Generation Citizen

The civic engagement gap for low-income people and people of color continues to expand. Low-income, less-educated, and minority individuals are under-represented in the political process.3 In the 2004 presidential election, Hispanics and Asians were one-third less likely to vote than whites, and people living on $15,000 or less were half as likely to vote as those living on over $75,000. Non-white, poor, and immigrant youth have significantly lower levels of civic knowledge and motivation to learn than their wealthier, white counterparts. Students from wealthier families are twice as likely as students of average SES to report studying how laws are made or participate in service activities, and 150% more likely to do in-class debates. The American Political Science Association (APSA) found that the poorest quintile of citizens have little to no effect on their senators’ votes.5 A vicious cycle exists: lower-income and minority citizens feel that government overlooks their problems, so they think participation is futile—but government simultaneously does not receive community pressure to change policies. Inadequate civic education also affects the academic achievement gap via class participation and motivation mechanisms. Yet schools rarely give civic education the time it merits. Many districts have cut social studies and civics classes to promote math and literacy; RI recently cut funding for its only Department of Education civics staffer. Existing civics classes are mostly fact-based and irrelevant to students’ lives; APSA found that most civics classes have little or no effect on students. Given the overall goals of American public education, effective civics education should be an integral component of secondary education so that students can learn about the political system and how they can participate and affect change. Democracy works best when citizen participation is high and when historically marginalized and alienated groups make their voices heard.