Andolina, Jenkins, Zukin,& Ketter. (2003) “Habits from Home, Lessons from School: Influnences on Youth Civic Engagement

Andolina, Molly W. Krista Jenkins, Cliff Zukin, and Scott Ketter. (2003) “Habits from Home, Lessons from School: Influnences on Youth Civic Engagement.”

The authors investigate the lasting effects of teenage activity on civic participation. They demonstrate positive influences of civic training on youth from the home, school, and outside organizations on later civic engagement. Establishing positive attitudes towards civic responsibility early lays groundwork for later civic & political engagement.
Research Design:

Purpose was to create a reliable & replicable instrument for measuring civic engagement--began w/ qualitative investigation of youth political orientations & behavior, then developed quantitative indicators from qualitative findings for the survey instrument—19 measures of civic & cognitive engagement
2 data sources for the study—(1) telephone survey administered by SRBI, Inc-authors used a subset of 15-25 yr olds from the larger sample; (2) a randomly selected group of 15-25 yr olds administered by Knowledge Networks via internet
Flaws in design: reliance on respondent recollection; cross-sectional design limits investigation of long-term consequences
Advantages: large sample size allows for analysis of cohort differences; survey instrument includes wide range of measures
“DotNet” Generation:

15-25 yr olds at the time of the study (2002)
active volunteers, but not habitual voters
low scores on political knowledge, less attentive to politics & government
as likely as population to engage in boycotts & petition signing (low cost actions)

Most significant influence on youth political participation comes from:

Role models at home
Political talk, discussions at home (relates to McIntosh et al 2007)
Active volunteers in family
Skills training at school
Civic instruction—required classes in gov’t, politics, national issues
Open discussions in class—teacher encouraged discussion of political issues, classroom discussions promoting youth involvement
Civic skills training—particularly letter writing & debate skills
The link between civic skills & participation is most significant factor
Schools facilitating volunteer work for students—creating opportunities
School Volunteering
High proportion of high school student engaged in outside orgs stay politically & civically engaged
Content of group matters—political groups foster greater participation—over sports or religious affiliations
College associations are less likely to foster participation
Extra-curricular activities
Direct invitation make critical difference in participation
Religious organizations provide effective training for civic engagement