Cultivating Civic Competence: Simulations and Skill-Building in an Introductory Government Class

References

• Bain , Ken . 2004 . What the Best College Teachers Do . Cambridge , MA : Harvard University Press .
   Google Scholar
• Barber , Benjamin . 2004 . Strong Democracy: Participatory Politics for a New Age . Berkeley : University of California Press .
   Google Scholar
• Bass , Randy . 1999 . “The Scholarship of Teaching: What's the Problem? Inventio 1 ( 1 ). Available online at http://www.doit.gmu.edu/inventio/issues/Spring-1999/Bass_1.html
   Google Scholar
• Belenky , Mary , Blythe Clinchy , Nancy Goldberger , and Jill Tarule . 1986 . Women's Ways of Knowing: The Development of Self, Voice and Mind . New York : Basic Books .
   Google Scholar
• Bellah , Robert N. , Richard Madsen , William M. Sullivan , Ann Swidler , and Steven M. Tipton . 1985 . Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life . Berkeley : University of California Press .
   Google Scholar
• Bennett , Linda M. , and Stephan Earl Bennett . 1989 . “Enduring Gender Differences in Political Interest.” . American Politics Quarterly 17 : 105 – 122 .
   Google Scholar
• Berelson , Bernard , Paul Lazarsfeld , and William McPhee . 1954 . Voting . New York : Free Press .
   Google Scholar
• Bernstein , Jeffrey L. 2007 . “Simulations and the Dynamics of Racial and Gender Gaps in Civic Competence.” In The Scholarship of Multicultural Teaching and Learning , eds. Matthew Kaplan and A. T. Miller . New Directions for Teaching and Learning series (Volume 111 ), 89 – 96 .
   Google Scholar
• Bernstein , Jeffrey L. and Deborah S. Meizlish. 2003 . “Becoming Congress: A Longitudinal Study of the Civic Engagement Implications of a Classroom Simulation.” . Simulation & Gaming 34 : 198 – 219 .
   Google Scholar
• Borick , Christopher P. 1997 . “One Chance: Teaching American Government in an Era of Declining Student Interest.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Southern Political Science Association, Norfolk.
   Google Scholar
• Boyer , Ernest L. 1990 . Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate . Princeton , NJ : The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching .
   Google Scholar
• Colby , Anne , Thomas Ehrlich , Elizabeth Beaumont , and Jason Stephens . 2003 . Educating Citizens: Preparing America's Undergraduates for Lives of Moral and Civic Responsibility . San Francisco : Jossey-Bass .
   Google Scholar
• Converse , Philip E. 1975. “Public Opinion and Voting Behavior.” In Handbook of Political Science (Volume 4), eds. Fred I. Greenstein and Nelson W. Polsby . Boston : Addison-Wesley.
   Google Scholar
• Coulter , Ann . 2004 . How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must): The World According to Ann Coulter . New York : Crown Forum .
   Google Scholar
• Craig , Stephen C. 1993 . The Malevolent Leaders: Popular Discontent in America . Boulder , CO : Westview Press .
   Google Scholar
• Davis , Darren W. and Brian D. Silver . 2003 . “Stereotype Threat and Race of Interviewer Effects in a Survey on Political Knowledge.” . American Journal of Political Science 47 : 33 – 45 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Delli Carpini , Michael X. and Scott Keeter . 1996 . What Americans Know About Politics and Why It Matters . New Haven , CT : Yale University Press .
   Google Scholar
• Dionne , E. J. 1991 . Why Americans Hate Politics . New York : Simon and Schuster .
   Google Scholar
• Downs , Anthony . 1957 . An Economic Theory of Democracy . New York : Harper .
   Google Scholar
• Endersby , James W. and David J. Webber . 1995 . “Iron Triangle Simulation: Role Playing Game for Undergraduate Courses in Congress, Interest Groups, and Public Policy Classes.” . PS: Political Science and Politics 28 : 520 – 523 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Franken , Al . 2003 . Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right . New York : Dutton Adult .
   Google Scholar
• Frantzich , Stephen E. 2005 . Citizen Democracy: Political Activists in a Cynical Age () , Second Edition . Lanham , MD : Rowman & Littlefield .
   Google Scholar
• Glassick , Charles E. , Mary Taylor Huber , and Gene I. Maeroff . 1997 . Scholarship Assessed . San Francisco : Jossey-Bass .
   Google Scholar
• Hamilton , Lee . 2000 . “What I Wish Political Scientists Would Teach about Congress.” . PS: Political Science and Politics 33 : 757 – 764 .
   Google Scholar
• Hibbing , John R. and Elizabeth Theiss-Morse . 1995 . Congress as Public Enemy: Public Attitudes Toward American Political Institutions . New York : Cambridge University Press .
   Google Scholar
• Hofer , Barbara K. and Paul R. Pintrich . 1997 . “The Development of Epistemological Theories: Beliefs About Knowledge and Knowing and Their Relation to Learning.” . Review of Educational Research 67 : 88 – 140 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Huber , Mary Taylor and Pat Hutchings . 2005 . The Advancement of Learning: Building the Teaching Commons . San Francisco : Jossey-Bass .
   Google Scholar
• Hutchings , Pat and Lee S. Shulman . 1999 . “The Scholarship of Teaching: New Elaborations, New Developments.” . Change 31 : 10 – 15 .
   Google Scholar
• Lupia , Arthur . 2001 . “What We Should Know: Can Ordinary Citizens Make Extraordinary Choices?” . Typescript, University of Michigan .
   Google Scholar
• Lupia , Arthur . 2006 . “How Elitism Undermines the Study of Voter Competence.” . Critical Review 18 : 217 – 232 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Lupia , Arthur and Mathew D. McCubbins . 1998 . The Democratic Dilemma: Can Citizens Learn What They Need to Know . New York : Cambridge University Press .
   Google Scholar
• Meizlish , Deborah S. and Jeffrey L. Bernstein . 2003 . “Unpacking the ‘Education' in Civic Education.” Paper presented at the International Conference on Civic Education Research , New Orleans , LA .
   Google Scholar
• Moore , Michael . 2002 . Stupid White Men…and Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation . New York : Regan Books .
   Google Scholar
• Niemi , Richard and Jane Junn . 1998 . Civic Education: What Makes Students Learn? New Haven , CT : Yale University Press .
   Google Scholar
• Niemi , Richard G. , Mitchell S. Sanders , and Dale Whittington . 2003 . “Civic Knowledge of Elementary and Secondary School Students.” Paper presented at the International Conference for Civic Education Research , New Orleans , LA .
   Google Scholar
• Popkin , Samuel L. 1991 . The Reasoning Voter: Communication and Persuasion in Presidential Campaigns . Chicago : University of Chicago Press .
   Google Scholar
• Putnam , Robert D. 2000 . Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community . New York : Simon and Schuster .
   Google Scholar
• Rapoport , Ronald B. 1981. “The Sex Gap in Political Persuading: Where the ‘Structuring Principle’ Works.”. American Journal of Political Science 25: 32–48.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Rimmerman , Craig A. 2005 . The New Citizenship: Unconventional Politics, Activism, and Service () , 3rd edition . Boulder , CO : Westview Press .
   Google Scholar
• Shulman , Lee S. 1993 . “Teaching as Community Property: Putting an End to Pedagogical Solitude.” . Change 25 : 6 – 7 .
   Google Scholar
• Sigelman , Lee and Ernest J. Yanarella . 1986 . “Public Information on Public Issues: A Multivariate Analysis.” . Social Science Quarterly 67 : 402 – 410 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Skocpol , Theda . 2003 . Diminished Democracy: From Membership to Management in American Civic Life . Norman : University of Oklahoma Press .
   Google Scholar
• Smith , Elizabeth T. and Mark A. Boyer . 1996 . “Designing In-Class Simulations.” . PS: Political Science and Politics 29 : 690 – 694 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Sniderman , Paul M. , Richard A. Brody , and Philip E. Tetlock . 1991 . Reasoning and Choice: Explorations in Political Psychology . New York : Cambridge University Press .
   Google Scholar
• Steele , C. M. 1997 . “A Threat in the Air: How Stereotypes Shape Intellectual Identity and Performance.” . American Psychologist 52 : 613 – 629 .
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Steele , C. M. and J. Aronson . 1995 . “Stereotype threat and the intellectual test performance of African Americans.” . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 69 : 797 – 811 .
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Tinto , Vincent . 1993 . Leaving College: Rethinking the Causes and Cures of Student Attrition . Chicago : University of Chicago Press .
   Google Scholar
• Verba , Sidney , Nancy Burns , and Kay Lehman Schlozman . 1997 . “Knowing and Caring about Politics: Gender and Political Engagement.” . Journal of Politics 59 : 1051 – 1072 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Wiggins , Grant and Jay McTighe . 1998 . Understanding by Design . Alexandria , VA : Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development .
   Google Scholar
• Zaller , John . 1991 . “Information, Values, and Opinion.” . American Political Science Review 85 : 1215 – 1237 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Earlier versions of this article were presented at the 2006 American Political Science Association Teaching and Learning Conference and at the 2006 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association. I have received much useful advice and feedback in developing the ideas in this article from Matt Kaplan, Deborah Meizlish, and Joe Ohren. My project group at the Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (CASTL) provided stimulating ideas and constructive criticism as this project has developed; I am especially grateful to Rebecca Nowacek for many conversations that are reflected in my work here. My honors assistants—Eileen Carroll, Ellen Gutman, Erin Sergison, Micheal Balke, and Steven M. Balke, Jr.—all provided wonderful classroom support and provocative conversation on teaching and learning issues. Laura Thomas provided much appreciated research assistance. Most of all, I wish to acknowledge my American government students, who unselfishly let me “peek in” at their learning during the 2005–2006 academic year. None of the above should be implicated in any errors of fact or interpretation in this article.
   Google Scholar