Civics | Penn Today

Newly naturalized U.S. citizens raise their right hands to take the oath of citizenship in the Harrison Auditorium at the Penn Museum, with officials on a stage in front of them and an American flag on the right side of the stage.

Becoming American: A ceremony for new citizens

In keeping with its motto of “bringing the world to Penn and Penn to the world,” Penn Global hosted a naturalization ceremony on campus for 37 new citizens.

A man in a facemask uses a marker to ink the finger of a facemasked woman, as ballot containers and the Moroccan flag are seen behind them.

Young voters and online civic education

A collaborative new study by Guy Grossman of the School of Arts & Sciences and co-authors looks at the effects of low-cost online interventions in encouraging young Moroccans to turn out and cast an informed vote in the 2021 elections.

President Magill standing in front of Houston Hall on Election Day.

A quieter campus for Philadelphia’s voting day

The primary election follows a lively Commencement and on-campus move-out. But the ballot may determine Philadephia’s 100th mayor.

Civility is on the decline, ABA civics poll finds

A 2016 survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center found that only a quarter of people could name all three branches of government, though that figure rose to 56% by 2021.

Civic education is having a moment. This is what that means

The 2022 Constitution Day Survey from the Annenberg Public Policy Center found that fewer than half of Americans could name all three branches of government.

The future of conservatism

A one-of-a-kind political science course taught by Deirdre Martinez of the School of Arts & Sciences and Evan McMullin, a Penn alum who was running for the Senate during the class, took students through the past and present conservative movement.

Flunking social studies is how America got the Big Lie and QAnon. Don’t make it worse

Kathleen Hall Jamieson of the Annenberg Public Policy Center says that reduced time in the classroom for teaching civics will come back to haunt America’s future politics.

‘Real, funny, engaging and serious’: Pa. Gen Z voters on what they want in politicians beyond the 2022 midterms

Second-year Liam Hoare in the College of Arts and Sciences thinks that social media will play a large role in how candidates promote themselves in the future.

‘View’ host Sunny Hostin has scant evidence for claiming GOP wants to raise voting age to 28

Kermit Roosevelt of Penn Carey Law says that it would be almost impossible to raise the voting age since it would take the repeal of the 26th Amendment and a new constitutional amendment.

The red wave didn’t just vanish

Yphtach Lelkes of the Annenberg School for Communication says that Republicans tacked too hard to the right during the midterms, causing independents and a small percentage of conservatives to move in favor of Democrats.

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