Political Engagement

Defining Political Engagement

While some seem to equate voting and political engagement, Colby, Ehrlich, Beaumont, and Stephens (2003) aim for a more complex categorization. They define political engagement “as including activities intended to influence social and political institutions, beliefs, and practices and to affect processes and policies relating to community welfare, whether that community is local, state, national, or international” (Colby et al., 2003, p. 18). They include in this definition both informal work on local problems and more formal participation in political organizations and parties. However, they do stress that the activity must be political in nature (in the sense of dealing with political institutions or groups where power is concentrated) and not be limited to volunteer service. Colby et al.'s definition is a complex one, but nonetheless an appropriate goal for policy to endeavor to match. Their beliefs about reframing student volunteerism with a political dimension, promoting moral development, and the importance of school-based practice all parallel the individual work done by researchers in the field of political engagement.

Civic Knowledge

Knowledge of political structures and events is important for several reasons. An individual's ability to conceptualize his or her potential role as a voter, a community volunteer, or an activist mobilizing others depends on understanding the political structures and strategies, as well as current events about which individuals have different opinions. This basis of knowledge, usually acquired in school, provides a foundation for attitude formation as well as being valuable in itself. The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (Torney-Purta, Lehmann, Oswald, & Schulz, 2001) studied large representative samples of 14-year-old students in 28 countries to assess both current levels of political engagement and the qualities and experiences that might be related to such involvement. Their findings were in some ways disheartening, as 4 out of 5 respondents stated that they did not intend to participate in the more traditional forms of political action, including joining a political party or being a candidate for local office. The study found that students in many countries (including the United States) were more likely to value local community service or environmental groups that were not overtly political. Only about 40% of 14-year-old respondents in the United States said they definitely expected to vote in national elections (Torney-Purta & Amadeo, 2003). This proportion tended to be lower in northern Europe and some of the post-Communist countries and higher in southern Europe and Latin America. The most powerful positive predictor of a student's willingness to vote, even after accounting for other factors, was civic knowledge. The extent to which voting and elections were emphasized in school was also important (Torney-Purta, 2002).

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