ABSTRACT

This study examines how socio-political divisions–particularly race/ethnicity and religion–were related to democratic civic engagement (DCE) in three divided societies: Northern Ireland (NI), South Africa (SA), and the United States (US). Adolescents exposed to well-evaluated, parallel civics curricula reported significantly greater civic engagement in SA than in the US; those in the US reported significantly greater engagement than those in NI. Within NI, Protestants and Catholics did not report different engagement levels; in SA, black and coloured groups expressed greater civic engagement than whites; in the US, white students expressed greater civic engagement than those from more marginalised groups. Analyses of aspects of DCE led us to conclude that varied social and political realities, histories, legacies of division, and power dynamics helped explain these results. Understanding such societal forces is critical for educators who seek to promote youth to become thoughtful and ethical civic actors.

摘要

本研究探讨了社会政治分歧——尤其是种族/民族和宗教——在三个分裂的社会中如何与民主公民参与 (DCE) 相关：北爱尔兰 (NI)、南非 (SA) 和美国 (US)。接受过良好评估的平行公民课程的青少年报告说，南非的公民参与度明显高于美国；美国的那些人报告的参与度明显高于 NI 的那些人。在 NI 内部，新教徒和天主教徒没有报告不同的参与程度；在南非，黑人和有色人种比白人表现出更多的公民参与；在美国，白人学生表现出比来自更边缘化群体的学生更多的公民参与。对 DCE 各方面的分析使我们得出结论，不同的社会和政治现实、历史、分裂的遗留问题，权力动态有助于解释这些结果。了解这种社会力量对于寻求促进青年成为有思想和道德的公民行为者的教育工作者来说至关重要。