January 2025 to June 2025
Compiled and reviewed by Eva Margaret Lacy, Jed Ngalande, and Sophia Craiutu, for the Hoover Institution’s Working Group on Civics and American Citizenship
Books
Education for Citizenship in Times of Global Challenge
Authors: Wolfram Schulz, John Ainley, Julian Fraillon, Bruno Losito, Gabriella Agrusti, Valeria Damiani, Tim Friedman
Date: 2025
Summary: Based on data collected in 2022, this report analyzes how 24 countries prepare their young people for citizenship. It examines the contexts and outcomes of civic education amid global challenges such as digital engagement, migration, political trust, and sustainable development.
Authors :
How Politicians Polarize: Political Representation in an Age of Negative Partisanship
Author: Mia Costa
Institution: Department of Government at Dartmouth College
Date: March 26, 2025
Summary: Drawing on survey experiments, analysis of congressional newsletters and tweets, and data on fundraising and media coverage, Costa demonstrates that most Americans dislike negative rhetoric, and politicians are aware of this. However, these attacks stimulate national media, donors, and party elites. Ultimately, with her findings, Costa challenges the idea that Americans care more about party identity than policy representation.
Author:
Civic Self-respect
Author: Ralph Nader
Date: April 8, 2025
Summary: Veteran reformer Ralph Nader discusses the fundamentals of democracy—the people and their roles in creating and sustaining community. He speaks to the roles of citizen, voter, worker, taxpayer, consumer, and parent, what contributes to civic self-respect, and one's own significance in society.
Research
Consultation on Civic and Citizen Engagement Framework and Scorecard Indicator
Authors: Aly Rahim, Marian T. Felicio, Yuri Park
Institution: The World Bank Group
Date: January 14, 2025
Summary: The World Bank is renewing its approach to Civic and Citizen Engagement with an initiative that emphasizes a systems-oriented and partnership-based approach to navigate some of the large problems facing the world. The new framework is to be fully completed by June 2025.
Young People and the 2024 Election: Struggling, Disconnected, and Dissatisfied
Authors: Alberto Medina, Kelly Siegel-Stechler, Sara Suzuki
Institution: CIRCLE (Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement at Tufts University)
Date: January 15, 2025
Summary: The article presents the findings from a post-election poll examining youth behavior in the 2024 US Presidential election. Key findings suggest that economic challenges, informational barriers, and a sense of political disconnection contributed to reduced youth engagement.
America’s Civic Culture is Battered but not Broken
Author: Benjamin Klutsey
Institution: The Hill
Date: January 17, 2025
Summary: This opinion article argues that, while the US is polarized, the underlying civic culture still offers a strong enough foundation for national unity. He draws on findings from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Working Group on Civic Culture to advocate for grassroots civics programs rather than groups from the government. He argues that this revival is essential to preserve the republic.
Civic Education as a Pathway to Inclusive Societies: Exploring the Role of Education in Fostering Civic and Social Engagement
Institution: OECD Education
Author: Hannah Borhan
Date: February 2025
Summary: This paper explores the declining trends in civic participation across OECD countries, looking particularly at reduced electoral engagement, inequality in regard to political involvement, and distrust in institutions. It particularly emphasizes the importance of civics education in combating all of these issues. The paper calls for reforms in civics education.
Political Parties as “Great Schools” of Civic Education
Author: Joseph Postell
Institution: Department of Politics, Hillsdale College
Date: February 2, 2025
Summary: This academic article argues that civic education should be supplemented by adding a focus on political parties. The author contends that individuals learn about policy issues, develop political skills, and develop a sense of civic responsibility when they engage with political parties.
Multiple modalities of teaching civic education awareness among students: a pragmatic approach-based case study
Authors: Muhammad Younas & Muhammad Imran
Institution: Cogent Education, Taylor & Francis
Date: February 4, 2025
Summary: This article investigates the effectiveness of diverse teaching methods in enhancing civic education awareness among undergraduate students. It also emphasizes the collective responsibility of various stakeholders in fostering civic awareness.
How Does Gen Z Really Feel About Democracy: Insights from Three Profiles of Youth and Democracy
Authors: Deborah Apau, Ruby Belle, Alberto Medina, and Sara Suzuki
Institution: Protect Democracy, CIRCLE, Tufts University
Date: March 2025
Summary: This survey categorizes 1,289 young Americans (ages 18-29) into three profiles regarding their democratic participation: Passive Appreciation (63%), Dismissive Detachment (31%), and Hostile Dissatisfaction (7%). The profiles are based on young people’s beliefs and perspectives on the principles of democracy, the importance of protecting civil rights, the justifiability of political violence, support for bipartisan cooperation, experience of affective polarization, and confidence in democracy.
Agreement Across the Aisle: Schools Should Prepare Students for the Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship
Alternate link
Institution: University of Southern California, Dornsife CESR Center for Applied Research in Education, USC EdPolicy HUB
Date: March 6, 2025
Summary: The report highlights 6 key takeaways from the Understand America Survey conducted in 2024. It highlights growing bipartisan consensus on the need for civics education while addressing contentious issues like free speech and DEI initiatives in higher education. It underscores the importance of democratic processes and shared decision-making in resolving education.
Civics Should be the Cause of Our Generation
Author: Hans Zeiger
Institution: Fulcrum on Civics
Date: March 20, 2025
Summary: The author argues that a revival of civic education is essential to the survival of American democracy. The article highlights programs such as Civic Learning Week and other events throughout the country and serves as a call to action for parents, teachers, and students to contribute to the “civics renaissance” ahead of the nation’s 250th birthday.
Kentucky Students Release New Report on the State of Civic Education
Institution: National Civic League
Date: March 30, 2025
Summary: As a part of National Civics Week, the Kentucky Student Voice Team announced their release of a student-led report examining the quality and accessibility of civics education across the state. They discovered a lack of state civic requirements, a substantial civic readiness gap, and barriers to learning about different historical perspectives. The report ends as a call to action for state leaders to increase civic learning requirements.
Report: How does Gen Z Really Feel about Democracy?
Institution: CIRCLE, Tufts University
Date: April 7, 2025
Summary: In the report, CIRCLE creates three different profiles of Gen Z’s attitudes toward democracy: passive appreciation, dismissive detachment, and hostile dissatisfaction. It highlight key themes such as trust, complacency, disengagement, and dissatisfaction, and argues that civic education and participation opportunities will help Gen Z become more optimistically engaged.
Civic Education Is a Prerequisite for Liberal Education
Author: Stephen Matter
Institution: The Public Discourse and Jack Miller Center
Date: April 14, 2025
Summary: This article defends the rise of new civic thought programs at public universities and explains why they are necessary. The author argues that liberal education must begin with civic education, including an explanation of the ideals of which America was founded and the moral questions the founders contemplated. He argues that these programs are not partisan and instead teach students to be better critical thinkers.
Most Americans Support Checks on Presidential Power
Institution: Annenberg Public Policy Center
Date: April 22, 2025
Summary: This report highlights Annenberg survey findings in March 2025, finding that, while the public has been losing trust in all three branches of government, the majority of US adults support the role of the courts and Congress in serving as checks and balances for the President.
Podcast
Renewing Civics Education Preparing for American Citizenship
Authors: Chester E Finn Jr., Peter Berkowitz, Nick Mastronardi, Josiah Ober, Paul Peterson
Institution: Good American Citizenship Working Group, RAI
Date: February 11th to March 13th, 2025
Summary: This 5-part podcast series discusses the challenges of citizenship education, specifically recognizing the need to rekindle civic literacy in our schools. The series features fellows from the Good American Citizenship Working Group.
Educational Materials
Nurturing Democratic Engagement in the Classroom
Institution: Harvard Graduate School of Education
Participants: Danielle Allen, Thomas Trainor, Julie Reuben
Date: March 27, 2025
Summary: A conversation between three professors who are leaders in the civic education field discusses the tools that young people need to develop to be informed and motivated citizens. They discuss the opportunities across all grades that are available for students to develop their civic identities.
Civics as Invitation
Author: Bryan Schmidt
Institution: iCivics
Date: February 19, 2025
Summary: The article discusses the critical role that teachers play in civic education by creating dialogue where students listen, question, and respond with purpose. It also explains civic education as the development of democratic habits as a practice, not something that can be taught in a lecture.
Opinion
The Education of a Statesman
Author: Hans Zeiger
Institution: Jack Miller Center
Date: January 2025
Summary: Zeiger calls for educational institutions of all kinds to place a new emphasis on civic preparation of Americans, so that those who become public servants will work in a manner that restores public trust in government.
Events
More Perfect – Together: The Democracy Goals & Road to the 250th & Beyond
Institution: More Perfect
Date: February 25, 2025
Summary: Leaders gathered at George Washington's Mount Vernon to examine a host of ways to advance the goals of democracy during America's 250th and beyond.
Civic Learning Week National Forum
Institutions: iCivics, Hoover Institution
Date: March 13, 2025
Summary: The Civic Learning Week National Forum came to the West Coast for the first time. Attendees were able to engage with students, educators, policymakers, and leaders from across the country working to make civic learning a national priority, all taking place at the Hoover Institution, Stanford, CA. This link leads to videos of all the sessions.
Groups
Alliance for Civics in the Academy
Institution: Hoover Institution
Date: Spring 2024
Summary: The Alliance for Civics in the Academy is a nonpartisan network of college instructors involved in teaching courses and developing academic programs aimed at civic education.
