Diversity, Immigration, and the Politics of Civic Education

The author addresses how in increasingly diverse classrooms it makes little sense to expect uniform outcomes from civic education programs among diverse groups of students. Multiculturalism challenges the notion that some "true" narrative of American democracy will resonate equally with all citizens. Conflating political efficacy measures with program success, Junn argues, makes some groups of minority students look like less desirable citizens because they do not trust civic institutions in the same way as their white counterparts. Political institutions respond more readily to the concerns of advantaged citizens than to those of the resource-poor, leading Junn to observe that "In politics as in economy, the rich get richer." She suggests that developing civic education programs that will enhance equality requires educators to explicitly acknowledge the "extent to which American democracy in its current state may be part of the problem." (Westheimer)