We view increasing voting and civic learning/participation in democracy as related and symbiotic goals. An election offers the proverbial “teachable moment” for reinforcing or introducing important principles and practices of shared responsibility, inclusion and equity, respect for dissenting viewpoints, skilled controversial issue discussions, student voice and agency, transparency and collaborative decision-making, and standards of evidence and truth. Political learning and engagement should be pervasive, and it should happen year-round, and every year, which is why we refer to this work as “Politics 365.”
Election Imperatives is a collaborative, practitioner-focused series of reports that ground this important work in years of research. In these document, you’ll find recommendations for what campuses can do to institutionalize student political learning on campus. Election Imperatives 2020: A Time of Physical Distancing and Social Action offers ideas for the current context, an equity checklist for everyone in higher education, and recommendations for senior leaders, professors and academic affairs, and student-centered offices and teams (e.g., voting coalitions and student affairs). EI 2020 is meant to be read and used alongside Election Imperatives Version 2.0.
