Research Education Economics Social Psychology Health Policy Social Entrepreneurship Environmental Policy Ethics Leadership Racial Justice and Equity National Security Political Science Advocacy Domestic Policy & Politics International and Global Affairs Social Equity International Development Research and Commentary (-) Democracy Facet Area of Focus - Research John Holbein Facet People - Research Center for Effective Lawmaking Facet UVA Partner - Research Published Research Democracy Do constituents know (or care) about the lawmaking effectiveness of their representatives? Authors: Craig Volden Substantial evidence exists that members of the US Congress vary in their lawmaking effectiveness. Less known, however, is whether constituents are sufficiently informed and inclined to hold their representatives accountable, based on their effectiveness. Learn more Published Research Democracy Political Science Civilian national service programs can powerfully increase youth voter turnout Authors: John Holbein, Cecilia Hyunjung Mo , Elizabeth Mitchell Elder Enrolling young people to participate as Teach For America (TFA) teachers has a large positive effect on rates of voter turnout among those young people who participate. This effect is considerably larger than many previous efforts to increase youth voter turnout. After their 2 years of service, these young adults vote at a rate 5.7 to 8.6 percentage points higher than that of similar nonparticipant counterparts. These results suggest that civilian national service programs targeted at young people show great promise in narrowing the enduring participation gap between younger and older citizens in the United States. Learn more
Published Research Democracy Do constituents know (or care) about the lawmaking effectiveness of their representatives? Authors: Craig Volden Substantial evidence exists that members of the US Congress vary in their lawmaking effectiveness. Less known, however, is whether constituents are sufficiently informed and inclined to hold their representatives accountable, based on their effectiveness. Learn more
Published Research Democracy Political Science Civilian national service programs can powerfully increase youth voter turnout Authors: John Holbein, Cecilia Hyunjung Mo , Elizabeth Mitchell Elder Enrolling young people to participate as Teach For America (TFA) teachers has a large positive effect on rates of voter turnout among those young people who participate. This effect is considerably larger than many previous efforts to increase youth voter turnout. After their 2 years of service, these young adults vote at a rate 5.7 to 8.6 percentage points higher than that of similar nonparticipant counterparts. These results suggest that civilian national service programs targeted at young people show great promise in narrowing the enduring participation gap between younger and older citizens in the United States. Learn more