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Intro to Political Analysis
April 4, 2017
Research Topic: Civic Engagement for A Stronger Democracy
Research Question: Does Civic Engagement Strength Democracy?
Introduction
The affiliation between governments and their citizens is gradually changing. The latest
events of frequent demonstrations against the president Trump’s draconian executive order
concerning the immigration and refugee policies in the United States, is a reminder citizens’
thirst for democracy. Citizens are back to streets protesting due to their discontent against the
ongoing governance whereby their democratic voice is disregarded, and consent is at stake. As a
result, the question of how to bring democracy back to the citizens arises, and the answer is civic
engagement. Currently, the accustomed custodians of democracy which comprise of numerous
civic institutions and their leaders are reluctant and inactive since they only operate after being
consistently pressured by citizens and activism to protect them (Skocpol, 2013). Therefore, it
would be prudent that in such cases when citizens’ faith in the accustomed stalwart of democracy
is diminishing we be actively engaging and vigilant in the civic engagement which is the only
way to stronger democracy. Therefore, in this paper, we shall be seeking to answer the question
of whether civic engagement strengthens democracy or vice versa which is as discussed below.
Civic engagement entails the creation of better policies and reinvigoration of democratic
practices within a given jurisdiction. Therefore, it is an irresistible tool in addressing the current
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political dysfunction in America by helping in the building of a better relationship between the
governed and the government. The rising discontent and lack of cooperation between the
Americans and their governments cannot be fixed by passing of new policies or injecting new
government officials into the power by forcing the current officials to step down (Skocpol,
2013). The result of such actions would lead to unexpected social, economic and political crises
that Americans would take decades to rebuild. Instead, the fixation can only happen through
civic engagement in which citizens would be sensitized through multigenerational projects which
could help in reinvigorating American democracy back to its status quo. In the first section of
this research paper we shall conduct a desk survey on various ways in which civil engagement
can strengthen democracy by conducting interviews among citizens from different races, and
political divisions, that is, either democrats or republicans (Kennedy, 2011). The second section,
I will conduct a study on citizens’ views on their awareness of the role of civic education and
engagement in the strengthening of the United States democracy. The third section of the paper
will capture various ways in which the citizens engage themselves in the exercising of their civic
rights whereby they will be asked whether have ever done a given civic right for example voting
or contributing in public social platforms such as Twitter or Facebook while questioning the
accountancy and credibility of the government (Checkoway, 2013). Finally, the data will be
analyzed and interpreted, and a conclusion shall be made from the study findings.
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Civic Education
According to Eschrich (2010) civic education is the involvement of citizens in their
governance based on their informed, significant reflection, and on the understanding and
acceptance of the rights and responsibilities that go with that membership. He further defined it
as a tool that provides citizens with a clear picture of the political environment they are placed in.
The center for civic education conducted surveys on a sample of students from the We the
People (WTF) national competition finals with the aim of determining the effectiveness of civic
education on democracy by evaluating their understanding and general thoughts concerning their
civic education program namely “The citizen and the constitution.”
The key conclusions of the research were as follows. Firstly, they found that the WTP
participants who scored higher percentages than the national average in every measurable
category were more likely to exercise their civic rights through voting and engagement in civic
activities. Secondly, those WTP participants were more likely to approve on the prudence of
staying politically active. Thirdly, they were also more likely to agree with the individuals who
express their unique and unpopular ideas. Finally, they found that informed participants were in
agreement with free newspaper publishing (Eschrich, 2010)).
However, Galston (2007) was not in agreement with Eschrich (2010) findings as he
argued that the state of civic knowledge in the United States was minimal despite the rising
standards of formal education. In his studies, he found out that in the recent past decades there
was an increase in the indicators depicting a decline in the civil engagement among the
American citizens. He figured out that there were low faith and trust in government and public
institutions, in particular among the young people (Galston, 2007). As seen from the above; this
theory covers my study question adequately since the need for both formal and civic education is
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emphasized. The findings indicate the importance of civic education as well as civic engagement
with an aim to strengthen democracy. These theories will help me in my research to find out the
extent to which both formal education and civic education impacts the level of democracy.
Civic literacy assessment
According to Gooch & Rogers (2012), civic literacy assessment is a critical component of
monitoring and evaluating the educational and learning progress about the government and
political issues among the civilians. Gooch & Rogers (2012) conducted a statistical analysis of a
civic literacy assessment on a sample of ATU College students in 2012.The assessment covered
four dimensions of civic literacy which comprise of the American political heritage, government
structure, current politics and the constitution. The key finding of the survey was 86.5% of the
participants failed the naturalization test. Additionally, 96% of the students were unable to score
a “C” or better grade. However, the researchers found that based on the pre-and post-tests, there
was a substantial improvement in civic literacy after the one semester after students undertook a
civic a one-semester civic course in a government class (Gooch & Rogers ,2012).
In addition to this, Kennedy (2011) conducted research focused on the deficit in civic
literacy and constitutional competence in the United States. Among the depressing statistics
covered comprise of; only 30% of the of the Americans can correctly name the three arms of
government, less than half of the 12th-grade student can accurately define federalism among
others. In his findings, he noted that the polarization in American political discourse is caused by
the civic illiteracy which is depicted by the ignorance of most fundamental American
constitutional principles.
To further justify civic literacy assessment theory, Milner (2002) conducted an in-depth
study on the topic of civic literacy in functioning democracies. Eventually, he arrived at a
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conclusion that civic literacy is critical a forecaster of the political engagement. Additionally, the
author defended his perspective on impacts of civic literacy with sufficient empirical findings
from various democracies around the globe. However, the author definitively identifies the new
attentiveness to civic education could save the Americans such adverse developments (Milner,
2002).This theory on civic literacy assessment covers most findings from diverse studies hence
making it preferable for my research question. It is evident from the theories that civic education
is important but further evaluation of the level of civic literacy makes it useful in promoting
stronger democracy among the American people
Research method
The research methodology is the way of achieving the purpose of the study. It includes
the case selection, target population, sampling for the study, data collection instruments and data
analysis. Qualitative research relates to understanding aspects of social life and its methods
which generate words, rather than numbers, as data for analysis. In this study Ethnographic
research design will be used since it will involve physically going to the targets participants’
environment to understand their goals, cultures, challenges and motivations. A descriptive survey
design will be adopted for this study (Cooper, 2013).
A longitudinal time frame will fit this research since it will take a longer period to assess
the level of civic education and its impacts on democracy among the people of America. A
descriptive survey design will be best for this study as it describes characteristics associated with
the subject population, and in particular factors that make them behave the way they do.
According to Cooper and Schindler (Cooper, 2013), descriptive design discovers and measures
the cause and effect of relationships between variables.
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References
Checkoway, B., & Aldana, A. (2013). Four forms of youth civic engagement for a diverse democracy.
Children and youth services review, 35(11), 1894-1899.
Eschrich, D. (2010). We the People: The Citizens and the Charter 2010 National Finalists’ Awareness
of and Support for American Democratic Institutions and Processes. The Center for Civic
Education Report.
Galston, W.A. (2007). Civic Insight, Civic Education, and Civic Engagement: A Summary of Recent
Research. International Journal of Public Administration. Vol.30, 2007, pp.623‐642.
Gooch, D.M., & Rogers, M.T. (2012). A Natural Depression of Civic Proportions: College Students in
the Natural State Fall Short of the Conditioning Benchmark. Midsouth Administrative Science
Review, Special Edition, Vol. 13 (1).
Kennedy, S. (2011). Civic Literacy: Charting the Dimensions and Consequences of a Civic Deficit.
Milner, H. (2002). Civic Literacy: How Apprised Citizens Make Democracy Work. University Press of
New England.
RMC Research Corporation. (November 2007). We the People: Evaluation Report. The Center for Civic
Education.
Skocpol, T. (2013). Diminished Democracy: From society to management in American civic life (Vol.
8). University of Oklahoma Press.
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