Civic Education: What Makes Students Learn

Sound democratic decisions rely on a citizenry with at least a partial mastery of the rules and workings of democratic government. American high schools, where students learn the basics of citizenship, thus ought to play a critical role in the success of democracy. Yet studies examining the impact of high school government and civics courses on political knowledge over the past quarter-century have generally shown that these courses have little or no effect. In this important book, Richard G. Niemi and Jane Junn take a fresh look at what America’s high school seniors know about government and politics and how they learn it. The authors argue convincingly that secondary school civics courses do indeed enhance students’ civic knowledge.
This book is based on the most extensive assessment to date of civic knowledge among American youth―the 1988 National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) Civics Assessment. The authors develop and test a theoretical model to explain the cognitive process by which students learn about politics and they conclude by suggesting specific changes in the style and emphasis of civics teaching.

Education & Teaching

Junn, Jane

Niemi, Richard G.

Schools & Teaching

Yale University Press

Term Limits in State Legislatures

It has been predicted that term limits in state legislatures--soon to be in effect in eighteen states--will first affect the composition of the legislatures, next the behavior of legislators, and finally legislatures as institutions. The studies in Term Limits in State Legislatures demonstrate that term limits have had considerably less effect on state legislatures than proponents predicted. The term-limit movement--designed to limit the maximum time a legislator can serve in office--swept through the states like wildfire in the first half of the 1990s. By November 2000, state legislators will have been "term limited out" in eleven states. This book is based on a survey of nearly 3,000 legislators from all fifty states along with intensive interviews with twenty-two legislative leaders in four term-limited states. The data were collected as term limits were just beginning to take effect in order to capture anticipatory effects of the reform, which set in as soon as term limit laws were passed. In order to understand the effects of term limits on the broader electoral arena, the authors also examine data on advancement of legislators between houses of state legislatures and from the state legislatures to Congress. The results show that there are no systematic differences between term limit and non-term limit states in the composition of the legislature (e.g., professional backgrounds, demographics, ideology). Yet with respect to legislative behavior, term limits decrease the time legislators devote to securing pork and heighten the priority they place on the needs of the state and on the demands of conscience relative to district interests. At the same time, with respect to the legislature as an institution, term limits appear to be redistributing power away from majority party leaders and toward governors and possibly legislative staffers. This book will be of interest both to political scientists, policymakers, and activists involved in state politics. John M. Carey is Assistant Professor of Political Science, Washington University in St. Louis. Richard G. Niemi is Professor of Political Science, University of Rochester. Lynda W. Powell is Professor of Political Science, University of Rochester.

Carey, John M.

Powell, Lynda W.

University of Michigan Press

It has been predicted that term limits in state legislatures--soon to be in effect in eighteen states--will first affect the composition of the legislatures, next the behavior of legislators, and finally legislatures as institutions. The studies in Term Limits in State Legislatures demonstrate that term limits have had considerably less effect on state legislatures than proponents predicted. The term-limit movement--designed to limit the maximum time a legislator can serve in office--swept through the states like wildfire in the first half of the 1990s. By November 2000, state legislators will have been "term limited out" in eleven states. This book is based on a survey of nearly 3,000 legislators from all fifty states along with intensive interviews with twenty-two legislative leaders in four term-limited states. The data were collected as term limits were just beginning to take effect in order to capture anticipatory effects of the reform, which set in as soon as term limit laws were passed. In order to understand the effects of term limits on the broader electoral arena, the authors also examine data on advancement of legislators between houses of state legislatures and from the state legislatures to Congress. The results show that there are no systematic differences between term limit and non-term limit states in the composition of the legislature (e.g., professional backgrounds, demographics, ideology). Yet with respect to legislative behavior, term limits decrease the time legislators devote to securing pork and heighten the priority they place on the needs of the state and on the demands of conscience relative to district interests. At the same time, with respect to the legislature as an institution, term limits appear to be redistributing power away from majority party leaders and toward governors and possibly legislative staffers. This book will be of interest both to political scientists, policymakers, and activists involved in state politics. John M. Carey is Assistant Professor of Political Science, Washington University in St. Louis. Richard G. Niemi is Professor of Political Science, University of Rochester. Lynda W. Powell is Professor of Political Science, University of Rochester.

This book is the most up-to-date treatment of voting rights law and the numerous controversies surrounding minority representation. Written by authors with first-hand experience in the case law, the book details the evolution of the law and precedent from 1965 forward. The authors explain the basic logic underlying the major decisions, introduce the reader to the procedures for establishing standards of representation and measuring discrimination, and discuss the major points of recent contention. In the concluding chapter, the authors address the implications of the recent developments in voting rights law for the future of representation in America.

Minority Representation and the Quest for Voting Equality

Politics & Social Sciences

Grofman, Bernard

Handley, Lisa

Politics & Government

Cambridge University Press

This book shows how specific agents shape the political character of adolescents, how response to these agents varies according to sex, race, and other factors, and how political learning changes through the life-cycle and across generations.Originally published in 1974.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Political Character of Adolescence: The Influence of Families and Schools (Princeton Legacy Library)

History

Jennings, M. Kent

Europe

Princeton University Press

Kent Jennings and Richard Nieini arc recognized widely for their 1965 study of the development of political attitudes and behavior among a large, nationally representative sample of high school seniors and their parents (The Political Character of Adolescence, Princeton). Now they present the results of a follow-up study of these same individuals in 1973 along with a fresh study of 1973 high school seniors. Spanning a dramatic eight-year historical period and an important transitional phase in the life cycle of the younger generation, this material provides a unique opportunity to assess the development of political attitudes and participation.Originally published in 1981.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Generations and Politics: A Panel Study of Young Adults and Their Parents (Princeton Legacy Library)

Parenting & Relationships

Kent Jennings and Richard Nieini arc recognized widely for their 1965 study of the development of political attitudes and behavior among a large, nationally representative sample of high school seniors and their parents (The Political Character of Adolescence, Princeton). Now they present the results of a follow-up study of these same individuals in 1973 along with a fresh study of 1973 high school seniors. Spanning a dramatic eight-year historical period and an important transitional phase in the life cycle of the younger generation, this material provides a unique opportunity to assess the development of political attitudes and participation.Originally published in 1981.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

This book shows how specific agents shape the political character of adolescents, how response to these agents varies according to sex, race, and other factors, and how political learning changes through the life-cycle and across generations.Originally published in 1974.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Controversies in American voting behavior

Weisberg, Herbert F.

W.H.Freeman

Voting Technology: The Not-So-Simple Act of Casting a Ballot

Herrnson, Paul S.

Traugott, Michael W.

Conrad, Frederick G.

Hanmer, Michael J.

Bederson, Benjamin B.

Brookings Institution Press

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