ABSTRACT
The study of civic and political engagement is in a period of expansion. Fifty years ago a small number of researchers became active in political socialization research, studying children as young as seven or eight. The research expanded to crossnational studies in the 1970s and during this period voting was nearly always the focus when adults were surveyed (history reviewed by Torney-Purta in press). In the 1990s researchers returned to the study of adolescents and the favored term became civic engagement. In fact, it was the late-1990s when the term civic engagement appeared to overtake political socialization with more frequent references in the literature. This transition took place for at least two reasons. First, the process was no longer conceived as unidirectional (parents or teachers socializing children). Second, researchers, especially psychologists, wanted to move from narrow concerns with voting and political party membership to include broader concerns with civic activities taking place in schools and communities.
