Civic Efficacy Research Articles

Can Transparency and Accountability Programs Improve Health? Experimental Evidence from Indonesia and Tanzania

We assess the impact of a transparency and accountability program designed to improve maternal and newborn health (MNH) outcomes in Indonesia and Tanzania. Co-designed with local partner organizations to be community-led and non-prescriptive, the program sought to encourage community participation to address local barriers in access to high quality care for pregnant women and infants. We evaluate the impact of this program through randomized controlled trials (RCTs), involving 100 treatment and 100 control communities in each country. We find that on average, this program did not have a statistically significant impact on the use or content of maternal and newborn health services, nor the sense of civic efficacy or civic participation among recent mothers in the communities who were offered it. These findings hold in both countries and in a set of prespecified subgroups. To identify reasons for the lack of impacts, we use a mixed-method approach combining interviews, observations, surveys, focus groups, and ethnographic studies that together provide an in-depth assessment of the complex causal paths linking participation in the program to improvements in MNH outcomes. Although participation in program meetings was substantial and sustained in most communities, and most attempted at least some of what they had planned, only a minority achieved tangible improvements and fewer still saw more than one such success. Our assessment is that the main explanation for the lack of impact is that few communities were able to traverse the complex causal paths from planning actions to accomplishing tangible improvements in their access to quality health care.

The Effect Teacher Led Reflection Plays on Students' Civic Responsibility Perceptions Following FFA Civic Engagement Activities

Civic engagement activities are utilized to enhance youth’s citizenship skills and content knowledge, and to strengthen the community’s status. Post-activity reflections can be utilized to strengthen the benefits of civic engagement activities but are often underutilized. This quasi-experimental study sought to determine the influence of guided reflection following FFA civic engagement activities on students’ self-perceived civic responsibility. Through the use of a nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design, four schools and students who participated in FFA civic engagement activities (n = 138) were randomly assigned to either a group discussion after reflection or a no-reflection group. It was found that throughout all time periods, students felt slightly connected to their community, community needs awareness, and civic efficacy. It was also found that the reflection treatment group exhibited statistically significantly higher community needs awareness and civic efficacy construct mean scores than the no-reflection group. It is recommended for FFA chapters to provide a wide variety of short-term civic engagement activities with reflection components.

Stealth democracy, elitism, and citizenship in Finnish energy policy

The purpose of this study was to address whether the attitudinal distance between the Finnish energy elite (decision-makers and experts) and the citizenry has changed with regarding the energy policy from 2007 to 2016, and whether their attitudinal differences were more concerned with the substance of the energy policy than the process of policy-making. The year 2007 represents a period of rapid and stable economic growth, while the year 2016 represents the immediate time after a prolonged recession that resulted from both international economic crises and domestic political decisions. Theoretically this study was based on the theory of stealth democracy, and the methodology used was postal surveys and expert interviews.The attitudinal distance between the elite and the citizenry decreased regarding the substance and the process of the energy policy. The citizenry supported stealth democracy more than the elite; people prioritized the experts and businessmen more than elected officials as energy policy-makers, while the elite prioritized the elected officials more than experts and businessmen. Our findings showed a decreasing appreciation for classical democracy within the energy elite. Citizens' attitudes on stealth democracy were not clearly related to their level of conventional political involvement and civic efficacy.

Mediated and moderated effects of political communication on civic participation

ABSTRACTAustralian scholars and politicians have long been concerned about politically uninformed and inactive young Australians. However, few efforts have been made to explain how the use of traditional and online media may affect youth’s participation in politics. Our research utilises the citizen communication mediation model and extends the expected mediation chain by an additional examination of the possible interactions between news media use and political discussions, as suggested by the differential gains model. Using representative data from Australian 10th graders, we examine whether and how news media usage (newspapers, television, radio, and the Internet) affects expected participation in a range of civic and political activities conditional of discussions about political issues (with family, friends, and online). Path models account for additional mediators (civic knowledge and civic efficacy) and control variables to explain future civic and political participation. The results suggest that news media use stimulates political discussions, although different media exert differential effects. Yet, news exposure hardly influences the second mediators (civic knowledge and civic efficacy) in a direct manner. In fact, civic knowledge and efficacy mediate the relationships between political communication and participation, both directly and sequentially. Moderation analyses clarify that despite the mediating role of political discussions, news media exposure also influences (future) civic participation contingent of students’ engagement in (primarily Internet-based) discussions about political and social issues. We emphasise the significance of these results with reference to previous research, discuss potential directions for future research, and draw conclusions for civics and citizenship education.

Collaborative art-making for reducing marginalisation and promoting intercultural education and inclusion

ABSTRACTThe main goal of this study is to examine how teachers and students experienced the implementation of educational activities, materials and related pedagogical strategies of collaborative art-making. The activities were designed to strengthen intercultural education and inclusion practices, reduce social and academic marginalisation and increase the participation of marginalised children in the curricula, cultures and societies of schools. The current study examines only the implementation of activities in Cyprus. The findings of this study suggest that collaborative art-making allowed the voices of culturally diverse students to be heard, promoting the exchange of ideas and stories regarding diversity. Additionally, the implementation of the activities led to the development of students’ civic efficacy and democratic agency, while it contributed to friendship development.

Social Networks and Civic Participation and Efficacy in Two Evangelical Protestant Churches

This research note examines the proposition that participation in church—particularly the social interaction that accompanies church participation—is an important source of social capital that promotes civic activity and efficacy. Employing survey data from over 600 attendees of two evangelical Protestant churches, we tested hypotheses linking churchgoers’ social networks to their levels of civic efficacy and participation. Three key findings emerged. First, the number of friends in church was positively associated with churchgoers’ civic efficacy, religious civic activity, and secular civic activity, while the number of friends outside of church was unrelated to these outcomes. Second, the association between in-church networks and secular civic activity was partially mediated by civic efficacy. Third, church attendance moderated the association between in-church friends and secular civic activities such that high attending churchgoers with few in-church friends were far less likely to participate in secular civic activities. Taken together, these findings illustrate the importance of in-church social networks for Evangelical Protestants’ civic participation and feelings of civic efficacy, in contrast to out of church social networks which had little overall impact on these factors.

Figured Worlds of Citizenship

This article explores how two elementary school students responded to their teacher’s invitation in a civic classroom to make a difference to the world. We consider how the teacher framed the construct of civic efficacy and how the students refracted these ideas in their navigation of a civic education project. Closely analyzing these students’ experiences and responses, we question what differences are made when students are encouraged to think of themselves as citizens who can make a difference. Noting dissonances and ambivalences in the students’ responses, the conceptual resources of “figured worlds” enable an analysis of the interplay of discourses, interactions, sensory experiences, and material artifacts as civic identities are constituted. The two students’ differing responses are analyzed in relation to other figured worlds that students and teachers daily negotiate: of compliant citizenship, productive citizenship, and consumer citizenship. The overlaps, dissonances, and/or divergences in discourses and artifacts from various figured worlds of citizenship render some students more recognizable as civically “engaged” and “efficacious” than others.

Parent Civic Beliefs, Civic Participation, Socialization Practices, and Child Civic Engagement

We examined civic engagement in middle childhood and the degree to which parents’ civic beliefs (i.e., social trust and civic efficacy), civic participation, and socialization practices were associated with indicators of children's civic engagement (i.e., social responsibility and civic values). Survey data were collected from 359 racially, ethnically, and economically diverse upper elementary students and their parents from six schools in Southern California. The results of path analyses indicated that higher levels of parent social trust were associated with higher levels of community responsibility and civic values in children. Additionally, parent social trust, civic efficacy, and civic participation were indirectly associated with children's community responsibility and civic values through children's perception of their parents as civic role models. Findings suggest that parents’ civic beliefs and civic participation are meaningful to children's civic engagement.

Sense of Coherence, Values, Youth Involvement, Civic Efficacy and Hope: Adolescents During Social Protest

The aim of this study is to explore values, sense of coherence (SOC) as well as civic engagement, civic efficacy and hope among adolescents against the background of a social protest. We examined if a set of values and SOC explain civic engagement and civic efficacy. Furthermore, all of these variables were examined as explanatory factors of positive development examined by hope. Data were gathered among 400 adolescents aged 16–18 during a social protest. Adolescents filled out self-reported questionnaires which included socio-demographics characteristics; values, SOC, the youth social responsibility scale, civic efficacy and hope. Results show that all values and SOC explained civic engagement, while only universal and collective in-group values as well as civic engagement directly explained citizens’ efficacy. The model explained hope with 43 % of the variance. I discuss the direct and indirect relationship among the different variables and explain them in accord with positive development among youth.

Service-Learning

The literature on service-learning outcomes in pre-adolescent children is relatively sparse. Empathy (i.e., overall, cognitive, affective) and community engagement (i.e., connection to the community, civic awareness, civic efficacy) were assessed in 155 first, second, and fifth graders ( n = 79 males; n = 76 females) using a pre/post design for a five-session pilot service-learning program. Paired-samples t tests indicated positive changes in empathy and community engagement over time. Post-community engagement was examined by a mediation analysis of empathy (Time 2) on community engagement (Time 1). Additional analyses revealed an overall change in empathy and community engagement for all grades, but cognitive empathy increased only for fifth graders. Similarly, only fifth-grade participants showed a significant change in civic efficacy, pointing to a developmental factor for civic efficacy that should be examined more extensively. Future research and recommendations for studies of the impact of service-learning programs in primary and elementary school are discussed.

Civic engagement in extreme times: The remaking of justice among Guatemala’s ‘postwar’ generation

In recent years, there has been a dramatic growth in the field of youth civic engagement, although little of this work has been conducted in fragile democracies contending with legacies of war and authoritarianism. This study explores how Guatemalan postwar generation youth develop as civic actors under extreme conditions of violence, social and political distrust, and a dwindling space for public expression. Drawing from ethnographic research conducted in rural and urban Guatemala, this study demonstrates how young people’s sense of civic efficacy interacts with their interpretations of historical injustice and the civic messages mediated by teachers, families, peers, and communities. Young people struggle to define and enact appropriate civic action, at times working outside unjust systems as a means of fostering change.

A Randomized Controlled Trial of Professional Development for Interdisciplinary Civic Education: Impacts on Humanities Teachers and Their Students

Background/ContextBillions of dollars are spent annually on professional development (PD) for educators, yet few randomized controlled trials (RCT) have demonstrated the ultimate impact PD has on student learning. Further, while policymakers and others speak to the role schools should play in developing students’ civic awareness, RCTs of PD designed to foster civic learning are rare. This randomized controlled trial contributes to the knowledge base on the effectiveness of PD designed to integrate civic learning, ethical reflection, and historical thinking skills into high school humanities courses.Focus of StudyThe study examined the impact of a PD intervention in two areas: (a) teacher self-efficacy, burnout, and professional engagement and satisfaction; and (b) the academic, civic, social, and ethical competencies of 9th and 10th grade students in the teachers’ classes.Population/Participants/SubjectsThe study involved 113 teachers and 1,371 9th and 10th grade students in 60 high schools from eight metropolitan regions in the United States.Intervention/Program/PracticeThe intervention, Facing History and Ourselves, provides PD through a five-day seminar, curricular materials, and follow-up coaching and workshops to help teachers develop their capacities to implement an interdisciplinary historical case study unit using student-centered pedagogy.Research DesignThe study used a school-level, randomized, experimental design to investigate impacts of the intervention for teachers and their 9th and 10th grade students.Findings/ResultsIntervention teachers showed significantly greater self-efficacy in all eight assessed domains, more positive perceptions of professional support, satisfaction and growth, and greater personal accomplishment. Intervention students demonstrated stronger skills for analyzing evidence, agency, and cause and effect on a historical understanding performance measure; greater self-reported civic efficacy and tolerance for others with different views; and more positive perceptions of the classroom climate and the opportunities afforded for engaging with civic matters. Fidelity analysis found these causal effects despite the fact that roughly half of the intervention teachers did not fully implement the program.Conclusions/RecommendationsEducators need evidence-based approaches for teaching complex social, civic, and political issues enabling students of diverse mindsets and backgrounds to engage constructively with one another while obtaining necessary skills and knowledge. These findings provide empirical support for a professional development approach that engages teachers in fostering academic and civic competencies critical to both participation in a democracy and success in college and career.

Young Leaders of Character Program: A Model of Character Education Program for Improving Life Effectiveness Skills and Civic Responsibility of Adolescents

Studies that examine character development programs are scarce. This study examines the effect of a week-long character education program in a range of life skills and civic efficacy. Thirty adolescents participated in the training. A no-control, quasi-experimental design incorporated baseline measures and a six-month follow-up. A Life Effectiveness Questionnaire and Civic Efficacy Survey were administered and open-ended questions further explored how participants incorporated program outcomes into their daily lives. The t-test comparison of baseline and pretest measures yielded no significant differences, but t-test comparison of pre-post- test analysis elicited statistically significant positive results. Findings indicate the program can provide a model for character education that fosters adolescents’ sense of agency as leaders and citizens.

The Effects of Personal and Contextual Factors on Civic Knowledge and Internal Political Efficacy among Korean Adolescents

The Effects of Personal and Contextual Factors on Civic Knowledge and Internal Political Efficacy among Korean Adolescents

The Role of the Elementary Teacher in Fostering Civic Efficacy

Drawing on a three-year multimethod study of civic engagement within “Dewey Elementary,” this article identifies the contextual supports of civic efficacy. In particular, it works to map the role of the teacher in supporting the civic action and efficacy of six fifth-grade girls who requested changes to the school's existing lunch plan. An analysis presents four supports for the development of civic efficacy: building curriculum from life, asking questions, working in a diverse group, and practicing skills of civic activism. The author's conclusions point to particular social spaces and processes that facilitate civic efficacy, which can lead to better practices and policies for civic education in the younger years.

Claiming Our Turf: Students' Civic Negotiation of the Public Space of School

In the ongoing effort to conceptualize meaningful civics curriculum, the author looks beyond the intended curriculum to consider the civics lessons embedded in spatial interaction and engagement. She examines how young people negotiate school, a space she contends can be conceived of as a public space. Their negotiations rely upon tactics of avoidance, dissent, and incivility as civic actions that reshape space. These tactics—all forms of resistance—suggest that civic efficacy and possibility are bound in how young people create and then continuously respond to the spaces they re-create through civic processes.

An expectancy-value perspective of civic education motivation, learning and desirable outcomes

The present study assessed the mediating role of expectancy for success and value beliefs in civic education in linking socio-academic factors (gender, ethnicity, school level and prior achievement) to desirable civic attributes. The sample comprised 1664 students in their Year-7–Year-12 (mean age = 14.79, range = 12–18). Structural equation modelling showed that, relative to expectancy belief, value belief emerged as a stronger predictor and its effects were more generalised across outcomes (society-oriented future goal, civic efficacy, patriotism, awareness of good citizenship and perceived functions of education/school in fostering civic qualities) – the finding that generalised across key student groupings. Further, ethnic minority students and older students were found to have less favourable valuing of civic education and less positive profiles of civic attributes. Taken together, findings hold important theoretical and applied implications for researchers and practitioners seeking to enhance students’ civic education motivation, learning and desirable outcomes.

Dutch adolescents’ narratives of their citizenship efficacy “Hypothetically, I could have an Impact”

Previous educational studies have investigated the impact of skills and contextual influences on adolescents’ citizenship participation and efficacy. Yet, we know little about how adolescents give meaning to their citizenship efficacy. This study explores the narratives of 27 adolescents in the Netherlands on their citizenship efficacy. A thematic analysis of focus groups and individual interviews leads to the distinction of four citizenship efficacy types: the civic efficacy type, the civil and political efficacy type, the civil efficacy type, and the passive efficacy type. This typology reveals how only one type cares about one’s civic efficacy, and how the passive efficacy type does not care about one’s citizenship efficacy. Based on our conceptualisation of citizenship efficacy and the findings of our empirical study, we describe several recommendations for the further development of empirical studies and educational programmes on citizenship efficacy in the Netherlands and internationally.

Community partnerships as a tool to reduce regional labor gaps: A South Carolina regional case study

Twenty-first century economies may require innovative, entrepreneurial development policy, but many economically distressed communities face immediate human capital and labor market concerns that prevent them from implementing these approaches. A series of regional focus groups and interviews reveal some of the community and economic development challenges that non-metropolitan communities experience in an environment of globalization and industrial restructuring. Without addressing ongoing human capital weaknesses, these communities are at continued risk of falling further behind. This analysis underscores the importance of strong civic infrastructure and community efficacy for successful development efforts. Finally, this research discusses the potential of using regional partnerships to reduce or eliminate persistent labor supply and skill gaps in the region.

Laying the Groundwork for Participatory Budgeting – Developing a Deliberative Community and Collaborative Governance: Greater Geraldton, Western Australia

Participatory Budgeting (PB), an institutional innovation to promote democratic change, is a form of collaborative governance in which citizens are involved in decision-making processes about how to spend part or all of available government funds. Like the broader concept of democracy, for PB to be effective, there needs to be an ongoing participatory process that involves the building of civic capacity and infrastructure. This paper focuses on a particular attribute of civic efficacy, that of deliberative public engagement, defined as collaborative problem solving through informed, inclusive, egalitarian processes with the outcomes influencing policy, decisions and/or collaborative action. It is argued that to be a deep democratic reform, PB needs to be more intentionally deliberative than usually practiced, within an environment that nurtures civic collaboration and empowerment. In the current situation of disaffected, often angry and/or cynical citizenry, without resorting to revolution, overcoming the pervasive sense of impotence to effect real change is not easy. It requires ongoing effort to create the civic capacity, policies and the institutions that will enable everyday people to work together with decision-makers to achieve collaborative public wisdom, decisions and action. For PB to avoid being merely a superficial band-aid to the perceived malaise of our democratic systems, we contend that the culture in which it is situated needs to be nurtured and stewarded to be more collaborative, considered and egalitarian. The deliberative democracy process instituted over a number of years in Greater Geraldton, Western Australia, shows how some of the preconditions for an effective participatory budgeting initiative could be achieved. The lessons learned are widely applicable to other western democracies, and potentially, other forms of governance.