a new CIRCLE study written by Joseph Kahne and Ellen Middaugh of the Civic Engagement Research Group (CERG) at Mills College. Students in higher-income school districts are up to twice as likely as those from average-income districts to learn how laws are made and how Congress works, for example. They are more than one-and-a-half times as likely to report having political debates and panel discussions. Click to download the research:

• CIRCLE Working Paper 59: “Democracy for Some: The Civic Opportunity Gap in High School”

by Joseph Kahne and Ellen Middaugh

February 2008

In our study of high school civic opportunities, we found that a student’s race and academic track, and a school’s average socioeconomic status (SES) determines the availability of the school-based civic learning opportunities that promote voting and broader forms of civic engagement. High school students attending higher SES schools, those who are college-bound, and white students get more of these opportunities than low-income students, those not heading to college, and students of color.

• CIRCLE Working Paper 59: “Democracy for Some: The Civic Opportunity Gap in High School”

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 From the Director’s Desk: CIRCLE is Moving to Tufts University

1 “Millennials Talk Politics: A Study of College Student Political Engagement”

7 CIRCLE Fact Sheets

9 CIRCLE in the News

10 Countdown 2008: Over Three Million Young Voters Participate in Super Tuesday Primaries

• Download Around the CIRCLE- WINTER 2008 V.5 I.2

2006 CPHS Data Sets

The 2006 National Civic and Political Health Survey (CPHS) is the most up-to-date and detailed look at how young Americans are participating in politics and communities and their attitudes towards government and current issues.

Download the 2006 CPHS survey in the following formats:

• SAS (.xpt file)
• SPSS (.por file)
• SPSS (.sav file)
• STATA (dta file)

• Download the toplines.
• Download the codebook.

Read about The 2006 Civic and Political Health of the Nation report.

MIT Press has published Civic Life Online: Learning How Digital Media Can Engage Youth, a volume edited by CIRCLE advisory board member W. Lance Bennett with a chapter by CIRCLE director Peter Levine entitled, “A Public Voice for Youth: The Audience Problem in Digital Media and Civic Education.” The book is part of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning. MIT Press is providing a free open-access version of the whole volume. Bennett’s introduction, “Changing Citizenship in the Digital Age,” is a concise summary of the main issues.