What Should We Say? Research Findings on Civic Language

The USC Center for the Political Future is partnering with Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (PACE) to host “What Should We Say? New Research Findings on Americans and Civic Language.” This event takes place on Friday, March 15 from 10:00 am PST to 11:15 am PST.

Register for this online event here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZApfu-hrj4pG9S2O-nv2zG2XrDs4uHIatmq#/registration

The words we use in our civic lives have become deeply coded and loaded, leaving little space for productive discussion within our communities. Where we used to think we were just saying words, we now realize we are speaking in signals–sometimes constructive, sometimes destructive, sometimes intentional, sometimes unintentional. This is especially true in the civic education space.

Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (PACE) leads the Civic Language Perceptions Project to hear from Americans about their perceptions of and relationships with words frequently used in democracy and civic engagement work. Building on the civic language research PACE conducted in 2021-2022, PACE is excited to share updated research from its 2023 nationally representative survey of 5,000 American registered voters.

PACE will share data to answer questions like:

– How do people who report having civic education perceive civic language? How is that different from their non-civic education counterparts, and what has changed in two years?

– Which types of civic education (middle school, high school, college/university, adult continuing education, out-of-classroom, etc) translate to civic language positivity?

– Do people who have civic education think American democracy is working for them, people like them, or someone else?

This event is part of Civic Learning Week, which goes from March 11-15. This annual event, hosted by iCivics, seeks to highlight the importance of civic education in sustaining and strengthening constitutional democracy in the United States. #CivicLearningWeek

Register for “What Should We Say? New Research Findings on Americans and Civic Language” here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZApfu-hrj4pG9S2O-nv2zG2XrDs4uHIatmq#/registration