News from

Civics

Reset All Filters
154 Results
Why young voters tune out
Glynn Boltman working on her laptop.

Fourth-year Glynn Boltman traveled to three swing states—Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Nevada—to have deep conversations about politics with young people in everyday settings.

nocred

Why young voters tune out

Fourth-year Glynn Boltman set out to explore why many young Americans intentionally disengage from politics. Her findings, which she turned into a podcast, challenge common assumptions about political disengagement—and suggest a need for more empathy.

From Omnia

2 min. read

Where economic modeling meets real-world legislation
Kent Smetters and another person looking at a whiteboard

Junghoon Lee (left), director of engineering and data at the Penn Wharton Budget Model (PWBM), and Kent Smetters (right). The PWBM is the only non-governmental group analyzing how public policy simultaneously affects the federal budget, macroeconomic growth, and human welfare.

nocred

Where economic modeling meets real-world legislation

The Penn Wharton Budget Model is the only non-governmental group analyzing how public policy simultaneously affects the federal budget, macroeconomic growth, and human welfare.

3 min. read

Matthew Levendusky on civics, partisan politics, and teaching public opinion
Matthew Levendusky.

Matthew Levendusky is a professor at the Annenberg School for Communication and in the Department of Political Science in the School of Arts & Sciences.

(Image: Courtesy of Annenberg School for Communication)

Matthew Levendusky on civics, partisan politics, and teaching public opinion

Matthew Levendusky has been named a joint professor at the Annenberg School for Communication and in the Department of Political Science in the School of Arts & Sciences.

From Annenberg School for Communication

2 min. read

Exploring the Declaration through ink and type
A hand preparing letterpress off a small paper with text.

nocred

Exploring the Declaration through ink and type

A typesetting workshop at Penn’s Common Press invited participants to reinterpret lines from the Declaration of Independence as part of the Typography of Independence project and Penn’s America 250 programming.

3 min. read

Understanding Japan’s snap elections
People walk in front of an election notice board displaying posters of candidates for the Lower House elections on the day of the election campaign kick-off on January 27, 2026 in Kobe, Japan.

Image: Buddhika Weerasinghe / Stringer via Getty Images

Understanding Japan’s snap elections

Perry World House Distinguished Visiting Fellow Mami Mizutori discusses the upcoming elections and their implications for Japanese policy and politics.

From Perry World House

2 min. read

Analyzing youth voter turnout

Analyzing youth voter turnout

Researchers at the Annenberg Public Policy Center and the Annenberg Communication Neuroscience Lab find that Voting in an election helps shape the government to work on their behalf; however, the majority of U.S. youth don’t vote regularly.

Election Day on campus, in pictures
Penn President J. Larry Jameson outside on Locust Walk talking with members of PLTV.

nocred

Election Day on campus, in pictures

On Election Day, volunteers with Penn Leads the Vote were on hand with voting guides and civic swag for students. Penn President J. Larry Jameson joined the PLTV volunteers and cast his ballot at his campus polling location.

Penn Today Staff

1 min. read

Americans’ knowledge of civics increases
A stack of pocket constitutions.

Image: Paul Chinn/San Francisco Chronicle via AP Images

Americans’ knowledge of civics increases

The 2025 Annenberg Constitution Day Civics Survey, released annually to celebrate Constitution Day on Sept. 17, finds that Americans are more knowledgeable this year in answering basic civics questions.

From the Annenberg Public Policy Center

2 min. read

‘I Will Vote’: Using future-oriented frames to motivate voters
A person affixes an I VOTED sticker to their t-shirt.

Image: kali9 via Getty Images

‘I Will Vote’: Using future-oriented frames to motivate voters

A new paper from Penn’s Annenberg Public Policy Center examines whether “I Voted” stickers influence people’s voting intentions, and whether different language choices in this approach to voter outreach might make a bigger impact on civic engagement.

From the Annenberg Public Policy Center

2 min. read