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Do We Encourage Citizenship: Social Studies Curricula in the Various States

In 1787, the Northwest Ordinance dictated that in order encourage good character in its citizens, territories would have to have a school. Thus public education in this country has been in the business of training citizens since its inception. The Utah State Legislature just passed a bill that will require more civics education in secondary education. I am exploring whether good citizenship is encouraged with this new expectation. 

About twenty percent of Americans live in what is defined as a rural area, but not a lot of political science research has been done to understand their politics. Beginning with Utah as a case study, I am trying to flesh out the idea of rural politics in its many variations. A colleague of mine and I are exploring how rural voters are different from urban and suburban ones. Are those differences important, and are all rural voters the same? These are the questions I am exploring in this research.

With colleagues at Utah State University and Brigham Young University, I am examining what would make Utah voters feel their elections are secure. Recent claims about elections have led some to question the results of elections. Based on interviews with county clerks and surveys of Utah voters, we are exploring what causes voters to feel their elections have integrity.

Utah is a state that uses initiatives to advance policy, usually against the wishes of the state legislature. This has resulted in compromise legislation, outright changing of the initiative. I am interested in how initiative politics can be used as a tool by Utah voters to bring the state legislature along.