June–December 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
Democracy’s Champions: Civic Virtue in America
Author: Terry Newell
Date: August 26, 2025
Summary: Newell explores civic virtue by showing how the Founding Fathers described it, discussing roughly 60 well-known Americans in history who demonstrated it, and then defining it for modern-day.
Anger, Fear, Domination: Dark Passions and the Power of Political Speech
Author: William A. Galston (Brookings Institution)
Date: October 28, 2025
Summary: Galston argues that in an age where fear, anger, and resentment spread increasingly through the populace—leading to the weakening of institutions and empowerment of demagogues—defenders of democracy must seek to understand and address the causes of these sentiments instead of merely focusing on political idealism.
The Living Charter: How the Constitution Evolved and the Idea of America Endures
Author: Paige Howard
Date: November 1, 2025
Summary: Howard opens with a vivid illustration of the Philadelphia debates that forged the Constitution, then analyzes each article and shows how they have been tested throughout American history.
Empowering Voices: Civic Engagement Strategies for the Next Generation (The Federalist Reborn - Interpreting the writings and spirit of America’s Founders)
Author: Nathan Sterling
Date: November 5, 2025
Summary: In this book for the American youth, Sterling encourages his audience to pursue a civic engagement that puts responsibility before rights, reason before rhetoric, and character before popularity.
The Long Divide: Essays on Duty, Dissent, and Stewardship
Author: Chris Burnette
Date: November 6, 2025
Summary: Via this collection of essays he wrote over the course of his life, Burnette uses his experience as a veteran, attorney, and government official to explore how integrity can survive and thrive within modern institutions—and why it must.
The Greatest Sentence Ever Written
Author: Walter Isaacson
Institution: Tulane University (professor); PBS and CNN (interviewer)
Date: November 18, 2025
Summary: Isaacson takes a deep dive into the Declaration of Independence’s most powerful sentence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” He details why it was a radical concept then, what led Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and their peers to express such a sentiment, and how it defines our nation today.
Democracy in Higher Learning: Advancing Civic-Minded Student Learning
Author: Maximilian T. Schuster
Institution: University of Pittsburgh
Date: December 4, 2025
Summary: Schuster explores how colleges and universities can respond to divisive politics by cultivating students’ civic and democratic learning. He presents a comprehensive approach that acknowledges the interconnected challenges faced by students, faculty, and staff and demonstrates how higher education institutions can foster environments that educate and renew their promise to cultivate informed and responsible citizens. Chapters explore how dialogue inside and outside the classroom, community involvement, and student agency can shape campuses that directly support students’ civic learning and development.
Articles
Progressive Policy Institute Announces Group to Strengthen American Identity
Author: Richard D. Kahlenberg, Lawrence H. Summers, David Brooks
Institution: Progressive Policy Institute
Date: June 30, 2025
Summary: The PPI is launching the American Identity Project, in advance of which they are convening a group of prominent Americans to advise the project on four issues: the erosion of social cohesion, declining faith in America among the nation’s youth, failing civics education, and the growing popularity of autocratic behavior.
What is the State of Patriotism and Student Knowledge of Civics and History?
Author: Bruno V. Manno
Publication: Forbes
Date: June 30, 2025
Summary: A review of the crisis in civics education and institutions rising to address it.
2025 Update on Federal and State Investments in Civics Education
Institution: American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Date: July 24, 2025
Summary: In this brief 2025 addendum to their 2020 Our Common Purpose: Reinventing American Democracy for the 21st Century, the Academy reiterates its call for federal investment in civics education and lists major federal and state legislative initiatives from 2022-25.
The Politics of Resilience: Civic Engagement in New Orleans 20 Years After Katrina
Author: Robert A. Collins (Dillard University)
Institution: Brookings Institution
Date: July 30, 2025
Summary: A report on how civic engagement has evolved in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina. Finds that the community has made substantial developments in social cohesion and resilience, but this energy needs to be matched in municipal and state elections.
Progressives Say High Schoolers Have a Right to Vote, But Democrats, Not Republicans, Have More to Fear
Author: Paul E Peterson (Hoover Institution & Harvard)
Date: September 2, 2025
Summary: A discussion of the potential ramifications of lowering the voting age to 16.
Key Takeaways from the Conference on Democracy and Policy: Reimagining a Global Democratic Future
Author: Rachel Beatty Riedl (Center on Global Democracy [Cornell] director), Jonathan Katz (Brookings Institute), Noam Lupu (Center for Global Democracy [Vanderbilt] director)
Institution: Brookings Institution
Date: September 3, 2025
Summary: Published here are key takeaways from the May conference co-hosted by Brookings and Cornell’s Brooks Center on Global Democracy. Notably, pro-democracy political parties must build trust and engagement at the local level, grassroots civil society groups need to inform people of and mobilize them against executive overreach, pro-democracy leaders need to form an international network committed to opposing rising authoritarianism, pro-democracy advocates must support efforts to expand digital literacy, and the flaws of current democratic procedures must be seriously analyzed and addressed to strengthen support for democracy worldwide.
USCIS to Add Special Agents with New Law Enforcement Authorities
Institution: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
Date: September 4, 2025
Summary: The Department of Homeland Security has introduced USCIS 1811 classified officers—also known as special agents—who are authorized to investigate, arrest, and present for prosecution those who violate America’s immigration laws, particularly in ways related to security, fraud, and public safety. The DHS authorities provided to USCIS include making arrests, carrying firearms, executing search and arrest warrants, and other powers standard for federal law enforcement.
USCIS Unveils First Changes to Naturalization Test in Multi-Step Overhaul of American Citizenship Standards
Institution: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
Date: September 17, 2025
Summary: USCIS has implemented a more difficult naturalization civics test, will introduce stricter vetting, decrease disability exceptions, and investigate prospective citizens to “ensure that aliens meet statutory requirements and are worthy of U.S. citizenship.”
Citizenship Hub: Archives, Collection and Research Resources
Author: Working Group on Civics and American Citizenship
Institution: Hoover Institution
Date: September 17, 2025
Summary: A hub of civics education resources compiled by the working group for teachers, researchers, organizations, and anyone interested in the field.
William Inboden Charts Path to Reforming Higher Education
Author: Peter Berkowitz (Hoover Institution)
Date: September 28, 2025
Summary: Berkowitz applauds proposals for higher education reform, including expanding summer programs with think tanks and research centers, adding pro-free speech programs and centers in established universities, and developing more experimental institutions such as the University of Austin.
Trump is Weaponizing the USCIS for the First Time in the Agency’s History
Author: Kate Voigt
Institution: American Civil Liberties Union
Date: October 7, 2025
Summary: ACLU Senior Policy Counsel Kate Voigt decries the September addition of USCIS special agents, noting that never before did USCIS have armed enforcers, and worries that this will stigmatize, intimidate, and silence immigrants.
USCIS Changes Naturalization Civics Test, Reverts to Prior Question Bank
Author: Scott H Schaefer
Institution: Pryor Cashman
Date: October 8, 2025
Summary: Pryor Cashman, an NYC law firm with an esteemed track record in immigration law, compares the new 2025 naturalization civics test to the 2008 and 2020 versions, and shares the changes that will be implemented in the new version, as well as advice for how test takers should prepare.
How Trump is Changing the US Citizenship Test
Author: Chad de Guzman (TIME)
Publication: TIME Magazine
Date: October 21, 2025
Summary: A brief review of the history of the naturalization test and a report on the changes the Trump administration intends to introduce.
Launch of “History Rocks!” Tour
Author: US Department of Education Press Release
Date: December 2, 2025
Summary: Announcement that the Secretary of Education Linda McMahon will kick off the Department of Education’s new program, which was created as an educational event to occur alongside the 250th anniversary. Secretary McMahon and others will visit schools in all 50 states to recognize excellence in civics education and the nation’s history. This program exists in collaboration with Turning Point USA and America First Policy Institute.
US Supreme Court agrees to Hear Case Challenging Birthright Citizenship
Author: Brandon Drenon & Madeline Halpert
Publication: BBC News
Date: December 4, 2025
Summary: The Supreme Court has officially agreed to hear the case on whether some children born in the US have the right to birthright citizenship. This order was a part of Trump’s day 1 policies and was originally struck down by lower-level courts.
Research
Teaching Civics: An Overview of Instructional Strategies Using Primary Sources, Role-Play and Simulations, and Academic Service Learning for Teaching Civic Knowledge, Skills and Disposition
Authors: Lisa R Halverson, Eleesha Tucker and Glori H. Smith
Publication: Taylor and Francis
Date: July 31, 2025
Summary: A study of the decline of civics education over the past 50 years. Authors conclude that primary-source analysis, simulation-based instruction, and academic service learning have the potential to improve civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions.
2025 Annenberg Public Policy Center finds that Knowledge of Civics has Increased
Institution: Annenberg Public Policy Center
Date: September 11, 2025
Summary: “Americans are more knowledgeable this year in answering basic civics questions,” according to the annual Constitution Day Civics Survey conducted by the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania.”
Podcast
Does Civics Education Make More Engaged Citizens?
Host: Democracy in Question
Institution: Brookings Institution
Date: July 3, 2025
Episode Description: Hosts Katie Dunn Tenpas and Jonathan Katz explore how to create and safeguard a positive vision for U.S. governance by examining the core pillars of democracy.
Funding Democracy: Stepping up or Overstepping? with Xavier de Souza Briggs and Daniel Stid
Host: Management Matters
Date: July 17, 2025
Episode Description: James-Christian Blockwood hosts Xavier de Souza Briggs of the Brookings Institution and Daniel Stid of AEI. They explore the multifaceted role of philanthropy in society, particularly in governance, civil society, and the impact of the Trump administration on nonprofits and higher education.
Centering Listening & Empathy in Civics
Host: Visions of Education
Date: September 22, 2025
Episode Description: Education professor Dan Krutka and high school teacher Michael Milton chat with Hilary Conklin (DePaul University education professor) and Molly Andolina (DePaul University political science professor) about their new Theory and Research in Social Education article titled, “ Toward a more empathic, connected, and humanizing democracy: A civics curriculum centering listening and storytelling.”
Why are so many voters sitting out this week?
Host: Civics 101: A Podcast
Network: New Hampshire Public Radio
Date: November 3, 2025
Episode Description: Off-year elections matter a great deal. Most of our lives are lived at the local, not the national, level. So why do so many skip their state and local elections? Nick Capodice spoke with Luis Lozada, the CEO of Democracy Works, to understand why people don't show and why they should.
Events
We the People: Civic Engagement in a Constitutional Democracy
Instructor: Danielle Allen
Institution: Harvard Kennedy School
Date: Feb 26, 2025 – Feb 25, 2026
Summary: This online course teaches foundational knowledge of American constitutional democracy and how one can craft their civic voice and identity. Students learn about rights and responsibilities, constitutionalism, the philosophical foundations of democracy, and the levers of change.
Civic Season
Institution: Monticello
Date: June 14-July 4th, 2025
Summary: From June 14 - July 4, Monticello hosted a series of talks, dinners, and conversations about the nation’s history, the founding ideals of the country, and the challenges that persist today.
2025 Civics for All of US Teacher Institutes
Institution: National Archives
Date: July 14-17, 2025, and July 29-Aug 1, 2025
Summary: Educators teaching grades 3-12 had the opportunity to join sessions at the National Archives and learn how to use National Archives holdings to teach the civic knowledge and skills students need for civic engagement in the 21st century at this week of events.
National Conference on Citizenship
Institution: National Conference on Citizenship
Date: September 16, 2025
Summary: A diverse array of changemakers dedicated to strengthening civic life in America joined together to lead conversations meant to spark community connections and collaborations.
Democracy Funders Strategy Summit
Institution: Democracy Funders Network
Date: September 17-19, 2025
Summary: This year’s summit focused on ensuring that democracy delivers discernable value for the American people, engaging funders around how to safeguard democracy in the short term while also centering a concern for its improved effectiveness and responsiveness over the coming years.
National Civics Day
Date: October 27, 2025
National Civics Bee Championship
Institution: The Civic Trust (by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation), with the Daniels Fund as a founding partner
Date: November 11, 2025
Summary: A nationwide competition designed to encourage young Americans to engage with civic knowledge, public policy, and community problem-solving. The six finalists were tested on knowledge of the US Constitution, government, rights, and civic issues
Civic Learning and Social Change Conference
Institution: National Association of Student Personnel Administrators
Date: Dec. 8-10, 2025
Summary: Two conference tracks, Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement and Leadership, Belonging, and Social Change, will showcase the expertise of student affairs professionals as catalysts for enhancing civic learning and social change through community, curiosity, advocacy, pedagogy, and strategic thinking.
