Get Healthy - Start Voting
Thank you new and continued subscribers! Some of you have since asked “but why civic engagement? And why this way?” I wrote a short medium piece here explaining our thinking and current approaches to civic engagement.
Check it out here: A Quick Backgrounder on Studying Civic Engagement
In researching public health, the CDC and NCHS are also now investigating civic engagement. Here’s their recent lit review
How did they get here? In December 2010, the Department of Health and Human Services launched Healthy People 2020. This initiative has 4 goals, of which one is “create social and physical environments that promote good health for all”. Related to this goal, they focus on research on the “Social Determinants of Health”. This has 5 areas, including “Social and Community Context”, which has 4 parts, of which ONE is Civic Participation - along with discrimination, incarceration and social cohesion.
key takeaways:
Participating in electoral processes is related with better self-reported health, even after controlling for individual and regional characteristics. Conversely, not voting is related with reports of poorer health in subsequent years.
Participatory acts ranging from volunteering to group membership (from the PTA to a book club) to even community gardening are all positively related with improved health reports and decreased risk factor for a variety of mental and physical issues.
our thoughts:
While maybe not entirely surprising, that there is such a strong relationship being observed between public health and civic health outcomes merits pause. More than just increasing voter turnout, and more than a partisan concern, this suggests a much more broader and pressing public interest in civic engagement and suggests that our efforts in other spheres may be compromised if we don’t also consider a civic dimension.
Proposals are lacking still in how to get there. This report highlights media advocacy campaigns and high school civics classes. These may certainly be necessary components of any civic engagement strategy, but they certainly have not been successful enough to be considered anywhere near sufficient.
While this paper highlights that as an evidentiary concern additional research is needed, we also need more exploratory work in the first place to help understand what’s going on and what might be done. Perhaps the impetus of public health can give this area the kind of investment it needs for progress to be made.
Posts on the American culture of politicos, challenges with the ANES and why we need to rethink civic education
Wrapping up an initial inquiry into how immigrant non-voting populations approach local community engagement. Expect a couple newsletters and medium posts on that soon
We’re currently recruiting and interviewing individuals who’ve been a part of recreational sports leagues and protests. if you or someone you know is interested in chatting, and possibly having parts of their story on a podcast, get in touch!
Thank you to all those who have already dropped a line and shared your thoughts. And thanks in advance to sharing this with anyone else you think might be interested.
If you think of feedback, suggestions, or people we should meet, please get in touch! You can email us at: 1stpersonprojects@thedifferenceengine.co