4/11
Civics
Course shows students how Washington really works
Course shows students how Washington really works
Penn and George Mason University students traveled to Washington, D.C. every Friday this spring for a class that gives the inside scoop on policymaking inside the Beltway.
Empowering refugees through education
Empowering refugees through education
The student-led group Penn for Refugee Empowerment offers tutoring and helps refugee-resettlement organizations with after-school programming, child care, home setup, and event assistance.
Public media can improve our ‘flawed’ democracy
Public media can improve our ‘flawed’ democracy
A new study finds that countries with well-funded public media have healthier democracies, and explains why investment in U.S. public media is an investment in the future of journalism and democracy alike.
The Black Lives Matter movement, but not COVID encouraged voters toward Biden
The Black Lives Matter movement, but not COVID encouraged voters toward Biden
As swing voters registered more awareness about discrimination against Black Americans, they became more likely to vote for the party they felt would best rectify that—Democrats.
Penn Law reacts to the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson
Penn Law reacts to the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson
President Joe Biden has selected the Honorable Ketanji Brown Jackson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit as his nominee to the Supreme Court.
Former Justice Breyer law clerks share perspectives on his retirement
Former Justice Breyer law clerks share perspectives on his retirement
Statements from Ted Ruger, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School Dean and Bernard G. Segal Professor of Law, and Jacques deLisle, Stephen A. Cozen Professor of Law & Professor of Political Science.
2020 voting report: By the numbers
2020 voting report: By the numbers
Penn students voted in unprecedented numbers during the 2020 presidential election, in part due to the voter-engagement program Penn Leads the Vote, which recently won the 2021 ALL IN Democracy Challenge Best Action Plan Award.
President Gutmann votes at Houston Hall
Exercising her civic duty, Penn’s leader participated in Pennsylvania’s 2021 general election.
1 in 3 Americans say they might consider abolishing or limiting Supreme Court
1 in 3 Americans say they might consider abolishing or limiting Supreme Court
A new survey from the Annenberg Public Policy Center finds that more than a third of Americans say they might be willing to abolish the Supreme Court or have Congress limit its jurisdiction.
Americans’ civics knowledge increases during a stress-filled year
Americans’ civics knowledge increases during a stress-filled year
The Annenberg Public Policy Center’s annual survey follows increased media coverage of the powers, functions, and prerogatives of the three branches in a year marked by impeachment proceedings and a pandemic.
In the News
NBC News
NBC News exit poll on Super Tuesday: Our methodology
Stephanie Perry and Elizabeth Schreier of the Penn Program on Opinion Research and Election Studies and Joelle Gross of the School of Arts & Sciences share their methodology for the NBC News Super Tuesday exit polls.
FULL STORY →
Las Vegas Review-Journal
Ranked ‘avoid’: Ranked choice voting increases ballot errors
A study from Penn found that votes in ranked-choice races are nearly 10 times more likely to be rejected due to an improper mark than votes in non-ranked choice races.
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Philadelphia Inquirer
Sandra Day O’Connor and the promise of civic education
Jonathan Zimmerman of the Graduate School of Education writes that teaching schoolchildren about the rights and responsibilities of citizenship might be the only way to heal our polarized society.
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Axios
Jill Biden helps debut modern version of “Schoolhouse Rock”
A 2022 survey from the Annenberg Public Policy Center found that less than half of U.S. adults could name all three branches of government.
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C-SPAN
Kathleen Hall Jamieson on civics education and bridging political divides
Kathleen Hall Jamieson of the Annenberg Public Policy Center discusses the importance of civics education as a tool to bridge political divides.
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Knews Media
Journalism is a public good and should be publicly funded
Victor Pickard of the Annenberg School for Communication explains that the “positive” interpretation of the First Amendment focuses on government’s affirmative role to help guarantee the public access to a “diverse and informative media system.”
FULL STORY →