Promoting a Deliberative and Active Citizenry: Developing Traditional First Year College Student Political Engagement

Abstract

In this study, we examine the impact of a curriculum designed to increase first year college student political engagement. We used a staggered implementation design in which eight classes of traditional first year college students in were taught a political engagement curriculum by two instructors. The results confirm the positive impact of the political engagement curriculum above and beyond a rhetoric and composition curriculum for traditional first-year college students on important political indicators such as internal political efficacy and attentiveness and interest in politics. Further, participants exhibited significant post-intervention differences with regard to their comfort level joining political conversations as well as employing important conversational strategies to strengthen democratic dialogue. These results support the use of this curriculum to increase first year college students’ political engagement and underscore the impact that classroom curriculum and instruction can have promoting a deliberative and active citizenry.