The Long-Term Impact of Learning to Deliberate

Christy Buchanan, Katy Harriger, Jill McMillan, Stephanie Gusler

• Publisher: Kettering Foundation
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781945577185
• Topic: Politica e relazioni internazionali
• Subtopic: Educazione civica e cittadinanza

This report is a follow-up to Harriger and McMillan's Speaking of Politics: Preparing College Students for Democratic Citizenship through Deliberative Dialogue (Kettering Foundation Press, 2007). That book described a four-year study at Wake Forest University in which students, called Democracy Fellows, were exposed to the process of deliberative dialogue both inside and outside of the classroom. The focus of this report is an alumni study of the Democracy Fellows 10 years after their graduation. For purposes of comparison, they are matched with a class cohort that did not participate in the Democracy Fellows study. The authors describe differences in the ways that the Democracy Fellows and their classmates understand citizenship. They found that the Democracy Fellows have a more "complex and nuanced understanding of citizenship and its responsibilities." Ten years on, they are more likely to be politically active and express more eagerness "to engage with people who hold different beliefs." Their classmates' concepts of citizenship are "more legalistic and less complex than those of the Democracy Fellows." The authors of this follow-up study bring together research insights from the literature on political socialization, political participation, and deliberative democracy, with a particular focus on whether and how interventions during the college experience might shape subsequent civic engagement. Their work demonstrates the enduring impact of learning to deliberate.

APPENDIX C: THE SURVEY INSTRUMENT

Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey. At times, some of the items may seem repetitive, but each question is asked for a reason and provides us with different information on young adults’ social views and civic engagement.

ID (Please state the ID number you were given for your interview.)

1.Currently, how likely is it that you would do each of the following?

	Not at all Likely	Unlikely	Maybe	Likely	Extremely Likely
Contact or visit someone in government who represents your community
Contact a newspaper, radio, or TV talk show to express your opinion on an issue
Sign an e-mail or written petition
Vote on a regular basis
Wear a campaign button to support a candidate
Volunteer for a political party
Participate in a boycott against a company
Refuse to buy products made under unfair labor conditions
Particip...