This year, the national Harvard Youth Poll found that just 15% of young people believed the United States of America was headed in the right direction.
Understanding this perception may be crucial to assessing the future role of young people in shaping and sustaining our democracy.
A significant factor that could be contributing to this perception is the decline in civic education across America. Research indicates that a solid foundation in civic education directly correlates with higher civic engagement, such as voting. In the following discussion, I will first examine the challenges facing civic education and explain how these affect youth engagement.
The decline of civic education began to take root in the 1960s, coinciding with growing skepticism towards the federal government (Sandra Day O’Connor Institute for American Democracy). Civic education faced criticism for its perceived model “based on a common culture” (Sandra Day O’Connor Institute for American Democracy).
This issue has been further exacerbated by increasing political polarization, which has hindered civic discussions in educational institutions and beyond. Data from 2024 reveals that only 41% of college students felt comfortable sharing their political opinions on campus, highlighting a trend that puts democratic debate at risk. Negative polarization has been expedited by First Amendment concerns among educational institutions, news outlets, and state governments (NYT). In an October 2025 study, over half of teachers reported having had to alter their class content due to political pressure (EdChoice). Furthermore, programs across college campuses are being reconsidered, and some, like Brown University’s Choices program, have been entirely removed (NYT).
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In many ways, we seem to have lost touch with a Socratic approach to public discourse, in which individuals can productively converse on pertinent ethical and political issues.
A robust civic education equips students with the tools to engage with differing opinions and participate in their democracy. It also responds to the fact that many young people feel they lack the resources and skills to assume the role of advocates for change (CIRCLE Tufts). Decades ago, students were required to complete three different civics courses; now, many states mandate only a single semester (Sandra Day O’Connor Institute for American Democracy). Additionally, even for the schools that do offer civics courses, they have faced the challenge of creating a robust curriculum.
At Stanford University, first-year students are required to engage in a multi-course program called COLLEGE (Civic, Liberal, and Global Education), where they learn essential lessons, such as how to have civic discourse and how to engage with those who have differing viewpoints. I recently spoke with Professor Josiah Ober, the director of Stanford’s Civics Initiative, to receive his insights on the importance of civic education for youth in America. He stated, “The engagement of America’s youth in the project of civic education is both hugely encouraging and absolutely necessary for the future of American democracy.” As a professor, Ober has studied how the structures of Athenian democracy serve as key pinpoints for better understanding our contemporary world. Those that “acquire civic learning,” he said, “will be prepared to be active participants in the challenging and exciting work of collective self-government.”
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Education serves as a cornerstone of democracy. As political philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville warned, “Educate, then, at any rate; for the age of implicit self-sacrifice and instinctive virtues is already flitting far away from us, and the time is fast approaching when freedom, public peace, and social order itself will not be able to exist without education” (Tocqueville, 323). His warning feels increasingly relevant as civic engagement and the structures of our democracy have begun to erode.
In ancient Athens, the health of democracy rested on the engagement of its citizens. Although this engagement was largely limited to male citizens, their involvement in voting on critical issues and selecting new leaders was foundational for democratic governance (EBSCO). The Greek concept of “paideia” underscored the role of education in shaping good citizenship and personal and civic identity (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).
Taken all together, to understand young people’s perception of civic engagement, we need a much deeper analysis of the state of civic education in America. This will help us determine not only how civic education can be rekindled but also how it must be reshaped for a polarized and politically tenuous world. Furthermore, the skills of discourse are a key component of civic education, and schools must address how they can be taught and incorporated into the curriculum. To become true civic participants in society, we must learn how to engage in productive discussion with our peers on the difficult political, social, and ethical topics relevant in our lives.
