Civic Health Index Shows 80% of the U.S. Public wants National Deliberation
Here’s a great post by Joe Goldman from the DDC’s blog at www.deliberative-democracy.net/blog/…
The National Conference on Citizenship just put out its third Civic Health Index. Lots of really interesting stuff, including:
- 87% of the American public support giving every young person the opportunity to earn tuition money by completing a year of national or community service
- 80% of the American public favor holding a national deliberation on a major issue and requiring Congress to respond to what citizens say
- 76% would like to see service-learning (combinations of classroom learning and community service) required in schools
- 67% would strengthen civic education by requiring new tests in the subject
At AmericaSpeaks, we’ve been waiting to see national polling results on what people think about the idea of conducting national discussions for a long time. It’s great to see that 80% number. What is really interesting is that the 80% goes across ideological lines. 60% of Republicans were “strongly in favor” and 70% of Democrats were “strongly in favor.” Support was strong across demographic groups.
Thanks so much to everyone at the National Conference on Citizenship for bringing this data to light. Lots of other interesting stuff. Check it out.
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