Required civics courses, civics exams, and voter turnout

Abstract

Despite attempts at using civic education to increase the civic engagement of young people, education policy is slow to adopt the recommendations of research and great variation exists within the United States in how schools deliver civics instruction. We hypothesize that when states make civics requirements more uniform and demanding, statewide civic participation among young people increases. Using state-level data about civic education requirements and voter registration and turnout from the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), we find no evidence that a mandated civics course increases registration or turnout, but we do find a positive relationship between having a state-mandated civics exam and both registration and turnout among young people. We conclude that accountability policies could make a difference in the delivery of civic education at the state level.