 |
What does it mean to be "civically engaged"?
The research team that created The
Civic and Political Health of the Nation: A Generational
Portrait developed several categories of civic indicators.
The team conducted a series of focus groups with young
people from around the country and surveyed a nationally
representative sample of both youth and adults. The resulting
indicators are useful in identifying a range of civic
engagement activities.
If you are interested in using the indicators for assessment
or evaluation purposes, please read the notes at the bottom
of this page. Feel free to contact CIRCLE for more information
or advice about additional measures of youth civic engagement.
Civic Indicators
- Community problem solving:
Working together informally with someone or some group
to solve a community problem
- Regular volunteering for a non-electoral organization:
Working in some way to help others for no pay (includes
volunteering for an environmental organization; a civic/community
organization, a social services organization to help
the poor, elderly, or homeless; a hospital; or an organization
involved with youth, children, or education)
- Active membership in a group or association:
Belonging to and actively participating in (not just
donating money) groups or associations, either locally
or nationally
- Participation in fund-raising run/walk/ride:
Personally walking, running, or bicycling for a charitable
cause (does not include sponsoring or giving money for
this type of event)
- Other fund raising for charity:
Helping raise money for a charitable cause
Electoral Indicators
- Regular voting:
Voting regularly in both local and national elections
- Persuading others:
Talking to others when there is an election taking place
to try to show them why they should vote for or against
one of the parties or candidates
- Displaying buttons, signs, stickers:
For a candidate, political party, or political organization
- Campaign contributions:
Contributing money to a candidate, a political party,
or any organization that supported candidates?
- Volunteering for candidates or political organizations
Indicators of Political Voice
- Contacting officials:
Contacting or visiting a public official, at any level
of government, to ask for assistance or to express an
opinion
- Contacting the print media:
Contacting a newspaper or magazine to express an opinion
on an issue
- Contacting the broadcast media:
Calling in to a radio or television talk show to express
an opinion on a political issue, even if it is not aired
- Protesting:
Taking part in a protest, march, or demonstration
- E-mail petitions:
Signing an e-mail petition
- Written petitions:
Signing a written petition about a political or social
issue
- Boycotting:
Not buying something because of conditions under which
the product is made, or because of disapproval of the
company that produces it
- Buycotting:
Buying a certain product or service because of approval
of the social or political values of the company that
produces or provides it
- Canvassing:
Having done some work as a canvasser going door to door
for a political or social group or candidate.
Indicators of Attentiveness
- Following government & public affairs most of the
time
- Talking often about current events with friends
or family
- Talking often about politics or government
- Regularly reading the newspaper:
"Regularly" means at least a few times a week
- Reading a news magazine with regularity
- Watching the news on television
- Listening to news on the radio
- Regularly reading news on the Internet
Using the Indicators for Assessment/Evaluation
The indicators can be used in two ways to measure civic
engagement for a group. First, they can be used to compare
the pattern of civic engagement in a group of people to
the pattern of civic engagement found nationally. Second,
these indicators can be used to measure changes in civic
engagement after a group has been exposed to a program
or other treatment.
Several cautions should be noted about using the indicators
to measure the effectiveness of a youth program, an organization,
or a specific curriculum, or just to compare a group to
the levels of civic engagement observed nationally:
- Many programs that are valuable to youth may not spark
an immediate change in these indicators, particularly
if the program is run over a short period of time or
is not very intensive. In such a case, giving young
people the indicators in the form of a pre-and post-test
may not always yield results, and most likely will not
capture subtle changes. The most appropriate measures
may be more specific to the content of a project. For
example, students in an environmental service-learning
program should learn about the particular ecosystem
in which they are working. The above indicators will
not reflect changes in environmental knowledge. Only
if the project is intense or lasts for a considerable
period of time would we anticipate changes in the civic
indicators listed above.
- All of the indicators measure behavior that can be
quantified. Some types of civic values, motives, and
behaviors may be better assessed through qualitative
measures such as open-ended interviews where young people
can describe their activities and intentions. If you
are using the indicators to assess civic engagement
in an organization or program, adding qualitative methods
to your evaluation will give a richer picture of your
program and the youth involved.
- The indicators were developed from a national sample,
and as a result, reflect civic actions that can be measured
on a national scale, but may not always be community
specific. For instance, the national sample had a low
representation of Native American youth. Consequently,
the indicators do not include civic activities that
may be common on a reservation or in a tribal community.
Similarly, if you are working with extremely engaged
youth, their civic behaviors may not be reflected in
the indicators. Please adapt the indicators to fit your
needs, and add new indicators to the list. Supplement
any evaluations with additional measures and other types
of data - particularly qualitative data that will give
you a better idea of the uniqueness of your program
and the young people you work with.
|
