Civic Engagement

The Development of Citizenship

There have been two major historical periods of research attention to the development of citizenship. The first, in the 1950s, reflected the developmental approach of that time and focused on early experience and socialization by the family. The second, during the 1970s, focused on social movements such as civil rights and the anti–Vietnam War protests. It therefore involved adolescents and youth but was not very developmental in orientation (Flanagan & Sherrod, 1998). Now, a new wave of research is emerging.

A variety of socialization influences during adolescence have been shown to relate to later civic behaviors, such as voting. Both the nature of civics education teens receive in school and factors such as school climate and teacher behavior have been shown to predict youth civic participation (Flanagan & Tucker, 1999). For example, teachers who treat students fairly promote the development of just behavior in teens. Classes that promote open discussion of issues promote higher levels of understanding of civics materials. A large international study of 14,000 [Page 258]14-year-olds across 28 countries examined civic education and youngsters' understanding of citizenship and democracy in these 28 countries (Torney-Purta, Lehmann, Oswald, & Schultz, 2001). There was little variability in civic knowledge, and overall, it was not as high as we would want. Civics education should be of the same national priority as math and science; it is as important to functioning as an adult in society as are math and science (Sherrod, 2003). Civic knowledge is also important because it is the single most important predictor of youth voting; students with more knowledge are more likely to vote in political elections (Neimi & Junn, 2000). Knowledge does not, however, relate to how young people vote, that is, to their political attitudes. We do not know why some youth develop conservative views and others liberal ones, why some become Republicans and others Democrats.

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