Background

Our country’s founders recognized that the success of our democracy depends on dedicated people committed to understanding and embracing citizenship. This commitment must be renewed with each generation. Many of us believe that we are at a crossroads as a nation, and that our failure to ensure the civic development of young people, in part, has created a crisis.

The 2020 election was one of the most consequential in U.S. history. With the backdrop of racial justice uprisings, a pandemic, and an economic crisis, millions of young people, from all backgrounds, overcame huge obstacles to vote in record numbers. History will undoubtedly show that Millennials and Generation Z played a significant role in determining the outcome of the 2020 election.

Strong civic education is the foundation for civic development. The poor quality of civic education in America is no longer something we can accept. Only 18% of 8th graders are “proficient” or better in US history, 23% in civics and government. More troubling, only 1-2% score as “advanced” in these fields. A recent study by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation found that only 36% of Americans could pass the citizenship test that is part of the immigration process, a test that immigrants pass at a 97.5% rate. A 2017 Annenberg study reported that 75% of Americans do not know the three branches of government and 37% could not name one right in the First Amendment.

For years concerning data has shown the state of civic engagement among young people: 35% percent of Millennials said they were losing faith in American democracy; 43% of voters nationwide at least somewhat agreed “the Constitution made sense in the 18th century, but it is irrelevant in the 21st century”; when asked about the importance of democracy to American society, only 39% of young adults ages 29 and under said it was “absolutely important”.

This time more than ever calls for bold and disruptive innovation that ensures the development of the next generation’s civic identity. We believe that New Jersey can be at the forefront of citizenship building and civic education, where we use proven solutions, and test and launch creative approaches, to build the civic disposition of our next generation of citizens. New Jersey should strive to serve as a role model for educating the members of the next generation, the most diverse and educated in our country’s history, and providing them with the tools to lead the next chapter in our nation’s history.

Read a message from our founders, Neena Patil and PJ Jayachandran.