How Political Polarization Influences Young People and Challenges Civic Education

• In Event: 49.082 - Civic Education Must Change: Responding to Transformed Political, Educational, Demographic, and Technological Contexts

Abstract

Close to 15 years into the 21st century it is quite clear that democracy in the United States is in distress. Across the political spectrum, one of the few things that people in the United States agree on is that the political system is not working very well, is not responsive to peoples’ needs, and is not to be trusted (PEW, 2011, 2012, 2014). While there are multiple causes for these views, the extreme level of political polarization that characterizes contemporary politics clearly is a major contributor (McCarty, et al., 2006).

Political polarization refers to moments when political discourse and action bifurcate toward ideological extremes. This causes a crowding-out of voices in the middle, leaving little room for political compromise. While political polarization has occurred at various times in the United States (such as during the period leading up to the Civil War) and is a feature of democracy that will likely ebb and flow with the times (McCarty, Poole & Rosenthal, 2006), scholars have established that the United States is currently polarizing once more (Abramowitz, 2010; McCarty, et al., 2006).

In this paper, we draw on a four contact, four-year panel survey of youth ages 16-22 (author & author, forthcoming), two surveys of 18-24 year-olds (CIRCLE, 2013, PEW, 2014), and one of high school teachers (CIRCLE, 2013) to show the ways in which polarization is shaping the political development of young people and creating new challenges for civic educators.
The first question we address is the nature and degree of polarization among young people in the United States and what influence it has on the actual political engagement of young people. After describing the overall political demographics of young people, we analyze how their political views and political participation are influenced by the time in which they grew up, the extent and quality of the civic education they received in school, the political climate in the community in which they came of age, and their parents’ and peers’ views and actions. We also explain how the race, gender, religion, and social class of the young influence their political views and participation. For example, we show that white males are much more conservative than white females, that African-American young people are the most likely to vote, and that working class young people have many fewer opportunities to politically engage than their wealthier peers.

The second question we address is how civic education can both contribute to and ameliorate some of the most negative results of political polarization. For example, we examine how tracking programs within schools make it less likely that all young people will experience civic education in the most diverse possible environment. We also show that while schools cannot possibly be expected to solve the problems of political polarization, they can enact policies that will enable teachers to blunt some of its worst effects. We conclude with specific suggestions for what changes need to be made in civic education in light of the polarized times we live.

Authors

• Diana E. Hess, University of Wisconsin

• Paula McAvoy, University of Wisconsin - Madison