Civic Engagement exam 1
what is mobilization?
Actions of encouraging in an organization
What is the generational divide within political engagement?
Younger generation is less likely to participate as their elders in political engagement.
Describe how the youngest generation views the role of government, and explain why this matters?
Younger people distrust the government and don't want to participate in voting or political engagement because of it
Describe how younger people have a different sense of civic duty than their elders and explain why this matter?
- Young people are less inclined to trust politicians, which in turn might mean that they don't want to run for office. This is bad because we like really need some good leaders ok!!
How does our generation participate differently in the civic sphere than older generations?
- boycotting -buycotting - volunteering for college acceptances
Explain what democracy would look like without social capital or seen at a distance
- distant - internet makes social capital hard - more polarization - information can't flow between people as easily
Explore the debate of adopting a citizenship test as a high school graduation requirement
- immigrants have to know more than our own citizens how dare they! - how does taking this test make us more civically engaged?
Why does the cognitive engagement divide between generations matter?
- increases polarization - if you aren't aware of the issues, you can't cast an informed vote - If you are simply not interested, you won't be inclined to fix things - younger generations prefer not to even tune in
Explain the decline of social capital in inner cities
- more working women - men working longer hours - the effects of suburbanization
Explain the decline in civics education
- rise of STEM (Cold war, sputnik) - rise of protests made it hard to discuss controversial topics - no child left behind took the resources from civics education
What is "improved health" in terms of social capital?
- social capital fends off illness - helps overcome illness - people are more likely to take care of one another
What is "access to valuable information"?
- social networks improve -better, more informed decisions would happen
Lawless & Fox's rec for improving political ambition
1) youlead initiative 2) political videogames 3) reform college app process 4) close the gender gap 5) gorun app
How does broad civic engagement have educational value?
1) Engagement has educational values 2) we learn through discussion, deliberation & action
the 5 benefits of social capital are:
1) access to valuable information 2) improved health 3) grease the wheels 4) grow as individuals resolve collective problems
how does Broad civic engagement foster necessary advocacy?
1) collective action benefits the poor & rich alike because we all have problems that cannot be solved through financial resources or individual action alone. 2) everyone needs an advocate (first they came for....poem)
How does civic engagement help public institutions?
1) communities that are healthier, wealthier, and smarter have broad civic engagement. 2) improved compliance with public policy 3) fulfil our ethical obligation 4) a common vision can be developed & measured.
How does broad civic engagement support a vibrant culture?
1) democracy requires people to control their image and communicate their values (people will be shamed if they have shitty opinions) 2) a free society will have diverse cultural images
What are the 6 principles of transforming civic engagement in terms of diversity?
1) embracing the gifts of diversity 2) recognizing race, power & injustice 3) radical hospitality: invitation & listening 4) trust 5) honoring dissent & protest 6) adaptability to change
Why does broad civic engagement compliment government?
1) informs and sharing info about public problems 2) facilitates public deliberation 3) gives voters and jurors the skills to perform their jobs better 4) advocates and pushes back against government action (watchdog role) 5) tackles personal and complex problems, like caring for the sick & creating culture (government cannot do it alone)
What are the 7 reasons we need broad civic engagement in society?
1) makes us happy 2) helps foster a vibrant culture 3) compliments government 4) fosters necessary advocacy 5) helps public institutions 6) helps build political equity 7) has educational value
What is the generational divide when it comes to cognitive engagement?
1) older generations pay more attention to public affairs 2) speaking about politics is more common among older generations 3) young people generally value the news about political affairs less so than preceding younger generations 4) huge growth in social media
How does broad civic engagement help build political equity?
1) resource theory: citizens who have more education/resources have the tools to participate 2) Status theory: citizens who have fewer financial resources are not as mobilized as the wealthy Both theories argue that we need to increase political and civic engagement, especially of the poor, to achieve political equity. 3) increases representation of poorer americans 4) increasing demand of political power and efficiency
Name each of the 4 generations and be able to explore the socialization of the youngest two generations
1) silent generation 2) baby boomers 3) gen x 4) millennials The two younger generations are generation x and the millennial generation. Gen x lived through the aids epidemic, regan, tv as baby sitters, rising divorce rates, decline in the quality of education, and cable tv. Millennials lived through 9/11, the iraq war, the obama election, the iphone
Explain the 3-part theory of bowling alone
1) social connections matter & have value - volunteering, friends, student government, etc. 2) Social connections, formal/informal. Formal would be structural (such as working together), informal would be more "fun". - steady growth in the 1st part of the 20th century, upsurge post ww2 in the 50s and 60s with the baby boomer generation. They voted more, donated more regularly, and this declined towards the 70s. 3) Decline can have a dramatic effect on society. - health, economy & civic life can have be impacted.
what are three ways to transform civic engagement?
1) structural changes 2) success measures 3) motivations for engagement
How does broad civic engagement make us happy?
1) the act of engagement is valuable in and of itself.
What is the generational divide within civic engagement?
As a whole youth are not as involved with civic engagement as older generations; especially the baby boomers.
explain the significance of social capital
Benefits include trust & generalized reciprocity. Specific reciprocity includes some kind of transaction like "if you do this for me, I'll do something for you", whereas generalized reciprocity is doing something good just to do good, in hopes of good things happening for you.
Provide examples of consumer power activities
Buycotting, boycotting, Chick Fil A
What are the voting trends like?
Generally downward in trend
Explain general trends of social connections in the 20th century
Generally trending downward, people are getting less trusting of one another???
Define and explain the significance of generational equity as it relates to youth engagement and political ambition
Generational equity is the idea that all generations should be treated in a similar way with similar opportunities, and it is tricky because it requires work, and if you don't show up, you won't get your voice heard. it relates to youth engagement because youth are not getting involved so they won't get their voices heard.
Explain the historical contribution of Rock the Vote and its major players
Historical context: rock the vote is a campaign that motivates young people to vote. They keep up with what is important for the youth of the current generation. Major players were clinton who mobilized the youth by buying into their bill through rock the vote, madonna performed for them, REM is a band that does stuff with them, Al Gore also did things too.
What is education in terms of civic engagement?
It affects all other precursors and more education means you will more likely participate.
What is the significance of reciprocity?
It builds trust between community members
What is the overview of engagement in public life in the United States?
It has been trending downwards due to mistrust among younger generations
what is the lifestyle perspective as it relates to public policy
It is as you develop, you are likely going to be exposed to new conditions that will change your outlook. This would mean that certain policies matter less to certain generations (ie you only care about taxes when you are paying them).
What is civic engagement?
It is engagement with the goal of direct participation to affect a public good, usually through non governmental organizations. An example would be serving a homeless shelter through a ngo.
What is political engagement?
It is engagement with the goal of influencing public policy and/or the election of public officials. An example would be working on Hillary's campaign.
What is cognitive engagement?
It is engagement with the goal to be informed about public affairs and politics so you can make informed decisions.
What is public voice?
It is engagement with the intent of informing and persuading the world about your views on a public issue. An example would be talking to people about climate change on the oval or contacting elected officials.
What influences participation the most?
Political capital, peer pressure, and early socialization
what is the generational perspective as it relates to public policy?
It is shared characteristics that are produced from socialization, common culture and historical experiences. This creates a unique interaction with public policy due to the needs of each generation.
Identify and explain how political ambition appears to be a dying aspiration
It's a dying aspiration because young people don't have much trust in the government and look for other ways to impact change-- because we are passionate, we just dont seem to want to be in gov or care about gov because they're useless.
Explain social capital's relationship with public participation
Leads to: 1) tax compliance 2) closing of police investigations 3) completing the census 4) more support for public broadcasting 5) communities are better prepared to deal with crisis situations
What makes the 11% different?
More likely to: 1) discuss politics at home 2) participate in political activities with their parents 3) to be encouraged to run for office 4) to take a gov course 5) participate in political discussions and activities outside of the classroom 6) have a positive impression about elected officials 7) to be inspired by elected officials
What does it mean to "resolve collective problems"?
More trust among community members means more social capital, which in turn means the community is more willing to solve problems through collective action like philanthropy and volunteering.
explain why we should care about young people running for office?
Next generation, leaders, blah blah blah we dont want to though bc the government literally sucks
What is the difference between older and younger generations when it comes to public voice?
Not much of a divide, but: 1) younger people do not contact their elected officials as much as their elders 2) politically driven consumer behavior is a common activity among all generations except the eldest, and it is most common for those who are already connected to their communities.
Explain how social capital is more important in poorer communities
Poorer communities lack social and monetary capital; if communities trusted one another more, then neighbors could babysit. People would help each other out.
Define social capital
Refers to the many benefits that come from the connections we form with each other & our communities.
What does it mean to "grease the wheels"
Social capital helps society run well. There has been a trend downwards in trust, resulting in more lawyers being retained.
Explain why civics education may matter to public participation
The decline in civics ed correlates with a decline in: - voter turnout - attention to the news - political ambition
Explain the political engagement divide between generations, including voting and political ambition and explain why this matters
There has been a decline in trust in a general sense, but younger americans feel more distrustful than others, especially of civic and political entities. Because of this sense of uselessness, they do not vote as much, and overall do not want to run for office.
Pessimistic about our youth
They don't participate in civic engagement as much as older gens.
Identify the trends in social media use
They have gone up....duh
Demonstrates how gang activity is an example of social capital
They rely on one another and act as a family unit. It is more specific reciprocity than general.
What is bonding?
This is exclusive membership; it is inward looking, and it is with members of the same shared identity. This is good for encouraging solidarity. An example would be the national council of Jewish women.
What is bridging?
This is inclusive membership; an example would be the Somali-American community sharing their culture with white Americans. This is good for bringing together diverse communities.
What is early socialization?
When parents/family members engage in political discussion in their homes
What is general reciprocity?
When people do nice things for one another without expecting anything in return
What is specific reciprocity?
When people do things for one another expecting there to be some kind of exchange, "you do this for me, I do this for you"
Explain social capital's impact on public policy
When social capital is high, it leads to a better sense of identity, and therefore makes for more solid policy development.
What does it mean to "grow as individuals"?
With social capital people are more aware of connectedness and less cynical
What is political capital?
political resources citizens obtain when they are attentive and knowledgeable about public affairs, have high levels of advocacy, identify with a party, and have a strong sense of civic duty.
optimistic:
we really want to change the world.
