Measuring the Relational Aspects of Civic Engagement and Action

Authors

  • Alison K. Cohen University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health & Graduate School of Education
  • Jason C. Fitzgerald Wagner College

Keywords:

civic action, civic education, civic engagement

Abstract

Civic leaders who are highly and effectively engaged often have strong relationships with key stakeholders across institutions and communities. The prevalence and nature of these relationships is not known among those with more typical levels of civic engagement. Via survey data of a random sample of residents of two neighboring French towns, we find that people perceive their neighbors to be, on average, more engaged than they perceive to be themselves, and that few individuals can provide specific action steps for how they would tackle social issues in their community. These results suggest that teaching civic action skills, including how to identify key decision makers as possible allies, is important for civic educators.

Author Biographies

Alison K. Cohen, University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health & Graduate School of Education

Dr. Cohen is a postdoctoral researcher in the Youth & Inequalities Initiative, affiliated with the School of Public Health and Graduate School of Education at University of California Berkeley.

Jason C. Fitzgerald, Wagner College

Dr. Fitzgerald is an Associate Professor of Secondary Education,Director of the Graduate Adolescent Program, and Director of the Higher Education and Learning Organizations Leadership at Wagner College.  He is also Professor-in-Residence at Port Richmond High School.  

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Published

2017-11-05

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Section

Articles