With the United States ranked as one of the largest democracies with the lowest voter participation, Boston University officials said increasing civics education could help make young Americans more engaged.
A report released in early January by the National Task Force on Civic Learning, “A Crucible Moment: College Learning & Democracy’s Future,” suggests colleges and university should promote more active participation among students.
The report stated the success of American democracy relies upon the success of its postsecondary education. The task force noted it colleges and universities should “adopt more ambitious efforts” to implement civics courses.
Virginia Sapiro, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, called civic responsibility a major issue that needs to be addressed in the U.S.
“While there are people around the world putting their lives at risk to create democracies and civil societies, huge numbers of people in the United Sates take those things for granted and don’t participate,” she said in an email interview with The Daily Free Press.
The problem of citizen participation may be tied to the country’s issues with discourse and compromise, said professor Diane Palmer, state coordinator for the Center for Civic Education.
“We have only to look at behaviors, reporting and lack of discussion of issues in the primary elections to know that there is a civic recession,” Palmer, who teaches civic education in the School of Education, said. “People go to meetings, but with their opinions already in place they seldom listen to what is said.”
Sapiro and Palmer suggested education as the key solution to this problem, including grade-school programs such as We the People to promote civic awareness.
These programs are the best way to improve citizenship, Palmer said.
“[We the People] asks students to think, reason, come up with answers based on evidence, [and] express their opinions or answers using evidence,” Palmer said. “It teaches that there is often not just one right answer, and yet requires solid evidence to support an opinion. It also encourages civil discourse.”
Palmer said while BU officials are taking steps to improve civic literacy and inquiry, they should make those efforts more prominent.
Professor Denise Baer, who directs the D.C. abroad program, said the problem lies not in education, but in how much faith young Americans have in their political impact.
“Americans and youth participate when they have faith that their participation matters,” she said.
Baer said the largest problem appears to be the leadership failures in both major political parties, which have resulted in gridlock.
Increased learning about the model of democracy in the classroom will not change citizen participation, she said.
School of Management sophomore Aditya Rudra said he doesn’t see more civics lessons helping either.
“I struggle to see how lack of education among the college population is the reason for civic disengagement,” he said.
Rudra said the political system is at fault, as politicians focus more on their re-elections than their constituents.
“As an engaged and informed citizen, I have absolutely no power in the political process until I put significant amounts of money on the line,” Rudra said.
Walter Clemens, a professor of political science, said those types of feelings are a major part of the problem.
“It is about the mindset of the citizens, and the organization of the politicians – not a lack of education,” Clemens said.
While CAS junior Sharjil Hannan, noted the benefits of civics education for young Americans, she said memorizing information would not make students more engaged.
“Rather than simply textbook material, the classes could be more effective if they had a more ‘hands-on’ module,” Hannan said.
Sapiro, however, said students should not rely on civics education, but rather participate as a matter of interest.
“The question is not whether the government can involve people in civic activities,” Sapiro said. “It is whether the citizens find meaning in engaging in civic and political life together.”
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