Why Civics is Important

Our constitutional democracy requires informed civic participants, but we are not aligning our resources to that goal.

For decades, we have failed to prepare young Americans for informed and engaged civic life. This has fueled the distrust and division so rampant today.

The results of poor civic education are clear. Among American Millennials, many of whom did not receive a quality civic education, understanding of and trust in our democratic institutions remain alarmingly low. Consider this:

• Only 22% of U.S. students are proficient in civics. (Assessments - Civics | NAEP)
• 24% of U.S. Millennials consider democracy to be a "bad" or "very bad" way of running the country. (Foa and Yascha Mounk)

Yet the time granted to civics in the classroom keeps shrinking. Today, only 9 states and DC mandate a full year of civic education.

If civic education is to be a solution to what ails our constitutional democracy, we must ensure that it becomes a priority for our nation.