The Effects of Controversial Classroom Debates on Political Interest: An Experimental Approach

Abstract

For decades, scholars have argued that civic education practices, such as debates on controversial issues, have the capacity to enhance civic outcomes, including political knowledge, attentiveness, and interest. This study bridges the literature on political science education and political behavior by employing an experimental approach to assess the link between a specific civic education practice (controversial debates) and a cited indicator of political behavior (political interest). Three hundred and forty-one students in 13 American Politics classrooms at a four-year higher education institution were randomly assigned to a controversial debate curriculum. Our findings show that the treatment had no effect on political interest for the treatment groups as a whole, a finding that challenges our hypothesis that debates on controversial issues could increase political interest. Our findings also point to a relationship between taking an American Politics course and increased political attentiveness for nonwhite students.

Keywords:

• Political interest
• political behavior
• civic education
• classroom experiment
• pedagogy
• debate
• controversial debates

Notes

1 When preparing the surveys, we ensured that all interest and attentive-related questions came before the knowledge questions so that we did not introduce question order effect due to potentially decreased confidence levels following knowledge questions (Robison 2015).

2 There were few exceptions related to absences or uneven class sizes.

3 For example, the affirmative team for Debate #1 argued that President Trump should issue an executive order.

4 For example, the negative team for Debate #1 argued that President Trump should not issue the executive order.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Renee Sanjuan

Major Renée Sanjuán is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Sciences at the United States Military Academy, where she teaches courses on Political Science and Critical Thought. She currently serves as the Associate Dean for Policy and Communications. She holds an MPA in US Urban and Social Policy from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and an MA in Security Studies from Kansas State University.

Eleni M. Mantas

Eleni M. Mantas is a lecturer in the Department of Government at Sacred Heart University where she teaches courses in American government, critical thinking, writing, and urban politics. Her research and teaching interests include education policy and politics, state and local politics, American politics, public policy, and civic education. She holds a PhD from Columbia University in Education Policy and Social Analysis.