This study asks whether high school civic education influences voter turnout in adulthood by merging detailed academic transcript information on social studies and civics coursework with a large-scale, longitudinal survey of a nationally representative cohort of adolescents. The authors present a sequence of regression models: initial specifications show apparent associations between civics coursework and later turnout, but the associations shrink after adding individual and family controls and disappear in family fixed-effects models that compare siblings. The analysis concludes that any causal effect of high school civic instruction on adult voting is at best very small, and the study finds no evidence that courses emphasizing service learning, civic skills, or political issues increase turnout.
Large-scale longitudinal survey linkage Family fixed-effects Null-to-small net effects
Data and methods
The study integrates extensive academic transcript measures of social studies and civic coursework with a large-scale, longitudinal survey of a nationally representative sample of adolescents (as reported in the abstract). The authors estimate a series of regression models, include individual and family controls, and then apply family fixed-effects models that compare siblings to account for shared observed and unobserved family influences.
Main findings
In initial regressions, some civics course measures are associated with higher adult turnout, but those associations are substantially attenuated after controlling for individual and family attributes. When sibling fixed-effects are used to control for all shared family influences, the evidence is consistent with no meaningful relationship between high school civic education and adult voter turnout; any remaining effects, if present, are likely very small.
- No support found that courses emphasizing service learning, civic skills development, or political-issues instruction increase turnout in adulthood.
- Family fixed-effects comparisons produce the strongest evidence toward a null relationship.
