An NBC News poll found a majority of Americans think there’s too little emphasis put on civic education — and that might not entirely be a bad thing, says Gwen Torges.
“In some ways, there’s an upbeat note to that, the fact people want more civic education is striking,” said Torges, a political science professor at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. “It’s an opportunity we ought to seize upon.”
As America celebrates its 250th birthday, there’s been a greater discussion around civic engagement and education.
The NBC News poll of 3,000 adults nationwide found that 80% think the U.S. puts too little emphasis on civic education, or the teaching of government and democracy. The poll found 51% said the country’s focus on civic education is much too little.
The sentiment also was shared among differing political ideologies and age groups.
“People haven’t given up faith,” Torges said. “It says to me, we need to learn a little bit more.”
The facts, however, are bleak: 70% of Americans failed a basic U.S. civics literacy quiz, reported a 2024 U.S. Chamber of Commerce study. A third of respondents did not know there were three branches of government, and only 5% of adults could name all five First Amendment rights.
A September report found about 80% of civics teachers nationwide said they self-censor in class because of fear of pushback or controversy, according to the Sandra Day O’Connor Institute, a nonprofit focused on civics.
But it doesn’t have to be that way, Torges said.
“It’s like vegetables,” she said — they’re good for us, but we need to remember to make them part of our diet.
Unless there’s some sort of requirement for civic education, “we’re going to tend not to do it,” she said. “Sure, teachers are reluctant to talk about some things, but we don’t have to talk about partisan things to talk about civic education. It’s how government works, the text of the Constitution, and competing philosophies of what it means.”
Civic dialogue concerns trickle up to higher education, too. IUP and the University of Pittsburgh in January were awarded federal grants to launch initiatives to improve civic dialogue on campus.
Since then, a survey found that IUP students felt they wanted to engage in civic issues, but faculty didn’t. Faculty responded the opposite way — that they were willing to engage, but felt students didn’t want to.
“Everybody wants to engage,” Torges said. “We need to give people tools to make it comfortable to engage.”
In Pennsylvania K-12 education, social studies curriculum varies district to district. The state requires districts to administer assessments of U.S. history, government and civics at least once to seventh through 12th grade students.
At Brentwood, the sixth, eighth, ninth and 11th grade curriculum is focused on the U.S. government, said Jason Olexa, middle-high school principal. Ninth grade students take a final exam that’s based on the citizenship test, he said.
“The entire year is the state and federal government,” he said. “It’s nuts and bolts, top to bottom.” Students perform well in those classes, Olexa said.
Teachers try to relate the political system to how things work locally.
“By helping students understand how these things get passed and what does that look like and mean, we’re giving them foundational skills as they become adults, homeowners and career persons making income,” he said.
Students generally perform well when studying U.S. history and civics, Olexa said.
“We have students who are very passionate about history and government,” he said. “We also have students who do well in class but maybe it’s not their passion.”
On a local level, though, 27% of adults in the NBC News survey expressed confidence in local government, compared to 18% confidence in the federal government.
Torges didn’t find that surprising.
“We’re more likely to have had experience with the state and local government,” she said. “We know they’re people doing the best they can, but when someone is further away, it’s easier to have a distrust of it.”
Torges thinks a lack of interest in politics stems from polarization seen nationally.
“We have always disagreed with each other. The problem is, we’ve forgotten how to talk to one another,” she said. “In Congress, up until the late 1980s, they knew each other and they’d have debates on the floor and you’d go away thinking, ‘I think he’s very hard-headed, but he’s or she’s a decent human being.’ They knew each other, and it’s hard to demonize someone you know.”
Even the evolution of technology and society has contributed to people not talking to each other, Torges said.
“We used to make small talk, whatever’s on TV that night,” she said. “Now, I might not have even heard of the genre you’re watching. We don’t even have common pop cultural talking points anymore.”