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www.centerforpolitics.org
For Release: October 30, 2003
UVa Study: Virginia Students Not Being Prepared Adequately to
Participate in Elections
Lack of Early Exposure to Politics, Not Enough Adult Support Among Problems
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Center for Politics at the University of Virginia
released the Virginia results from its national research on Youth Civic and Political
Engagement. The results suggest that Virginia high school students are not being
adequately prepared and encouraged, either at home or at school, to participate in the
American political and electoral process. The yearlong national study of high school
civics students in grades nine through twelve took place during the 2002-2003 school
year and has an overall margin of error of +/- 4.8%.
“Clearly, voting is the hallmark of a self-governing society, but it remains a single act of
political participation, the context and importance of which must be taught in order for it
to be learned. Waiting until a student is old enough to vote before introducing them to
other acts of political participation is waiting too long,” said Ken Stroupe, Chief of Staff
at the UVa Center for Politics. “The study suggests that parents play in important role in
encouraging their children to participate in the electoral process. Furthermore, teachers
who utilize experiential learning to introduce early formative political participation are
more likely to succeed in generating sustained civic involvement than those who employ
a more traditional textbook model for teaching civics and government.”
The results of the study reveal that most Virginia students find the act of voting, in
general, to be very important. However, more than half (53%) felt that politics is too
complicated for ordinary people. Only 48 percent said they knew how to make their
political views known, and less than half (45%) said they felt well prepared to participate.
The study offered conflicting views on the attitudes that young people have toward
politics and politicians. On one hand, 54 percent agreed with the statement that “politics
is a good thing” and 79 percent said they are “proud of the government.” However, 51%
felt that government is run by “a few big interests” and only 32% believe politicians
behave ethically. As far as trust, fewer than half (45%) said they have either “some” or
“a lot” of trust in political parties and an overwhelming majority (94%) felt that people in
government waste taxpayers’ money.
“It seems apparent that Virginia’s young people want to be optimistic about politics,”
Stroupe noted. “But, their lack of encouragement as well as their perception of some of
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the behaviors and motivations of politicians play a significant role in suppressing their
overall interest and involvement in many of the early formative political activities that
lead to long term civic engagement.”
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13% have worked for a political party or candidate; 77% said unlikely they will ever do so.
20% have attended a campaign-related event; 73% said unlikely they will ever do so.
17% have written a letter to the media in support of a candidate or cause.
25% have contacted an elected official or agency in the federal government
32% have contacted an official in local government.
35% have, at some point, joined a group to solve a community problem.
37% have collected signatures for a petition.
41% have encouraged an adult to register to vote.
46% have attempted to persuade an adult to vote for a candidate of the respondent’s choice.
Of those over the age of 18, fewer than half (49.5%) were registered to vote.
56% could not provide the name of even one of Virginia’s two U.S. Senators.
Although a sizeable majority (58%) reported that their family discusses political issues or
events in the news at least once a week; a significant number of students indicated a lack
of encouragement from their parents to be active in politics and community issues with
48% saying their parents either “discouraged” them or “didn’t care one way or the
other.” The study suggests that parents and teachers should be more active in supporting
and developing student potential for active civic participation, student political interest,
and student civic knowledge.
“The period surrounding Election Day is the best opportunity parents and teachers have
to introduce young people to their role in a self governing society. The American form of
government only survives when citizens participate in the political process. Young
people assign a level of importance to political participation based in large part on the
example set by their parents and from the civics courses they take in school,” said
Stroupe. “The message to parents and teachers is simple: Vote, talk with young people
about the importance of voting and the issues and personalities involved, and take your
children to the polls with you on Election Day.”
Va. Students Evenly Split Between Democratic and Republican Parties
Despite the state’s conservative tendencies, Virginia high school students are evenly
divided on party affiliation between the Democratic and Republican parties with only
slightly more identifying with the Republican Party (44%) versus the Democratic Party
(40%) according to results from a national study by the University of Virginia Center for
Politics of high school civics students in grades nine through twelve. Sixteen percent of
students said they were Independent with no leanings toward either major political party.
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When asked to place their political views on a spectrum, 22 percent said they were
“conservative” while 24 percent said they were “liberal.” Another 34 percent said they
were “moderate” and 13 percent did not know.
“Neither political party can claim a majority of support from Virginia’s youngest
citizens,” said Ken Stroupe, Chief of Staff at the University of Virginia Center for
Politics. “The positions that most of Virginia’s young people have scoped out at this
point in their lives on many important contemporary political issues are highly
personalized and do not uniformly reflect the straight party platforms of either the
Democratic or Republican parties.”
The students offered a mix of both conservative and liberal opinions on the following
issues:
Abortion
 24% felt that “abortion should not be permitted”
 76% favored keeping abortion legal but of this number 39% said “abortion should be
available but under stricter limits than it is now”
* There was no significant racial or gender differences on the overall responses to this question. However, females
were more likely than males to say that abortion should be available but under stricter limits than it is now. There is
less than a 5% likelihood that the observed relationship is due to chance.
Affirmative Action
 46% “strongly oppose” affirmative action policies that allow the use of race as a factor in
college and university admissions
 25% “somewhat oppose”
 21% “somewhat favor”
 9% “strongly favor”
*African American students and Hispanic students were more likely to respond in favor of affirmative action that white
students. There is less than a 5% likelihood that the observed relationship is due to chance.
Death Penalty
 30% oppose the death penalty for persons convicted of murder
 70% favor the death penalty for person convicted of murder
* African American students were more likely than white students to oppose the death penalty and males were more
likely than females to favor. There is less than a 5% likelihood that the observed relationship is due to chance.
Government Spending
 45% felt that government should “reduce spending on services”
 26% felt that government should “increase spending on services”
 29% felt that government spending on services “should stay the same as now”
Jobs and the Environment
On jobs and the environment, students were asked, “how important is protecting the environment
compared to maintaining jobs and our standard of living?”
 73% said protecting the environment is more important
 27% said protecting the environment is less important
Among students participating in the study: 74% identified themselves as white, 12%
identified themselves as black, 7% identified themselves as either Hispanic, Mexican,
Cuban or Puerto Rican, 6% identified themselves as Asian American, 3% identified
themselves as Native American and 6% selected “other”. Race totals exceed 100%
because students were asked to select all that applied. Among all respondents, 54% were
female and 46% were male.
The research was conducted on behalf of the Center for Politics’ Youth Leadership
Initiative by the UVa Center for Survey Research in collaboration with Center for Politics
Chief of Staff Ken Stroupe; Dr. Larry Sabato, Director of the University of Virginia
Center for Politics; Dr. Thomas Guterbock of the University of Virginia; Dr. Richard
Niemi of the University of Rochester and Dr. Steven Finkel of the University of Virginia.
The data presented here are the responses from the survey post-test results of 1,009
Virginia students from throughout the state. The research employed cluster sampling and
was conducted using a quasi-experimental Solomon four-group research design. The
goal of the study was to measure political and civic knowledge and political attitudes and
values of American high school civics students in grades nine through twelve. Due to
rounding, results herein may not always equal 100%.
Funding for this research was provided by grants from the Center for Information &
Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) and the United States Congress.
Results of the full national study will be released later this fall.
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