Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Cultivating Youth Engagement: Race & the Behavioral Effects of Critical Pedagogy

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Political Behavior Aims and scope Submit manuscript

A Correction to this article was published on 30 November 2019

This article has been updated

Abstract

Political scientists attribute gaps in participation between whites and people of color to unequal access to political resources, political efficacy, and weak affiliations to political parties. I argue that the content of civic education courses also matters. I theorize that if courses were to incorporate critical pedagogy—an educational approach that centers the agency and grassroots political action of marginalized groups—that young people of color would be more likely to participate in politics. I test this theory using an experiment distributed to nearly 700 14–18-year high schoolers in the Chicago area. I find that content informed by this pedagogical approach bolsters the willingness of Latinx and black youth to pursue multiple forms of political participation. Such an educational intervention, coupled with other teaching tools, may provide a way to prepare an increasingly diverse generation of young people for active participation within American democracy. It also reveals how civic education in schools can play a crucial role in processes of political socialization and engagement.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10

Similar content being viewed by others

Change history

Notes

  1. For example, Verba and Nie (1972) suggest that contacting a public official is its own participatory dimension while Junn (1999) defines it as “systems-directed,” attempting to sway government officials (1432). See Barnes and Kaase (1979), Brady (1999), and Junn (1999) for alternative approaches to categorization.

  2. See also Cohen (2010, pp. 190–200) on “politics of invisibility”.

  3. See also see Darder (1991), Shor (1992), Hooks (1994), McLaren (1994).

  4. This approach shares similarities with pedagogical interventions such as “spatial stories” in geography (see Elwood and Mitchell 2012) and “critical bifocalities” in education (Weis and Fine 2012). Specifically, both approaches allow young people to make sense of their lived experiences while simultaneously building their political identities.

  5. This course was banned for 7 years after law makers claimed that the course portrayed whites as oppressors and Latinxs as the oppressed. However, in 2017 this decision was overturned after a judge determined that the ban was motivated by racial animus (Depenbrock 2017).

  6. See also Shor (1992), Chilcoat and Ligon (2002), and Fischman and Luis (2007).

  7. A number of exceptional qualitative studies find a more critical approach to civic education to be associated with favorable democratic outcomes among marginalized students (see Levinson 2012; García-Bedolla 2005). Others examine whether schools contribute to the development of critical consciousness but are unable to demonstrate a causal connection between course content and political participation (see Seider et al. 2017; Diemer and Li 2011).

  8. Furthermore, I measured both internal and external efficacy as outcome variables. However, the treatment had no significant effect on either measure.

  9. Hypotheses for this study were pre-registered at aspredicted.org (#11310).

  10. According to Pew, 55% of U.S.-born Latinxs are second generation immigrants and nearly 60 percent% are age 33 or younger (2016). Sixty-six percent of my Latinx sample reports that both of their parents were born in Mexico.

  11. The study also included a third passage about Chinese Exclusion in order to test the effect of critical pedagogy on Asian Americans students. While I was able to obtain a small oversample of Asian American students, I do not include these findings in the body of the text because I was unable to get a large enough sample to find moderate effect sizes. Furthermore, the Asian American sample featured a greater degree of heterogeneity in terms of nation of origin than the Latinx sample. Even so, results for Asian Americans are included in Figs. 4 to 7 of Online Appendix A. Future work addressing the effect of critical pedagogy on Asian Americans specifically should aspire to obtain oversamples of multiple national origin groups to ensure accurate results (Wong et al. 2011).

  12. Only three students opted-out of participation (one in Englewood, one in East Side, and one in the Loop). Parents were also given the opportunity to opt their children out of participation prior to conducting the study.

  13. I requested to follow up with participants weeks and months following the intervention. However, Chicago Public Schools does not allow researchers to maintain contact information that can be used to follow-up with students.

  14. Cognitive engagement was measured using one question: “How likely are you to talk to family and friends about a political issue, party, or candidate within the next 12 months?” Responses were measured using a 1–5 scale ranging from “very unlikely to participate” to “certain to participate”.

  15. Civic engagement was measured using one question: “How likely are you to work with people in your community to solve a problem within the next 12 months?” Responses were measured using a 1–5 scale ranging from “very unlikely to participate” to “certain to participate”.

  16. The political engagement index includes four activities: intent to vote, political campaigning, giving money to a political issue/cause/candidate, and joining a political group. Responses were measured using a 1–5 scale ranging from “very unlikely to participate” to “certain to participate”.

  17. The public voice index includes seven activities: protesting, boycotting, contacting a public official, posting about politics on social media, signing a petition, sending a political email, or writing a blog or letter to the editor about a political issue. Responses were measured using a 1–5 scale ranging from “very unlikely to participate” to “certain to participate”.

  18. While I am unable to test the empowerment mechanism explicitly using this data, I discuss this possibility here for theoretical clarity.

  19. Language for the pan-ethnicity prime is as follows: “While this passage is about Mexican Americans, it speaks to Latino/a Americans as a whole. While Latino/a American groups have a range of differences in their demographic characteristics, beliefs, and perceptions of life in the United States, they also share much in common”.

  20. Due to the directional nature of each hypothesis, one-tailed tests are used. Sample sizes for each condition are included in Table 7 of Appendix A along with means and standard errors for each dependent variable.

  21. While I was unable to test the empowerment mechanism explicitly due to time constraints, I discuss this possibility here for theoretical clarity.

  22. While I was unable to test for a role-model effect explicitly due to time constraints, I discuss this possibility here for theoretical clarity.

  23. School administrators and teachers in West Town emphasized that I could not ask students for their geographical or contact information beyond Zip Code due to heightened immigration concerns. Prior to beginning the survey, one student asked their teacher whether they could use their initials to give consent rather than identifying themselves by name due to concerns regarding immigration status (West Town, October 6, 2017).

  24. Sample sizes for each condition are included in Table 8 of Appendix A along with means and standard errors for each dependent variable.

References

  • Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (2005). The influence of attitudes on behaviors. In D. Albarracin, B. T. Johnson, & M. P. Zanna (Eds.), The handbook of attitudes. London, UK: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allison, S. T., & Goethals, G. R. (2011). Heroes: What they do and why we need them. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Almond, G., & Verba, S. (1963). The civic culture. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • American Textbook Council. (2018). Widely adopted history textbooks. Retrieved August 1, 2018, from https://www.historytextbooks.net/adopted.htm.

  • Amna, E., & Ekman, J. (2014). Standby citizens: Diverse face of political passivity. European Political Science Review, 6(2), 261–281.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anguiano, R. M. (2018). “Language brokering among Latino immigrant families: Moderating variables and youth outcomes. Journal of Youth Adolescence, 47, 222–242.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Apple, M. (2011). Education and power. New York, NY: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barnes, S. H., & Kaase, M. (1979). Political action: Mass participation in five western democracies. New York, NY: Sage Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beltrán, C. (2010). The trouble with unity: Latino politics and the creation of identity. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berelson, B. R., Lazarsfeld, P. F., & McPhee, W. N. (1954). Voting: A study of opinion formation in a presidential campaign. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bobo, L., & Gilliam, F. D. (1990). Race, sociopolitical, and black empowerment. American Political Science Review, 84(2), 377–393.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brady, H. (1999). Political participation. In J. P. Robinson, P. R. Shaver, & L. S. Wrightsman (Eds.), Measures of political attitudes (pp. 737–801). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brady, H. E., & McNulty, J. E. (2011). Turning out to vote: The costs of finding and getting to the polling place. American Political Science Review, 105(1), 115–134.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bruch, S. K., & Soss, J. (2018). Schooling as a formative political experience: Authority relations and the education of citizens. Perspectives on Politics, 16(1), 36–57.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burch, T. R. (2013). Trading democracy for justice: Criminal convictions and the decline of neighborhood political participation. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Buriel, R., Perez, W., De Ment, T. L., Chavez, D. V., & Moran, V. R. (1998). The relationship of language brokering to academic performance, biculturalism, and self-efficacy among Latino adolescents. Hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 20(3), 283–297.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Callahan, R. M., & Muller, C. (2013). Coming of political age: American schools and the civic development of immigrant youth. New York, NY: Sage Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cammarota, J., & Fine, M. (2008). Revolutionizing education: Youth participatory action research in motion. New York, NY: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, D. E. (2006). Why we vote: How schools and communities shape our civic life. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, D. E. (2008). Voice in the classroom: How an open classroom climate fosters political engagement among adolescents. Political Behavior, 30(4), 437–454.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, D. E. (2019). What social scientists have learned about civic education: A literature review. Peabody Journal of Education, 94(1), 32–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, A., Converse, P. E., Miller, W. E., & Stokes, D. E. (1960). The American voter. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, D. E., & Niemi, R. (2016). Testing civics: State-level civic education requirements and political knowledge. The American Political Science Review, 110(3), 495–511.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chicago Public Schools. (2018). School Data. Retrieved June 1, 2018 from https://cps.edu/SchoolData/Pages/SchoolData.aspx.

  • Chilcoat, G. W., & Ligon, J. A. (2002). Democracy from the classroom out into the community: How discussion was used in the Mississippi Freedom Schools. Curriculum Inquiry, 28(2), 165–193.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • CIRCLE. (n.d.). New Interactive Map Explores Civic Education State-by-State. Retrieved August 1, 2019, from https://civicyouth.org/new-interactive-map-explores-civic-education-state-by-state/.

  • CIRCLE. (n.d.). Trends by race, ethnicity, and gender. RetrievedAugust 1, 2019, from https://civicyouth.org/quick-facts/235-2/.

  • Cohen, C. J. (2010). Democracy remixed: Black youth and the future of American politics. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, C., Matthew, D. L., & Rogowski, J. C. (2017). The ‘Woke’ Generation? Millennial Attitudes on Race in the US. GenForward: A survey of the Black Youth Project with the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. http://genforwardsurvey.com/reports/. Accessed 1 Aug 2019.

  • College Board. (2018). AP U.S. History: Course audit. Retrieved July 20, 2018, from https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-united-states-history/course-audit.

  • Cook, T. D. (2002). Randomized experiments in educational policy research: A critical examination of the reasons the educational evaluation community has offered for not doing them. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 24(3), 175–199.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dahl, R. (2005). Who governs? Democracy and power in an American City. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Darder, A. (1991). Culture and power in the classroom. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood Publishing Group.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dassonneville, R., et al. (2012). The relation between civic education and political attitudes and behavior: A two-year panel study among Belgian late adolescents Applied Developmental Studies, 16(3), 140–150.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dee, T. S., & Penner, E. K. (2017). The causal effects of cultural relevance: Evidence from an ethnic studies curriculum. American Educational Research Journal, 54, 127–166.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Depenbrock, J. (2017). Federal judge finds racism behind Arizona law banning ethnic studies. Retrieved August 6, 2019, from https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2017/08/22/545402866/federal-judge-finds-racism-behind-arizona-law-banning-ethnic-studies.

  • Diemer, M. A., & Li, C.-H. (2011). Critical consciousness development and political participation among marginalized youth. Child Development, 82(6), 1815–1833.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Druckman, J. N., & Leeper, T. J. (2012). Learning more from political communication experiments: Pretreatment and its effects. American Journal of Political Science, 56(4), 875–896.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Du Bois, W. E. B. (1935). Does the negro need separate schools? The Journal of Negro Education, 4(3), 328–335.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duncan-Andrade, J. (2006). Urban youth, media literacy, and increased critical civic participation. In S. Ginwright (Ed.), Beyond resistance! Youth activism and community change (pp. 149–169). New York, NY: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, B., Jr. (2009). Critical pedagogy and democratic education: Possibilities for cross-pollination. The Urban Review, 42(3), 221–242.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elwood, S., & Mitchell, K. (2012). Mapping children’s politics: Spatial stories, dialogic relations and political formation. Geografiska Annaler Series B, 94(1), 1–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feldman, L., et al. (2007). Identifying best practices in civic education: Lessons from the student voices program. American Journal of Education, 114, 75–100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fine, M. (2009). Postcards from metro America: Reflections on youth participatory action research for social justice. Urban Review, 41, 1–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fine, M., & Weiss, L. (Eds.). (2000). Construction sites: Excavating race, class, and gender among urban youth. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Finlay, A., Wray-Lake, L., & Flanagan, C. A. (2010). Civic engagement during the transition to adulthood: Developmental opportunities and social policies at a critical juncture. In L. Sherrod, J. Torney-Purta, & C. A. Flanagan (Eds.), Handbook of research on civic engagement in youth. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fischman, G. E., & Luis, A. G. (2007). Escola Cidadã and critical discourse of educational hope. In P. McLaren & J. L. Kincheloe (Eds.), Critical pedagogy: Where are we now?. New York: Peter Lang Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freire, P. (2005). Freire: Education for critical consciousness. New York, NY: Continuum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gainous, J., & Martens, A. M. (2012). The effectiveness of civic education: Are ‘good’ teachers actually good for ‘all’ students? American Politics Research, 40(2), 232–266.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • García-Bedolla, L. (2005). Fluid borders: Latino power, identity, and politics in Los Angeles. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Giroux, H. A. (2001). Theory and resistance in education: Towards a pedagogy for the opposition. London, UK: Bergin and Garvey.

    Google Scholar 

  • Godoy, M. (2016). Lo Mein Loophole: How U.S. Immigration Law Fueled a Chinese Restaurant Boom. National Public Radio, February 22. Retrieved April 2, 2017, from https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/02/22/467113401/lo-mein-loophole-how-u-s-immigration-law-fueled-a-chinese-restaurant-boom.

  • Goyette, B. (2014). How racism created America’s chinatowns. Huffington Post, November 11. Retrieved April 2, 2017, from https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/02/22/467113401/lo-mein-loophole-how-u-s-immigration-law-fueled-a-chinese-restaurant-boom.

  • Green, D. P., et al. (2011). Does knowledge of constitutional principles increase support for civil liberties? Results from a randomized field experiment. Journal of Politics, 73(2), 463–476.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hajnal, Z. L., & Lee, T. (2011). Why Americans don’t join the party. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Han, H. (2009). Moved to action: Motivation, participation, and inequality in American politics. Redwood City, CA: Stanford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hess, D. E. (2009). Controversy in the classroom: The democratic power of discussion. New York, NY: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hess, D. E., & McAvoy, P. (2014). The political classroom: Evidence and ethics in democratic education. New York, NY: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hooks, B. (1994). Teaching to transgress: Education as the practice of freedom. Abingdon-on-Thames, U.K: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hope, E., & Jagers, R. J. (2014). The role of sociopolitical attitudes and civic education in the civic engagement of black youth. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 24(3), 460–470.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Junn, J. (1999). Participation in liberal democracy: The Political assimilation of immigrants and ethnic minorities in the United States. American Behavioral Scientist, 42(9), 1417–1438.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Junn, J. (2004). Diversity, immigration, and the politics of civic education. Political Science and Politics, 37(2), 253–255.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, D. M. (2006). The American pageant advanced placement (13th ed.). Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirschner, B., Strobel, K., & Fernández, M. (2003). Critical civic engagement among urban youth. Penn GSE Perspectives on Urban Education, 2(1), 1–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ladson-Billings, G. (1995). Toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. American Educational Review Journal, 32(3), 465–491.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Langton, K. P., & Jennings, M. K. (1968). Political socialization and the high school civics curriculum in the United States. The American Political Science Review, 62(3), 852–867.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leath, S., & Chavous, T. (2017). We really protested: The influence of sociopolitical beliefs, political self-efficacy, and campus racial climate on civic engagement among black college students attending predominantly white institutions. The Journal of Negro Education, 86(3), 220–237.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levine, P., & Lopez, M. H. (2004). Themes emphasized in social studies and civics classes: New evidence. Boston, MA: Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levinson, M. (2012). No citizen left behind. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Litt, E. (1963). Civic education, community norms, and political indoctrination. American Sociological Review, 28(1), 69–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loewen, J. W. (1996). Lies my teacher told me: Everything your american history textbook got wrong. New York, NY: Touchstone.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martens, A. M., & Gainous, J. (2013). Civic education and democratic capacity: How do teachers teach and what works? Social Science Quarterly, 94(4), 956–976.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McLaren, P. (1994). Critical pedagogy, political agency, and the pragmatics of injustice: The case of Lyotard. Educational Theory, 44(3), 319–340.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Merriam, C. (1934). Civic education in the United States. Chicago, IL: Charles Scribner’s Sons.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moreau, J. (2003). Schoolbook Nation: Conflicts over American History Textbooks from the Civil War to the Present. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Mosley, L. (Ed.). (2013). Interview research in political science. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Council for the Social Studies. (n.d.). College, career, and civic life (C3) framework for social studies state standards: Guidance for enhancing the rigor of K-12 civics, economics, geography, and history. Retrieved August 5, 2019, from https://www.socialstudies.org/c3.

  • Nelsen, M. D. (2019). Teaching citizenship: Race and the behavioral effects of american civic education. The Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics.. https://doi.org/10.1017/rep.2019.19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neundorf, A., Niemi, R. G., & Smets, K. (2016). The compensation effect of civic education on political engagement: How civics classes make up for missing parental socialization. Political Behavior, 38, 921–949.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Niemi, R. G., & Jennings, K. (1991). Issues and inheritance in the formation of party identification. American Journal of Political Science, 35(4), 970–988.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Niemi, R. G., & Junn, J. (1998). Civic education: What makes students learn. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Novais, J., & Spencer, G. (2018). Learning to race to unlearn racism: The effects of ethnic studies course-taking. The Journal of Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2018.1545498.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Keefe, D. J. (2015). Persuasion (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Owen, D. (2015). High school students’ acquisition of civic knowledge: The impact of we the people. Retrieved August 15, 2018, from http://www.civiced.org/pdfs/research/ImpactofWethePeople_DianaOwen_July2015.pdf.

  • Pasek, J., et al. (2008). Schools as incubators of democratic participation: Building long-term political efficacy with civic education. Applied Developmental Science, 12(1), 26–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peabody, B., & Jenkins, K. (2017). Where have all the heroes gone? The changing nature of american valor. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Persson, M. (2015). Classroom climate and political learning: Findings from a Swedish panel study and comparative data. Political Psychology, 36(5), 587–601.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pew Research. (2016). The Nation’s latino population is defined by its youth. Last modified April 20, 2016. Retrieved April 6, 2018,from http://www.pewhispanic.org/2016/04/20/the-nations-latino-population-is-defined-by-its-youth/.

  • Putnam, R. D. (2000). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanchez, T. R. (1998). Using stories about heroes to teach values. ERIC Digest. Retrieved November 11, 2018, from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED424190.pdf.

  • Sapiro, V. (2004). Not your parent’s political socialization: Introduction for a new generation. Annual Review of Political Science, 7, 1–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seider, S., Tamerat, J., Clark, S., & Soutter, M. (2017). Investigating adolescents’ critical consciousness development through a character framework. Youth Adolescence, 46, 1162–1178.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shor, I. (1992). Empowering education: Critical teaching for social change. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Skocpol, T. (2003). Diminished Democracy: From Membership to Management in American Civic Life. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sloam, J. (2014). New voice, less equal: The civic and political engagement of young people in the United States and Europe. Comparative Political Studies, 47(5), 663–668.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sobel, R., & Smith, R. E. (2009). Voter-ID laws discourage participation, particularly among minorities, and trigger a constitutional remedy in lost representation. Political Science and Politics, 42(1), 107–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spence, L. K., & McClerking, H. (2010). Context, black empowerment, and African American political participation. American Political Research, 38(5), 909–930.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Task Force on Inequality and American Democracy-American Political Science Association. (2004). American Democracy in an Age of Rising Inequality. The American Political Science Association. Retrieved August 5, 2018 from, https://www.apsanet.org/portals/54/Files/Task%20Force%20Reports/taskforcereport.pdf.

  • Tocqueville, A. de (1835). Democracy in America. London: Saunders and Otley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Torney-Purta, J. (2002). The school’s role in developing civic engagement: A Study of adolescents in twenty-eight countries. Applied Developmental Science, 6(4), 203–212.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • United States Census Bureau. Decennial Census Datasets. Retrieved June 1, 2018, from https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/data/datasets.2010.html.

  • Verba, S., & Nie, N. (1972). Participation in America: Political democracy and social equality. New York, NY: Harper and Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Verba, S., Schlozman, K. L., & Brady, H. (1995). Voice and equality: Civic voluntarism in American politics. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Verba, S., Schlozman, K. L., & Brady, H. (2012). The unheavenly chorus: Unequal political voice and the broken promise of American democracy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Verba, S., Scholzman, K., Brady, H., & Nie, N. (1993). Race, ethnicity and political resources: Participation in the United States. British Journal of Political Science, 23(4), 453–497.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weis, L., & Michelle, F. (2012). Critical bifocality and circuits of privilege: expanding critical ethnographic theory and design. Harvard Educational Review, 82(2), 173–201.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weisskirch, R. S. (2005). The relationship of language brokering to ethnic identity for latino early adolescents. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Science, 27(3), 286–299.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolfinger, R. E., & Rosenstone, S. J. (1980). Who Votes?. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wong, S. K. (1998). Claiming America: Constructing Chinese American identities during the exclusion era. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wong, J. S., et al. (2011). Asian American political participation: Emerging constituents and their political identities. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wrone, D. R. (1979). Lincoln: Democracy’s touchstone. Journal of Abraham Lincoln Association, 1(1), 71–83.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zepeda-Millan, C. (2017). Latino mass mobilization: Immigration, racialization, and activism. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Zinn, H. (2003). A people’s history of the United States. New York, NY: Harper Perennial Modern Classics.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zukin, C., Keeter, S., Adolina, M., & Jenkins, K. (2006). A new engagement? Political participation, civic life, and the changing American citizen. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

I am grateful for suggestions and feedback from Jamie Druckman, Cathy Cohen, Reuel Rogers, Traci Burch, Meira Levinson, David Campbell, Mary McGrath, John Bullock, Alexandra Filindra, Kumar Ramanathan, Sam Gubitz, Tabitha Bonilla, Ben Page, and Jessica Marshall, as well as participants at the 2018 APSA and Chicago Area Behavior Workshop annual meetings, the Northwestern American Politics Student Workshop, the Northwestern Political Behavior Workshop, and three anonymous reviewers. Special thanks to Natalie Sands for compiling the data set used in this study. I also thank Chicago Public Schools for allowing me to conduct this research.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science, Northwestern University, Scott Hall, 601 University Place, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA

    Matthew D. Nelsen

Authors
  1. Matthew D. Nelsen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Matthew D. Nelsen.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

The data and code utilized to conduct the analyses featured below can be accessed using the following link: https://matthewdnelsen.com/research/.

Electronic supplementary material

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Nelsen, M.D. Cultivating Youth Engagement: Race & the Behavioral Effects of Critical Pedagogy. Polit Behav 43, 751–784 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-019-09573-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-019-09573-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation