We, the undersigned, propose the creation of an organized APSA Section on “Civic Engagement.” APSA has been dedicated to civics education and the task of stimulating civic engagement since its inception in 1903. In pursuit of that aim, the organization has undertaken various civic engagement-related initiatives, sponsored conferences, and facilitated publications on teaching civic engagement. However, what has been missing has been an organized section where political scientists who specialize in teaching and/or research in civic engagement can coordinate and further the development of this field. We believe a section would serve to support, publish, and recognize research on civic engagement. In addition, it would help promote the pedagogy of civic engagement, an aim that is particularly crucial in the development of a civil society.
Our purposes include:
Promote the teaching of and scholarship in civic engagement through sponsorship of civics education and civic research panels and/or short courses. Some of these panels could be co-sponsored with other sections such as Political Science Education; Elections, Public Opinion, and Voting Behavior; Political Communication; Political Organizations and Parties; and so on.
- Recognize quality scholarship and teaching innovation in civic engagement through annual awards.
- Facilitate the development of faculty in this field through mentoring.
- Publicize new research and share pedagogical experiences through a newsletter and/or journal.
The Civic Engagement Section would serve as an institutional home for a diverse, growing and important group of scholars. It would create new opportunities to showcase the best new research at APSA’s annual meeting, promote subfield collaboration, and serve as a focal point for coordinating the various projects being undertaken by civic engagement scholars. Indeed, we welcome scholars working with diverse methodological backgrounds and in diverse institutional settings including research intensive universities, teaching intensive colleges and universities, HBCUs and HSIs, community colleges, and in the nonprofit sector.
Sign the Petition
If you are a current member of APSA, please indicate your support for the formation of a Civic Engagement Section by going to this weblink and adding your signature. We need at least 200 APSA members signing the petition to qualify as a new section.
Please note that your support will only be considered as valid by APSA if you are currently an APSA member. Support from scholars who are not APSA members will not count towards the mandatory number of signatures necessary for the formation of an APSA section.
Thanks for your support and please feel free to send this petition to other APSA members who might be willing to support the creation of this new section.
Peter Levine
Tufts University
Richard Davis
Brigham Young University
Elizabeth Bennion
Indiana University – South Bend
Long overdue!
Much needed. I just published a resource on this topic with the Friebds Committee on National Legislation. See website below.
This section could bridge many sub-fields.
happy to support the effort –
I support proposal.
I support the creation of the Civic Engagement Section as an important means of addressing an emerging thread in the dialogue on governance.
Marc Holzer
Suffolk University
Mholzer@suffolk.edu
This is an important means of addressing an emerging thread in the dialogue on governance.
Marc Holzer
Suffolk University
Mholzer@suffolk.edu
Thanks for doing this. I enthusiastically support this effort. Relevant to what you’re doing here, I wrote this that might interest you: https://www.mischiefsoffaction.com/post/model-of-political-engagement
I fully agree with the proposal. I add that “civic teaching” ought to be encouraged in several European countries, too. Last (?), but most certainly not least, Italy! Comparative studies would be very useful.
While I am supportive of civic engagement activities, an important issue related to them does not seem to be addressed in your proposal. To wit, the distinction between civic engagement and activities driven by ideologies and/or partisanship. This concern is particularly acute in public universities where extramural activities by students and faculty can potentially raise the ire of state and local officials as well as alums whose support is crucial to the university. Of course, the line between engagement and inappropriate actions is blurry. The proposed section could provide a service to the profession by establishing a code for appropriate civic engagement. Let me give you a few examples: over the years of my career I witnessed student and faculty groups using public resources to pursue explicit partisan purposes. In other cases students (without appropriate faculty guidance) literally “invaded” neighborhoods by going door to door which led residents to demand a stop to unwanted visitors. It is likely the case that there is not consensus over what constitutes civic engagement and how to “engage” in it. Perhaps another purpose of the proposed section would be to work to develop and disseminate an understanding of civic engagement and its use.
I support the proposal.
I support the proposal.
I support this proposal.
I support this proposal–seems long overdue.