Civic Engagement and Diversity

Civic engagement in general and particularly in support of democratic values is a positive aspect of development in middle childhood and adolescence. This engagement is diverse at the macro level (in different national and cultural contexts) as well as at the micro level (according to the demographic groups to which individuals belong, including their race, ethnicity, language group, gender, and immigrant status). These differences exist not only in the extent and pattern of participation but also in the opportunities available for civic engagement, the motivation to undertake it, and the sense of efficacy or value that surrounds it.