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CIRCLE aims to generate research that will
help include all Americans in our civic life.
To this end, we are interested in special patterns and
causes of civic engagement (or alienation) among racial
and ethnic minorities, new immigrants, and women, among
others.
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Civic Engagement: How it Differs Between Young Men and Women
A new CIRCLE Fact Sheet, "Civic Engagement Among Young Men and Women," shows how young men and women perform on the 19 measures of civic engagement. Generally, young men are among the most engaged in a wide range of political activities despite lower voter turnout rates, and young women are among the most engaged in civic activities such as volunteering. They are also the most likely to vote. The Fact Sheet uses data from the 2006 Civic and Political Health of the Nation Survey, and several other sources, and provides new information on the civic engagement of youth, confidence in government, and following public affairs and the news, by gender.
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African-American Youth Trust in Government Plummets
While the majority of young African-Americans between ages 15-25 believe government should do more to solve problems, there has been a nearly 20-point increase since 2002 in the percentage of young African-Americans who say that “government is almost always wasteful and inefficient.” This shift in attitudes was also found for young people of all racial groups, though not as drastic as among African-Americans.
Despite this loss in confidence in government, African-American youth are the most politically engaged racial/ethnic group. Compared to other groups, African-Americans are the most likely to vote regularly, belong to groups involved with politics, donate money to candidates and parties, display buttons or signs, and contact the media.
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African American Inner City Teens and
Civic Engagement
Research by Michelle Charles explores how young inner
city African American youth define civic engagement. The
ethnographic study is based on interviews with African
American teenagers age 15 to 19 living in North and West
Philadelphia. Interviews were also conducted with "at
risk" youth serving civic engagement organizations
and other adults in the community. The author argues that
the concept "giving back to community" is an
important component of civic engagement that has not been
formally recognized. Further, she offers recommendations
for youth serving civic engagement professionals working
with inner city African American teenagers.
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Study Finds No Big Gender Gaps in Levels of Youth Civic Engagement
CIRCLE-funded research finds that there is no major “gender gap”
in civic engagement among today’s young people. According
to Dr. Krista Jenkins, the lead researcher, “Across most of the
options for participation in public life, the sexes are remarkably
similar in both what they choose to do and what they tend to
avoid. Although there are some interesting differences—such
as rates of voluntarism and political knowledge and attentiveness— gender does not appear to be playing a significant role in
shaping civic engagement among youth.” The research finds that generally women do not enter adulthood
with tendencies that make them any less likely to be engaged
citizens than men. However, there are some small differences in
the development of precursors to civic engagement. For example,
women are less aware of news and public affairs than their
male counterparts and also know less about politics, government
and the political process. On the other hand, young women
lead the way in volunteering and are significantly more likely to
believe that it is their responsibility, rather than their choice, to
get involved to make things better for society.
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Who Volunteers for the U.S. Military?
CIRCLE
Working Paper 32: Social Representation in the U.S. Military
Services explores the factors that may influence a
young person to join the military. The report finds that
there is a positive correlation between immigration status,
educational attainment and the opportunity to "get
ahead" with a willingness to join the military. However,
there is no correlation between a person's race and their
willingness to join the military. The analysis suggests
that it may be the nation's under-educated and less empowered
youth who are joining the military.
The paper also suggests that there is no
relationship between the factors that influence a young
person's willingness to join the military and the factors
that influence their willingness to pursue other community
occupations such as teaching, working in law enforcement
or firefighting. Finally, the research found that there
September 11th did not have a strong influence on young
people joining the military.
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Young Americans Most Tolerant Age Group
A new
CIRCLE Fact Sheet shows that young Americans are more
favorable than other age groups toward people sometimes
targeted by intolerance, including gays and lesbians,
racial and ethnic minorities, and immigrants. The data
show that young Americans are the most tolerant age group,
and this tolerance and support for diversity is increasing
over time. Some key findings include:
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69% of 18-29 year-old voters supported
gay marriage or legal civil unions for gay and lesbian
couples compared to 60% of 30-44 and 45-59 year-old
voters, and 54% of those 60 and older. (2004 National
Election Pool, exit poll.)
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Between 1994 and 2000, the percentage
of 18-25 year-olds who agree that blacks "have
gotten less than they deserve," rose 12 percentage
points to 38% (National Election Survey, NES.
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In 2002, 60% of 15-25 year olds agreed
with the statement "Immigrants today strengthen
our country because of their hard work," compared
to 51% of 26-37 year-olds, 49% of 38-56 year-olds,
and 42% of those 57 and over. (CIRCLE's Civic and
Political Health of a Nation Survey.)
Click
here to read the press release.
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How Organized Group Mentoring and Kinship
Communities Encourage Sustained Civic Engagement
New research by Diann Cameron Kelly documents
how young minority adults interpret civic engagement.
The study included 13 economically disadvantaged, high
achieving young adults between the ages of 20 and 27 who
had during their childhood participated in a group mentoring
program. The participants were asked to keep a detailed
online reflective journal on their civic experiences from
adolescences to young adulthood. Analysis of the journals
suggests that kinship communities (families and caregivers)
and youth mentoring programs work together to promote
sustained civic engagement. These groups provide the developmental
opportunities young people need in order to participate
in democracy as adults. When kinship communities fail
to provide examples of civic and political participation,
youth mentoring organizations can serve as an additional
critical resource for helping young people meet the cognitive,
affective, and behavioral benchmarks that seem to result
in sustained civic engagement.
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Defining the Civic Outcomes of Youth
Organizations
Many youth organizations provide opportunities
for older and diverse youth to be civically engaged. This
research compares three types of programs: (1) youth organizing
programs, (2) youth identity support programs, and (3)
traditional youth programs. The research suggests that
youth organizing programs are characterized by youth's
experience of higher levels of youth leadership, decision
making, and community involvement in comparison with other
agencies in the study. In addition, the research suggests
that deliberate approaches to staffing and decision-making
structures can influence youth outcomes.
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Getting Out the Asian American Vote in
Los Angeles County
A study by Janelle Wong examines the effectiveness
of voter outreach efforts in high-density Chinese, Korean,
Filipino, Indian, and Japanese American communities Los
Angeles County. The research shows that the effects of
phone and mail canvassing vary greatly by ethnicity and
geographic area. This type of canvassing was most effective
in mobilizing Chinese Americans living in West San Gabriel
Valley, an active predominantly Chinese American community.
In addition, the study suggests when mobilizing Asian
American voters by phone and mail, it is important to
address language diversity. Of those successfully contacted
through this study the preference for speaking a language
other than English ranged from 5% among Indian Americans
to over 60% of Korean Americans.
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CIRCLE research indicates that one powerful
way to address the problem of low Latino voter turnout
is to return to old-fashioned personal canvassing efforts.
In addition, the research suggests that Latinos are more
likely to vote if contacted by another Latino than if
contacted by someone of another ethnicity.
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A CIRCLE fact sheet collects data on many
forms of civic
engagement (from voting to philanthropy) for youth of
different racial and ethnic groups. Another fact sheet
analyzes the differences
in political participation by gender. Information
on Latino voting patterns can be found in the fact sheet
Electoral
Engagement Among Latino Youth.
CIRCLE's analysis of Census Bureau Current
Population Survey (CPS) reports reveals the following
trends in the voter turnout of young Americans:
Participation of Young African
Americans Increased Until the Late 1970s, Briefly Surpassing
that of Whites, but has Fallen Off Since
Turnout of Young Hispanics has
Declined Slightly
Since 1972, Young Women Have Become
More Likely to Vote than Young Men
On gender, the following document
is useful: Amy Caiazza, "Women's
Community Involvement: The Effects of Money, Safety, Parenthood,
and Friends," Institute for Women's Policy Research,
publication #C346 (Sept. 2001). (This article is on the
Website of the Institute for Women's Policy Research,
www.iwpr.org, and is
linked from here with permission.)
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