Tomorrow’s Citizens: Uncivic Culprits, Protesters or Conventional Activists? Expectations about Future Political Behavior among US 14 year olds.

In part of the literature, young people are being accused of being less civic minded than previous generations, and thus as responsible for a process of civic decline. Other authors assume that young people adhere to new and different citizenship concepts, thus bringing about a transition toward more postmodern forms of engagement and citizenship. An investigation of the political views of US 14 year olds, however, does not support either of these claims. The analysis (based on the 1999 IEA-survey among 2,811 9th graders in the US) shows that youngsters adhere to quite traditional and conventional citizenship concepts. A vast majority of them intends to vote or to volunteer. More innovative forms of expected political behavior appeal to a substantial group of pupils as well, but they certainly do not replace conventional and/or electoral participation. Both hypotheses from the civic education as well as social capital schools could be confirmed with regard to factors determining the likelihood of future participation: intensity of civics classes (both with regard to topics as to methods being used) prove to be influential, just as engagement in youth associations, but also informal discussions about politics with friends and media consumption. Non-school related experiences are just as important for political socialization as what is happening in schools and classrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]