CIRCLE (the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement) has moved to the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service at Tufts University, boosting both institutions’ strength in the field of youth civic and political engagement.

CIRCLE and Tisch College are two of the nation’s leading organizations devoted to researching civic and political engagement and developing young Americans into active and responsible citizens:

• The non-partisan CIRCLE, renowned for youth voter election data and analysis, conducts and promotes reliable, relevant and timely research on civic education, community service, young people’s use of the news and electronic media, and other aspects of youth civic and political engagement.
• A national leader in civic engagement, Tisch College prepares students from all fields of Tufts to become engaged public citizens and community leaders. Through a broad array of programming, Tisch promotes new knowledge in the field of civic engagement and gives students, faculty, and alumni the tools to be lifelong active citizens.

Download a press release from CIRCLE and Tisch College with more information and quotes.
Please note our new contact information.

June 2008

More than 6.5 million young people under the age of 30 participated in the 2008 primaries and caucuses. This marks a dramatic increase in youth voter turnout over the last comparable election cycle in 2000. In states where data is available for both the 2008 and 2000 primaries, the national youth turnout rate rose from nine percent in the 2000 primaries to 17 percent in the 2008 primaries.

For statistics on the whole primary season:

• Click here to download the press release
• Click here to download the fact sheet

For primary results by state:

• Super Tuesday combined (with youth voter information from all Super Tuesday states)
• Alabama (no clear comparison year)
• Arizona (no clear comparison year- updated estimate)
• Arkansas (no clear comparison year-updated estimate)
• California (youth turnout up from 13% to 19%-updated estimate)
• Connecticut (youth turnout up from 7% to 12%)
• Florida (youth turnout triples)
• Georgia (youth turnout triples)
• Indiana (no clear comparison)
• Iowa (youth turnout triples)
• Kentucky (no clear comparison)
• Louisiana (youth turnout doubles)
• Maryland (youth turnout up from 11% to 15%)
• Massachusetts (youth turnout doubles)
• Michigan (no clear comparison)
• Missouri (youth turnout triples)
• Mississipi (youth turnout triples)
• Nevada press release (no clear comparison)
• New Hampshire (youth turnout rises sharply)
• New Jersey (no clear comparison year)
• New York (youth turnout steady while overall turnout falls)
• North Carolina (no clear comparison)
• Ohio (youth turnout rises sharply)
• Oklahoma (youth turnout triples)
• Oregon (no clear comparison)
• Pennsylvania (no clear comparison year)
• South Carolina (no clear comparison)
• Tennessee (youth turnout quadruples)
• Texas (youth turnout nearly triples)
• Utah (no clear comparison year)
• Virginia (no clear comparison year)
• West Virginia (no clear comparison year)
• Wisconsin (no clear comparison year)

by Henry Milner

May 2008

Political knowledge is an important precondition of voting and other forms of political participation. Both knowledge and participation have declined among young people in many industrialized democracies. Comparative analysis is important for understanding the causes of these declines and proposing reforms. This paper is based on the results of CIRCLE’s Civic and Political Health of the Nation Survey (2006) and a Canadian survey designed to be comparable conducted that same year. The results indicate that knowledge is indeed a correlate of participation. American young people have troubling gaps in political knowledge, even compared to their Canadian peers.

• CIRCLE Working Paper 60: “The Informed Political Participation of Young Canadians and Americans”

Applied Development Science has published a special issue on immigrant civic engagement. Two articles are by CIRCLE staff and three other articles are the products of CIRCLE grants.

• “Immigrant Civic Engagement: New Translations” by Lene Arnett Jensen and Constance A. Flanagan
• “South Florida’s Immigrant Youth and Civic Engagement: Major Engagement: Minor Differences” by Alex Stepick, Carol Dutton Stepick, and Yves Labissiere [research funded by CIRCLE]
• “The Civic Engagement of Immigrant Youth: New Evidence From the 2006 Civic and Political Health of the Nation Survey” by Mark Hugo Lopez and Karlo Barrios Marcelo [CIRCLE staff]
• “Immigrants’ Cultural Identities as Sources of Civic Engagement” by Lene Arnett Jensen [research funded by CIRCLE]
• “Contested Citizenship and Social Exclusion: Adolescent Arab American Immigrants’ Views of the Social Contract” by Laura Wray-Lake, Amy K. Syvertsen and Constance A. Flanagan
• “Identities in Context: Politicized Racial Group Consciousness Among Asian American and Latino Youth” by Jane Junn and Natalie Masuoka [research funded by CIRCLE]
• “The Civic Engagement of Young Immigrants: Why Does It Matter?” by Peter Levine [CIRCLE staff]
• “The Challenges of Studying Political and Civic Incorporation” by Mary C. Waters
• “Reaping What You Sow: Immigration, Youth, and Reactive Ethnicity” by Rubén G. Rumbaut

The special issue (vol. 12, no. 2) is here. Click below for selected abstracts.
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CIRCLE is hiring for the position of Lead Researcher. In July of 2008, CIRCLE will become part of the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service at Tufts University. The Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service prepares students in all fields of study for lifetimes of active citizenship, promotes new knowledge in the field, and builds an enduring and broadly shared ethos of citizenship and public service across Tufts University.  For best consideration, we request that applications be submitted by May 31, 2008.
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These are fact sheets on youth voting in the states, issued by CIRCLE prior to primaries or caucuses:

• Alaska
• Arizona
• Arkansas
• California
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• District of Columbia
• Florida
• Georgia
• Idaho
• Illinois
• Indiana (NEW!)
• Kansas
• Kentucky (NEW!)
• Louisiana
• Maine
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Minnesota
• Mississippi
• Missouri
• Montana
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• New York
• North Carolina (NEW!)
• North Dakota
• Ohio
• Oklahoma
• Pennsylvania (NEW!)
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Utah
• Vermont
• Virginia
• Washington
• West Virginia
• Wisconsin

by CIRCLE and Rock the Vote

Authors: Karlo Barrios Marcelo, Mark Hugo Lopez, Chris Kennedy, and Kat Barr

March 2008

The report, Young Voter Registration and Turnout Trends, takes an in-depth look at historical trends in youth voter turnout, the demographics of young voters, and the politics of the youth vote. The report offers research and data on young voters broken down by state, gender, ethnic group, religious affiliation and other key demographics for the 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2006 elections.

• Read the press release.
• Special Report: Young Voter Registration and Turnout Trends
• Visit Rock the Vote’s Research page.

New CIRCLE Research Reveals Higher Income School Districts Offer More Opportunities to Learn about Politics and Citizenship

February 2008

Although half of young Americans ages 18-29 have never enrolled in college, 79 percent of the young voters on Super Tuesday attended college, according to new CIRCLE research. This gap was also evident in youth turnout rates: one in four eligible young voters with college experience voted on Super Tuesday, compared with one in 14 eligible young voters with no college experience. Click to download the research:

• Fact sheet on the youth vote in the 2008 Super Tuesday States (with detailed demographic data)
• Press release on the deep divide in the primary youth vote
• Listen to the NPR Story “Non-College Kids Outsiders to Rising ‘Youth Vote.” with CIRCLE director Peter Levine

Instead of making things more equal, school systems exacerbate this political inequality by providing more opportunities to learn about politics to higher income students, white students, and academically successful students, according to a new CIRCLE study written by Joseph Kahne and Ellen Middaugh of the Civic Engagement Research Group (CERG) at Mills College. Students in higher-income school districts are up to twice as likely as those from average-income districts to learn how laws are made and how Congress works, for example. They are more than one-and-a-half times as likely to report having political debates and panel discussions. Click to download the research:

• CIRCLE Working Paper 59: “Democracy for Some: The Civic Opportunity Gap in High School”

by Joseph Kahne and Ellen Middaugh

February 2008

In our study of high school civic opportunities, we found that a student’s race and academic track, and a school’s average socioeconomic status (SES) determines the availability of the school-based civic learning opportunities that promote voting and broader forms of civic engagement. High school students attending higher SES schools, those who are college-bound, and white students get more of these opportunities than low-income students, those not heading to college, and students of color.

• CIRCLE Working Paper 59: “Democracy for Some: The Civic Opportunity Gap in High School”

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 From the Director’s Desk: CIRCLE is Moving to Tufts University

1 “Millennials Talk Politics: A Study of College Student Political Engagement”

7 CIRCLE Fact Sheets

9 CIRCLE in the News

10 Countdown 2008: Over Three Million Young Voters Participate in Super Tuesday Primaries

• Download Around the CIRCLE- WINTER 2008 V.5 I.2