Research and Publications
The goal of Civic Studies is to develop ideas and ways of thinking helpful to citizens, understood as co-creators of their worlds. The core question of Civic Studies, “What should we do?” combines ethics (what is right and good?), facts (what is actually going on?), and strategies (what would work?). It emphasizes agency, defined as "effective and intentional action that is conducted in diverse and open settings in order to shape the world around us” (Boyte and Scarnati). Civic studies is not civic education nor is it the study of civic education, but it aims to influence how citizenship is taught in schools and colleges.
The phrase “civic studies” was coined in 2007 in a joint statement by Harry Boyte, University of Minnesota; Stephen Elkin, University of Maryland; Peter Levine, Tufts University; Jane Mansbridge, Harvard University; Elinor Ostrom, Indiana University; Karol Sołtan, University of Maryland; and Rogers Smith, University of Pennsylvania. For an introduction to Civic Studies, watch this video.
Events
Each year from 2009 - 2019, the Summer Institute of Civic Studies brought together doctoral students and advanced practitioners for intensive discussions focusing heavily on theory. From 2015 - 2019 and in 2022, European Summer Institutes of Civic Studies took place in Ukraine or Germany. The annual Frontiers of Democracy conferencec explores questions of public engagement, deliberative and participatory democracy, educating for democracy and civic learning, and strengthening democracy.
Civic Studies Publications
In addition, Civic Studies leaders and scholars have produced as series of books, journal articles, edited volumes, and more exploring theoretical and practical aspects of civic life. This literature contributes to the emerging intellectual framework of civic studies:
What Should We Do? A Theory of Civic Life
People who want to improve the world must ask the fundamental civic question: “What should we do?” Although the specific issues and challenges people face are enormously diverse, they often encounter problems of collective action (how to get many individuals to act in concert), of discourse (how to talk and think productively about contentious matters), and of exclusion. To get things done, they must form or join and sustain functional groups, and through them, develop skills and virtues that help them to be effective and responsible civic actors.
This related website is free and can be used without reading the book.
- “Peter Levine is among the leading philosophers of civic life of his generation. What Should We Do? is his magnum opus. It ranges widely from a masterly review of political philosophy to practical suggestions for addressing issues like the Black Lives Matter movement. For anyone concerned about the state of our democracy and what our role should be, this book is must reading.” — Robert D. Putnam, Research Professor of Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School, and coauthor of The Upswing: How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again
- “What Should We Do? offers a compelling, thought-provoking, and urgently-needed framework for anyone trying to understand how we can relate to and act with each other to co-create a more just world. I love this book and you will too.” — Hahrie Han, Stavros Niarchos Foundation Agora Institute Professor of Political Science, Johns Hopkins University
- “Peter Levine makes everyone think more clearly about everything. How fortunate for our country that he’s applied this gift to the realm of civic life. In this insightful and wise book, Levine reveals what it truly means to cooperate, deliberate, and activate—and challenges us to do all three more mindfully.” — Eric Liu, CEO of Citizen University, and author Become America
We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For
Written by Peter Levine, Associate Dean for Research at Tisch College, We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For: The Promise of Civic Renewal in America (Oxford University Press, 2013) applies civic studies to strengthening democracy in the United States. Chapter 2, “How to Think About Politics: Facts, Values, and Strategies,” argues for considering political issues from a civic studies perspective. Former United States Senator Bob Graham writes: “As America has wallowed through an unprecedented decline in civic engagement, Peter Levine has been a lighthouse warning of the dangers of civic alienation. Now, he makes the encouraging case that although we will live for a while with the consequences of past mistakes, the worst of the storm is over. Professor Levine concludes with ten common sense strategies that can energize the people and their governmental institutions while preparing a new generation of Americans with the values and competencies to sustain our reinvigorated democracy.”
Civic Studies Volume
Civic Studies: Approaches to the Emerging Field is a volume co-edited by Peter Levine and Karol Edward Sołtan and published by Bringing Theory to Practice and the American Association of Colleges and Universities as the third volume in its Civic Series. It is available for free download (PDF) or for purchase at $10 for the volume. Contents:
- Part 1: Overview
- “The Case for Civic Studies” by Peter Levine
- “The Emerging Field of a New Civics” by Karol Edward Sołtan
- Part 2: The Art and Science of Association: The Indiana Workshop
- “Artisans of the Common Life: Building a Public Science of Civics,” by Filippo Sabetti
- “Citizenship, Political Competence, and Civic Studies: The Ostromian Perspective,” by Paul Dragos Aligica
- Part 3: Deliberative Participation
- “Deliberative Civic Engagement: Connecting Public Voices to Public Governance,” by Tina Nabatchi and Greg Munno
- “The Challenge of Promoting Civic Participation in Poor Countries” by Ghazala Mansuri and Vijayendra Rao
- Part 4: Public Work
- “Transforming Higher Education in a Larger Context: The Civic Politics of Public Work,” by Harry C. Boyte and Blase Scarnatti
- “Citizen-Centered Research for Civic Studies: Bottom Up, Problem Driven, Mixed Methods, Interdisciplinary,” by Sanford Schram
- “Public Sociology, Civic Education, and Engaged Research,” by Philip Nyden
The Good Society Journal and its Symposium on Civic Studies
The Good Society, published by Penn State University Press, is a journal of civic studies. It is edited by two alumni of the Summer Institute of Civic Studies: Joshua A. Miller and Matt Chick.
Vol. 26, No. 2-3 (2017) of The Good Society, guest edited by Peter Levine, is a special issue on Reintegrating Facts, Values, and Strategies:
- Editor’s Note (pp. iii-iv) – Trygve Throntveit
- Guest Editor’s Introduction: On Reintegrating Facts, Values, Strategies (pp. 195-201) – Peter Levine
- Civic Competence, Self-Governance, and the New Epistocratic Paternalism: An Ostromanian Perspective (pp. 202-217) – Paul Aligica
- Working Toward Transpositional Objectivity: The Promotion of Democratic Capability for an Age of Post-Truth Politics (pp. 218-233) – Anthony DeCesare
- Cooperative Democracy and Political-Economic Development: The Civic Potential of Worker Coops (pp. 234-254) – Susan Orr and James Johnson
- Democracy as Group Discussion and Collective Action: Facts, Values, and Strategies in Canadian and American Rural Landscapes (pp. 255-273) – Timothy J. Shaffer
- Facts, Values, and Democracy Worth Wanting: Strategic Public Deliberation in the Era of Trump (pp. 274-289) – David E. Meens
- Giving Birth in the Public Square: The Political Relevance of Dialogue (pp. 290-304) – Lauren Swayne Barthold
- Exploring the Epistemological Challenges Underlying Civic Engagement by Religious Communities (pp. 305-322) – Mary E. Hess
- William James’s Psychology of Philosophizing: Intellectual Diversity, Selective Attention, and the Sentiments in Our Rationalities (pp. 323-337) – Paul J. Croce
- Forgiveness after Charleston: The Ethics of an Unlikely Act (pp. 338-353) -Larry M. Jorgensen
- Justice, Human Dignity and Human Rights (pp. 354-369) – Karol Edward Soltan
Vol. 22, No. 2, 2013, of The Good Society includes a symposium on the Summer Institute of Civic Studies. With one exception, all of the authors of the symposium articles are either teachers or alumni of the Summer Institute:
- “The Summer Institute of Civic Studies An Introduction” by Karol Sołtan and Peter Levine
- “Civic Studies: Fundamental Questions, Interdisciplinary Methods” by Alison K. Cohen, J. Ruth Dawley-Carr, Liza Pappas and Alison Staudinger
- “What Should You and I Do? Lessons for Civic Studies from Deliberative Politics in the New Deal” by Timothy J. Shaffer
- “Living Well Together: Citizenship, Education, and Moral Formation” by Elizabeth Gish and Paul Markham
- “Civic Studies: Bringing Theory to Practice” by Katherine Kravetz
- “The Civic Institute Relocated: Designing a Syllabus for Undergraduate Students at a Public University”by Susan Orr
- “Deliberation and Civic Studies” by Matt Chick
Additional articles that also summarize Civic Studies include:
- Peter Levine, “Civic Studies,” Philosophy and Public Policy Quarterly, Vol 32, No 1 (2014)
- Nora Schröder, "A Civic Studies Perspective on European citizens: In Search for Potential in the Conflict Surrounding TTIP,” European Politics and Society, Aug 2017, pp. 1-26