| Prosocial behavior | Lightships | Tugboats | Cruise ships |
Tender boats |
Subs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| vote congressional | 0.939 | 0.699 | 0.966 | 0.924 | 0.000 |
| vote state | 0.979 | 0.786 | 0.994 | 0.979 | 0.010 |
| political rallies | 0.994 | 0.477 | 0.057 | 0.043 | 0.019 |
| unpaid lobbying | 0.863 | 0.376 | 0.007 | 0.008 | 0.008 |
| political campaigns | 0.940 | 0.456 | 0.029 | 0.020 | 0.008 |
| volunteer faith-based grps | 0.921 | 0.583 | 0.379 | 0.135 | 0.133 |
| volunteer charitable orgs | 0.973 | 0.604 | 0.282 | 0.003 | 0.048 |
| volunteer org cure diseases | 0.975 | 0.642 | 0.199 | 0.010 | 0.033 |
| volunteer cultural orgs | 0.905 | 0.552 | 0.077 | 0.008 | 0.020 |
| donate political action orgs | 0.968 | 0.505 | 0.248 | 0.011 | 0.040 |
| donate non-profit orgs | 0.948 | 0.620 | 0.708 | 0.055 | 0.143 |
| donate food/clothing | 0.985 | 0.766 | 0.968 | 0.460 | 0.446 |
| Internal consistence of the class | 0.909 | 0.906 | 0.866 | 0.846 | 0.973 |
| Source: Based on The National Survey of American Civic Health ©ACPL | |||||
The Civic Navigator
Civic Navigator
The Civic Navigator is ready to assist you in discovering your civic identity. This web-based tool enables you to learn about the civic class you are most likely to belong. It does so based on your participation in 12 pro-social activities. These civic behaviors range from casting a vote to participating in food or clothing drive donations. The Civic Navigator also tells you about your levels of civic health in relation to those people sharing your civic identity.
The Model
The Civic Navigator rests on the antecedents of individual civic health model (Weerts, Cabrera & Van Dorn, 2022). The model postulates that civic health is composed of civic knowledge, predispositions towards constructive political deliberation and civic engagement. In turn civic health is the product of several factors pertaining to personal beliefs and values, family upbringing, high school and college experiences as well as work experiences.
Source of the tool
The algorithm fueling the Civic Navigator rests on a latent class analyses based on two national samples of over 5,000 Americans. The final sample matches the US census in relation to age (over 18), educational attainment and other demographics.
Taking the survey
Example of personal results
Press the civic navigator to discover your civic identity
Civic orientations across the US Landscape
Americans are highly heterogeneous in their engagement of 12 civic behaviors. However, this heterogeneity can be explained by 5 classes of civic orientations (see table 1). Each class displays a unique profile of civic engagement in terms of civic knowledge, predispositions towards constructive political deliberation as well as civic engagement (see table 2).
Table 1. Five civic classes
| Class | Description |
|---|---|
| Lightship: Fully engaged voters | Their participation in all forms of political and social causes, volunteering, and altruism sets this small class apart from other groups within society. This class appears to be characterized by a deep sense of civic responsibility and desire to actively contribute to the betterment of their community and society as a whole. |
| Tugboat: Active benevolent voters | It represents a quarter of the US population that consists of reliable voters and active volunteers for various non-profit organizations. They are predisposed to financially support non-profits and contribute to food or clothing drives. However, their predisposition towards involvement in political action, such as participating in rallies, engaging in unpaid lobbing, or donating to political organizations, is relatively low. |
| Cruise ship: Charitable passive voters | This class represents one quarter of the US population. Members are reliable voters and are strongly predisposed to financially support non-profits. They are also less predisposed to volunteer to non-profit organizations, nor are they prone to engage in any political action (e.g., political campaigns). |
| Tender boat: Voter-only citizens | It represents the largest class of citizens. This group’s civic engagement behavior is focused on participation in the democratic process through voting but tend to have lower propensities for other types of civic activities such as philanthropy, volunteerism, and political action. However, they show some inclination towards contributing to food or clothing drives. |
| Submarine: Disengaged citizens | This small class of citizens has limited inclination towards civic engagement and broader forms of philanthropy or volunteerism. While they might participate in basic charitable activities such as contributing to food or clothing drives, their engagement in the democratic process, voting, and other forms of community involvement is low. |
Table 2. Probabilities of engagement
Applications
The Civic Navigator is a tool that can be utilized for various purposes related to civic engagement and community involvement. Some of the potential applications include:
Identifying candidates for service learning: The Civic Navigator can analyze individuals’ civic engagement patterns and match them to their most suitable service-learning program. This can assist educational institutions in selecting students who are likely to benefit the most from different learning service programs (Simons & Clearly, 2006).
Documenting college students’ civic activities: Beyond voting, the Civic Navigator can be used to document and track college students’ engagement in activities such as volunteering and participating in political rallies. This provides a comprehensive view of students’ civic involvement during their time at college (Doyle & Skinner, 2017; Weerts & Cabrera, 2021).
Identifying alumni with a propensity to serve: The Civic Navigator can aid in identifying alumni who not only show a high likelihood of making financial contributions but are also inclined to serve as mentors, offer internship opportunities, or advocate on behalf of their Alma Mater. This helps institutions leverage alumni resources for the benefit of current students and the institutions themselves (Weerts & Cabrera, 2018; Weerts & Cabrera, 2021; Marsicano, 2019).
Documenting corporate social responsibility: The Civic Navigator is a valuable tool for companies seeking to fulfill their corporate social responsibility (CSR) objectives. By utilizing this platform, companies can showcase their commitment to social and community causes by effectively documenting the civic engagement activities of their employees in the community, thereby reinforcing their dedication to responsible business practices ((Lindgreen & Swaen, 2010). This information could also serve as a powerful recruitment tool for potential employees who are interested in working with companies that have a strong community presence.
Identifying community leaders: By analyzing individuals’ propensity to volunteer or participate in political rallies, the Civic Navigator can help identify potential community leaders. This can be valuable for organizations or communities seeking individuals with a demonstrated commitment to civic participation (Bono, Shen & Snyder, 2010).
The Civic Navigator is also a tool for documenting and analyzing civic health indicators across different civic groups. It captures various aspects of civic health such as civic literacy, type and amount of media consumed to inform political opinions, political and religious affiliations, educational profiles, and tendencies towards constructive political deliberation. This information can be valuable in understanding and addressing the civic health of different segments of society (see table 2).
Table 2. Civic health indicators across civic orientations
References
Bono, J., Shen, W., & Snyder,M. (2010). Fostering integrative community leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 21(2), 324-335 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2010.01.010
Doyle, W. R., & Skinner, B. (2017). Does postsecondary education result in civic benefits? The Journal of Higher Education, 88(6), 863–893 https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2017.1291258
Lindgreen, A. & Swaen, V. (2010). Corporate social responsibility. International Journal of Management Reviews. 1-7 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2370.2009.00277.x
Marsicano, Ch. R. (2019). Lobbying for Alma Mater: Higher education institutions as interest groups. Doctoral dissertation. Vanderbilt University.
Simons, L. & Cleary, B. (2006) The Influence of Service Learning on Students’ Personal and Social Development, College Teaching, 54:4, 307-319, DOI: 10.3200/CTCH.54.4.307-319
Tourangeau, R., Rips, L., & Rasinski, K. (2000). The psychology of survey response. Cambridge University Press https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511819322
Weerts, D. J., Cabrera, A. F. & Van Dorn, K. (2022). Antecedents of individual civic health. American Center for Political Leadership. Southeastern University. Lakeland, Fl.
Weerts, D. & Cabrera, A. F. (2021). Natural instincts: Understanding the four alumni personas – Eagles, Hummingbirds, Cheetahs, and Koalas – and how to keep them connected. Case currents, 47(5), 27- 31.
Weerts, D. J. & Cabrera, A. F. (2018). Alumni Giving as Civic Expression. Philanthropy & Education 2 (1): 1. https://doi.org/10.2979/phileduc.2.1.01.
Weerts, D. J., Cabrera A. F. & Pérez Mejías, P.(2014). Uncovering Categories of Civically Engaged College Students: A Latent Class Analysis. The Review of Higher Education 37 (2): 141–68. https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2014.0008.