Civics

Inside election night 2020

During a virtual panel, Penn students, faculty, and staff who worked on NBC’s Decision Desk on Election night gave a behind-the-scenes look at the high-pressure night

Kristen de Groot

‘You Voted. But Did it Really Matter?’

On Nov. 7, Pennsylvania’s electoral votes secured Joseph Biden the presidency. Anticipating news of a Biden win, Mary Frances Berry, Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought and professor of history and Africana studies, called it a time to push forward for change with renewed force. 

Kristina García

Talking to your kids about the election

Penn GSE’s Caroline Watts offers advice on how to realistically support children during uncertainty. “Don't try to pretend there isn’t uncertainty in the country,” she says. “Be reassuring. No matter what is happening in the outside world, you will take care of the family.”

From Penn GSE



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.

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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.”

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