Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-21T16:13:06.276Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Limits of Political Efficacy: Educating Citizens for a Democratic Society

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 April 2006

Joseph Kahne  and
Joel Westheimer
Joseph Kahne
Affiliation:
Mills College
Joel Westheimer
Affiliation:
University of Ottawa
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Justin is not alone. In a recent study of high school seniors from California, for example, only 28% agreed that “I think people in government care about what people like me and my family need” (Kahne and Middaugh 2005). Related findings are common. A survey by the National Association of Secretaries of State, for example, revealed that two-thirds of all young people agreed that “our generation has an important voice, but no one seems to hear it.” Moreover, those youth who were least trusting were also the least likely to vote, to believe that government can affect their lives, or to pay attention to politics (National Association of Secretaries of State 1999). These findings, combined with numerous other indicators that show low and in many cases declining civic and political participation, indicate that forms of engagement required for a participatory democracy to thrive are in need of attention (Macedo et al. 2005).The initial research for this essay was generously supported by a grant from the Surdna Foundation. Subsequent research and writing was generously supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. We also wish to thank Melinda Fine, Barbara Leckie, Tobi Walker, and James Youniss for helpful feedback on earlier drafts. The authors are solely responsible for any and all conclusions.

Type
FEATURES
Information
PS: Political Science & Politics , Volume 39 , Issue 2 , April 2006 , pp. 289 - 296
Copyright
© 2006 The American Political Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abramson, P. 1983. Political Attitudes in America: Formation and Change. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman.Google Scholar
Almond, G. A., and S. Verba. 1963. The Civic Culture: Political Attitudes and Democracy in Five Nations. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Balch, G. 1974. “Multiple Indicators in Survey Research: The Concept ‘Sense of Political Efficacy.’” Political Methodology 1: 1–43.Google Scholar
Bandura, A. 1997. Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control. New York: Freeman.Google Scholar
Barber, B. 1992. An Aristocracy of Everyone: The Politics of Education and the Future of America. New York: Ballantine Books.Google Scholar
Berman, S. 1997. Children's Social Consciousness and the Development of Social Responsibility. New York: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
Ennis, J. G., and R. Schrener. 1987. “Mobilizing Weak Support for Social Movements: The Role of Grievance, Efficacy, and Cost.” Social Forces 66: 390–409.Google Scholar
Eyler, J., D. E. Giles Jr. 1999. Where's the Learning in Service-Learning? San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Harris, F. C. 1999. “ Will the Circle be Unbroken? The Erosion and Transformation of African-American Civic Life.” In Civil Society, Democracy, and Civic Renewal, ed. R. Fullinwider. New York: Roman and Littlefield, 317–338.Google Scholar
Hess, D. 2002. Teaching to Public Controversy in a Democracy. In Education in Democracy for Social Studies Teachers: Principles and Practices for the Improvement of Teacher Education, ed. J. Patrick. Bloomington, ERIC/ChESS.Google Scholar
Kahne, J., and J. Westheimer. 2003. “Teaching Democracy: What Schools Need to Do.” Phi Delta Kappan 85 (1): 34–40, 57–66.Google Scholar
Kahne, J., and E. Middaugh. 2005. “Preparing Citizens for Democracy: Strategies and Indicators.” Presented at the Education and the Civic Purposes of Schools conference, San Jose, Costa Rica.Google Scholar
Macedo, et al. 2005. Democracy at Risk: How Political Choices Undermine Citizen Participation, and What We Can Do About It. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution.Google Scholar
McAdam, D. 1988. Freedom Summer. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
National Association of Secretaries of State. 1999. New Millennium Project-Phase I: A Nationwide Study of 15–24 Year Old Youth. Alexandria, VA: The Tarrance Group.Google Scholar
Niemi, R. G., and J. Junn. 1998. Civic Education: What Makes Students Learn. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Niemi, R. G., and Associates. 1974. The Politics of Future Citizens. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Noddings, N. 1999. “Renewing Democracy in Schools.” Phi Delta Kappan 80 (8): 579–83.Google Scholar
Oakes, J., et al. 2000. Becoming Good American Schools: The Struggle for Civic Virtue in Education Reform. New York: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Putnam, R. 2000. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon & Shuster.Google Scholar
Robinson, T. 2000. “Dare the School Build a New Social Order?” Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning 7: 142–157.Google Scholar
Sax, L. J., A. Astin, W. S. Korn, and K. Mahoney. 1999. The American Freshman: National Norms for Fall 1999. Los Angeles: Higher Education Research Institute, UCLA.Google Scholar
Shingles, R. D. 1981. “Black Consciousness and Political Participation: The Missing Link.” American Political Science Review 75: 76–91.Google Scholar
Strauss, A. 1990. Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory, Procedures and Techniques. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Thomas, L. E. 1970. “The Internal-External Scale, Ideological Bias and Political Participation.” Journal of Personality 38: 273–286.Google Scholar
Walker, T. 2000. “The Service/Politics Split: Rethinking Service to Teach Political Engagement.” PS: Political Science and Politics 33 (3): 647–649.Google Scholar
Westheimer, J., and J. Kahne. 2004. “What Kind of Citizen? The Politics of Educating for Democracy.” American Educational Research Journal 41 (2): 237–269.Google Scholar
Wollman, N., and R. Stouder. 1991. “Believed Efficacy and Political Activity: A Test of the Specificity Hypothesis.” Journal of Social Psychology 131 (4): 557–567.Google Scholar
Youniss, J., J. A. McClellan, and M. Yates. 1997. “What We Know about Engendering Civic Identity.” American Behavioral Scientist 40 (5): 620–631.Google Scholar
Youniss, J., and M. Yates. 1997. Community Service and Social Responsibility in Youth. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar