Citizenship and the Future of Democracy

Central Missouri State University

September 29, 2005

The Challenge of our Times

Threats to American Democracy:

Shrinking levels of knowledge of

democracy

Rising levels of partisanship

Growing separation of society

Pervasive Change in Public Higher Education:

Diminishing levels of state support

Increasing levels of competition

Rising expectations for accountability

The Key Question:

How do we strengthen democracy and

simultaneously strengthen our public

institutions?

One Solution:

Focus on preparing citizens, a public

purpose for public institutions.

Thesis:

Democracy in the United States is

threatened.

So, too, is public higher education.

The strategy for strengthening

democracy also strengthens our public

colleges and universities.

Threats to American Democracy

Decline in social and economic capital

Increasing inequality

Atomization of interests, news sources and the pervasive focus on entertainment

Money and politics

Lack of civic understanding and civics education in K-12 grades

Decline in political participation, esp. among the youngest adults

Declining Social Capital: Trends over the last 25 years

Attending Club Meetings Down by 58%

Family dinners Down by 33%

Having friends over Down by 45%

Factors Contributing to Declining Social Capital Commuting (Each 10 minutes = 10% reduced participation)TelevisionTwo parents working

Less Social Capital (esp. bridging social capital) = Less DemocracyStudies in the United States and Italy

Robert Putnam Bowling Alone

A Decline in Social Capital

• Disparities of income, wealth, and access to

opportunity are growing more sharply in the

U. S. than in many other nations

• Gaps between races and ethnic groups

persist

• Progress toward American ideals of

democracy may have stalled, and in some

arenas reversed.

American Democracy in an Age of Rising Inequality, Task Force

on Inequality and American Democracy, American Political

Science Association, 2004, www.apsanet.org

Increasing inequality

Atomization of Interests, News Sources and the Pervasive Focus on Entertainment

1. The number of registered lobbyists in Washington has more than doubled since 2000, from 16,342 to 34,750

2. More television channels, more talk radio,

internet, blogs, etc.

3. 40 million watched American Idol finale; 37 million watched 2nd Bush/Gore debate. Average age of viewer of network news: 60

Money and Politics

2000: Bush $ 193; Gore $ 134 million. 2004: Bush $ 293: Kerry $ 252 million

House Speaker Hastert: 2005-2006 Receipts: $1,249,534 (40% by PACs)

House Minority Leader Pelosi: 2005-2006 Receipts: $237,252 (95% by PACs) [As of Aug 18]

.09 % of population gives at least $ 1,000 to political campaigns, 55% of funds raised

¼ of Congress are millionaires; 1% of U.S.

91% of 2004 congressional primary candidates who raised the most money won their races.

Winning Congressional candidates raised 50% more in 2004 than in 2002.

63% of primary candidates’ money came from .08% of the voting age population.

“The sad thing is that in America today if it’s going to take $ 2 million to win, then normal people can’t run anymore. You either have to be very, very wealthy or very, very bought.”

Janice Bowling, Republican Nominee for Tennessee’s 4th District

Washington Post, September 12, 2005

Frederick Webber 30+ years as lobbyist in Washington President of Alliance of Automobile

Manufacturers

“Political fundraising in this town has gotten out of control”

“What are the priorities here?

“This thing has gotten away from us”

Lack of Civic Understanding

• John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Survey 112,003 high school students in 2004: 36% believe that newspapers should get “government approval” of stories before publishing

• Fewer than half of persons 15-26 years old think that communicating with elected officials, volunteering, or donating money to help others are qualities of a good citizen

• On NAEP 1998 Civics, 23% of 4th graders, 23% of 8th graders, and 26% of 12th graders scored at or above proficient

• 25.5% know that Philadelphia is the city where the Constitution was written; 75.2% know what city zip code 90210 is.

• 21.2% know how many senators serve in the U.S. Senate; 81.2% know how many members in the music group “Hanson.”

• 9% know the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education; 87% know the name of the football player found not guilty of murdering his wife

• 25% of respondents know that the Fifth Amendment protects against double jeopardy/self incrimination, etc. ; 63.7% know that “The Club” protects against car theft.

• 41.2% know the names of the three branches of government; 59.2% know the names of the three stooges.

• 32% know the Speaker of the House; 89% know the father in Home Improvement

Survey of 600 students age 13-17, National Constitution Center, 1998

Decline in Political Participation

The youngest generation of voters has the greatest distrust of others

70%

59%

49%

40%

56%

41%36%

29%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

DotNets GenX Boomers Matures

Most people look out for themselvesMost people would take advantage of you

Source: The Civic and Political Health of the Nation, A Generational Portrait, 2002.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

1972

1976

1980

1984

1988

1992

1996

2000

2004

25+ Turnout18-24 Turnout

Source: Current Population Survey (CPS), November Supplement, calculated using CIRCLE method.

The youngest voters have the lowest participation in presidential elections

The trouble…is that we have taken our democracy for granted; we have thought and acted as if our forefathers had founded it once and for all. We have forgotten that it has to be enacted anew in every generation.

John Dewey

Dewey reminded us…

Pervasive Change in Public Higher Education (This is not a new story):

Old: As percentage of state spending, higher education funding is dropping, in some states now as little as 13%. Prisons, medicaid, and K-12 schools; tax cuts, etc. New: The willingness to fund higher education by significantly raising tuition.

But competition is rising: University of Phoenix, founded in 1976, now 160,000 undergraduates.

Accreditation groups and states increasingly want greater accountability, including evidence of student learning outcomes.

1. Is it possible that focusing on preparing future citizens can be understood as valuable civic work?

2. Is preparing citizens a viable public purpose for public higher education?

If the answers to these questions are yes, then how does the work of civic engagement in universities get accomplished?

How Do Campus Leaders

Organize and Align the

Campus

and its Resources

to Achieve an Institutional

Focus on Civic Engagement

Outcomes?

A Focus on Institutional Intentionality

1. Institutional Intention (leadership, culture, policies)

2. Programs and Activities (curriculum,co-curriculum)

3. Measuring Results (institutional and course/ program results, using NSSE, Carnegie, HERI tools)

What does it take to create civically-engaged graduates?

3 Critical Features:

• Leadership: at lots of levels• Culture: reflecting widely-shared

beliefs• Statements: Mission statements, • Accreditation documents, promotional• Materials, etc.• Policies• Administrative structures• Budget• Rewards and recognition

1.Institutional Intentionality

2. Civic Engagement in the Curriculum and Co-Curriculum

Knowledge: Teaching democratic values, traditions, history of democracies, U.S. history

Skills: Teaching communications, critical thinking, collective decision-making, organizational skills, etc.

Experiences: Designing campus and community experiences for knowledge and application

Reflection: Creating explicit connections between experiences and civic obligations

Where is it found in the curriculum?In first year programsIn capstone coursesIn the general education curriculumIn majors and minors

Where is it found in the co-curriculum?In student governmentIn student organizationsIn residence hallsIn joint academic affairs/student affairs programs

Communications: writing, speaking, etc.

Critical thinking: analyzing, evaluating,

synthesizing, etc.

Collective decision-making: deliberating,

listening, working as a team, making collective

decisions, compromising, identifying and solving

public problems

Organization: organizing, planning projects,

influencing policy decisions, implementing policy

decisions, taking collective actions

Skills

Hypothesized Skill Acquisition SequenceCollective decision making sequence

• Write and speak*• Understand, explain and take positions+ Organize tasks and acquire resources**• Express own preferences/Opinions* Identify constructive ways to improve complex

Situations+• Understand other’s preferences++• Compromise (if necessary) for collective good+

+ *Communication **Organization +Critical

Thinking ++Collective Decision Making Adapted from Kirlin, Mary 2003. Acquiring Civic Skills: Towards a Developmental Model of Civic Skill Acquisition in Adolescents. International Conference on Civic

Education Research, November 16-18, 2003 New Orleans, LA

Another view of skills:

What makes something a problem, not a situation?

What makes it a public problem?

What is the agreement/disagreement about underlying values?

What is the degree of certainty about the facts?

How can alternative policy solutions be identified?

What are the opportunities and obstacles?

Adapted from Dave Robertson, University of Missouri-St. Louis, personal correspondence

1. What do you care about and how much

(education, healthcare, environment, national

security, etc?

2. What activities did you do and why (fund-

raise, sign a petition, participate in a boycott,

run for office, vote)?

3. Where do you get information about news,

volunteering, etc?

3. Measuring Results:

NSSE and ADP Consortium:

Three questions-13,000 students

• Not much difference among many types of

institutions.• Differences in gender and ethnicity.• 50% of students get their news from

television.

What else is needed?• More info on sources of information• More info on number/duration of activities• Information on sense of political efficacy• Qualitative as well as quantitative info

What was found in that survey?

ACCOMPLISHMENTS FIRST TWO YEARSAmerican Democracy Project

200 institutions, 1.5+ million studentsMeetings• 2 National meetings

600 + participants• 9 Regional meetings

500 + participants

Conceptual Design Process• Wingspread Conference

40 participants, publication

Assessment Project• National Survey of Student Engagement

questionnaire 32 institutions, 13,000+ students

Programs• IUPUI meeting on

Civic Engagement 105 participants

• “Inside The Times” 270 participants, 2 years

• Civic Engagement in Action Series launched

Campus Audits

Campus Conversations

Voter Education/Registration Projects

Curriculum Revision Projects

Library Projects, Student Affairs

Programs

First Year Projects, Capstone Courses

Fine Arts Projects, Graduation Pledges

Speaker Series, Democracy Day

Recognition and Award Programs

Hundreds of Campus Projects

Western Washington University @ www.wwu.edu/depts/adp/index.shtml

SUNY Geneseo @ www.geneseo.edu/~adp/

University of Central Oklahoma @ http://bronze.ucok.edu/AmericanDemocracyProject/

Fort Hays State University @ www.fhsu.edu/adp/

Indiana University South Bend @ http://ee.iusb.edu/index.php?/adp/blog/

OpportunitiesFor Action

General Education

First Year Programs

Voter RegistrationEducation

Faculty Development

Service Learning

Campus CultureAssessment

Co-Curriculum

Libraries

Teacher Education

5 already launched

• Stewardship of Public Lands

• First Year

• Jury Service

• Voting

• Other Lands

2 under development

• Teaching Civic Engagement

• Teacher Education

A New SeriesCivic Engagement in

Action

Issue: How are controversies over public

lands resolved in a democracy?

Partner: Yellowstone Association

Activities: Presidents/CAOs meeting in

June for the Design Seminar; Faculty

Seminar in August

The Stewardship of Public Lands

Issue: How can civic engagement be fostered and encouraged in the first year of college?

Partner: Policy Center for the First Year of College; Justice Talking

Activities: Pre-Conference seminar on Thursday, June 16th in Portland to plan activities for the 2005-2006 academic year

Civic Engagement in the First Year of College

Issue: How can colleges and universities support federal and state court systems in encouraging jury participation?

Partner: American Judicature Society, National Center for State Courts; Council for Court Excellence

Activities: Pre-conference meeting with cooperating organizations on Thursday, June 16th in Portland to plan activities for 2005-2006 academic year

Jury Service as Democratic Participation

Issue: What lessons did our ADP campuses and others learn about the best ways to provide voter registration, voter information, and voter participation ?

Partner: Indiana University, Purdue University-Indianapolis

Activities: Pre-conference meeting on Thursday June 16th in Portland to design activities for the 2005-2006 academic year

Electoral Voice: Organizing for Voting

Issue: How can universities in other countries support their emerging democracies?

Partner: Association of Universities for Democracy (AUDEM)

Activities: Initial meeting in November 2004 in Hungary; ADP campuses to be paired with non-U.S. institutions to exchange ideas, programs, etc.

Civic Engagement in Other Lands

Issue: How can courses and pedagogies encourage civic and political engagement?

Partner: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching

Activities: The Carnegie Foundation will organize a group of 10-15 ADP schools that want to pilot campus-wide dissemination efforts. Still in development phase.

Teaching Political Engagement(To be launched late 2005)

Issue: How can P-12 teachers be prepared to teach civic engagement?

Partner: Public Achievement, Center for Democracy and Citizenship, the University of Minnesota

Activities: Design and funding activities are currently underway to develop a project that will prepare future teachers to teach civic engagement in P-12 settings

Preparing Teachers to Teach Civic Engagement(To be launched late 2005-early 2006)

“We the People of the United States, in order to

So How Are We Doing As A Democracy? Here’s a 6 part test.

1. Form a more perfect union

2. Insure domestic tranquility

3. Establish justice

4. Provide for the common defense

5. Promote the general welfare

6. Secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity

…do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

The bad news…

Hurricane Katrina demonstrated

what happens when government

doesn’t work…when we’re not all in

the same boat.

Janadas Devan, Straits Times columnist:

[But] it is not only government that doesn't

show up when government is starved of

resources and leached of all its meaning.

Community doesn't show up either, sacrifice

doesn't show up, pulling together doesn't

show up, 'we're all in this together' doesn't

show up."

The Good News…

The ages 15-25 are the critical period for the

growth of civic skills and habits.

There is growing evidence that educational

interventions make a substantial difference in

knowledge, understanding, and participation of

students in civic life.

We can make a difference…

The death of democracy is

not likely to be an

assassination from ambush.

It will be a slow extinction

from apathy, indifference

and undernourishment 

Robert Hutchins