The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation has designated civic engagement as one of four youth development outcomes on which it is focusing its grant-making (along with educational attainment and achievement, preparation for work, and avoiding harmful behavior). One reason for fostering civic engagement is to help communities ensure that “young people [are] participating in and contributing meaningfully to the life and development of their communities” (Bailin, 2003). As Tocqueville observed in his survey of American politics and society in the nineteenth century, civic engagement is a deeply ingrained American tradition and is, in fact, one of the values that holds this country apart from many others. Interest in civic engagement and the development of programs to promote civic engagement have been increasing in recent years, and the events of September 11, 2001, have further accelerated interest in this area.
The Foundation is also interested in understanding the degree to which increasing civic engagement among disadvantaged youth promotes positive outcomes for those youth—above and beyond the benefits that may accrue to the community more broadly. Specifically, there is interest in understanding the ways in which programs that foster youth civic engagement can enhance positive outcomes for youth across a broad range of developmental indicators. Much of the research in this area, however, has focused on the benefits of an engaged citizenry for the health of society as a whole. This work is useful, of course, but this focus at the societal level does not address an important question that faces funders: In an environment of limited resources and many promising programs and projects, does a focus on civic engagement translate into positive outcomes for the youth involved in the program? Given the Clark Foundation’s mandate to make a positive impact on the youth it serves, this is a vital question.
Unfortunately, it is a question for which there are few answers. For example, as we discuss below, in a recent review of studies on youth civic engagement, Child Trends found that there was little research on the topic, and the research that exists is generally not highly rigorous. Moreover, this research frequently examines the effect of civic engagement programs on later engagement—there is even less research that links civic engagement with developmental outcomes. It is important to keep in mind, of course, that a lack of evidence is not at all the same thing as negative evidence. That is, although we do not have strong evidence that civic engagement programs lead to positive outcomes in other areas, we have no reason to believe that they do not, especially because the initial evidence, discussed below, is generally positive.
In this context, this document seeks to move beyond the limited research base to consider the insights that can be gained from a somewhat broader research base. While this document reviews what research there is that speaks directly to the outcomes fostered by increased civic engagement, it goes beyond this base to lay out an argument about how we should think about civic engagement in the 2 broader context of fostering positive youth development. Based on this review of the literature, we argue that civic engagement is an extremely important and promising path to improving youth outcomes. We develop this argument by situating youth civic engagement in terms of several bodies of literature, including those on social capital, civic engagement, and finally youth development.
We begin by stepping back to put civic engagement in the context of the literature from which it has evolved: the study of social capital. Civic engagement is a critical component of the broader construct of social capital, and social capital, we will show, is a crucial resource for positive social, emotional, and intellectual development, which youth (and adults) can put to use throughout life. Next, we consider several models of how civic engagement develops in the course of a person’s life: one model that emphasizes the process of developing engagement, and a second model that links civic engagement with the crucial task of positive identity development. These theoretical accounts, and associated empirical research, make clear how civic engagement can both enhance, and be enhanced by, positive youth development more broadly. Then we consider the literature on youth development more generally. Although there is not much research linking civic engagement with youth development, the broader literature explicates the key factors, or resources, that underlie positive development among youth. As we will discuss, civic engagement can serve as an excellent vehicle for developing these very resources. High-quality programs that seek to engender civic engagement as an immediate outcome for youth participants are likely, therefore, also to advance or enhance a wide range of positive outcomes for these young people over the medium and long term.
The discussion then suggests that these very resources—and the civic engagement that can enhance them—are likely to be particularly lacking for people, including youth, who are disadvantaged in other ways. Next, the discussion considers the ways that today’s changing social and economic contexts are affecting civic engagement, and then explores the expected effects of civic engagement and social capital on youths’ intellectual, psychological and emotional, and social development. Finally, we conclude by considering lessons for designing better civic engagement programs and research, drawing on findings about the importance of social networks and civic skills for civic engagement and positive developmental outcomes.