Understanding the Relationship between Civic Skills and Civic Participation: Educating Future Public Managers

Abstract

This paper suggests that fundamental elements of civic and political participation are skill-based and therefore must be practiced in order to be learned. Scholars have long included a notion of civic skills as central to theoretical constructs of both political participation and civic education, but exactly what is meant by civic skills is often vaguely defined. This paper defines civic skills, briefly summarizing the links between civic skills and civic and political participation and discusses the implications for what students should be learning and how programs should be teaching.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mary Kirlin

Mary Kirlin (D.P.A., University of Southern California, 1996) is an assistant professor of public policy and administration at California State University Sacramento. She spent fifteen years working in California state government before coming to the academy. Her research interests are in civic engagement with a focus on civic skill development.