My research is focused on why people do -- or, increasingly do not -- get involved in
politics. About 20 years ago, there were a
number of social scientists who wrote a
number of works pointing out that the
level of civic engagement within the
United States was dropping. 20 years
later we lament the political
polarization that we see in the country.
I would suggest to you that those two
things are related. As people pulled back
out of civic life, out of community
involvement, it has led to the rise of a
form of political or ideological
extremism dominating our political
system. So if we want to understand why
it is that we have political
polarization, I would suggest you to
understand why it is we don't have more
civic engagement. And to understand why we
don't have more civic engagement, we also
need to understand why it is that people
are civically engaged. One of the things
that my collaborators and I have found
is the religious community -- the actual
congregation, the group of people with
whom you might worship -- is an extremely
potent factor in driving people into
civic life. Another huge factor in
explaining why people get involved in
politics or in civic life is their
education. I have focused on the norms
that are formed within somebody's sort
of internal psyche when they're in
adolescence, the norm that one ought to
participate in politics, that voting for
example is a responsibility. And I have
found that the ethos of the high school
you attend is actually a very powerful
factor in shaping, not just what you do
while you are in high school, but what
you do 10, even 15 years later.
As somebody interested both in the study of
religion but also the study of schools
and education, Notre  Dame has really been
a perfect fit because there are many
other people here who study, in other
ways, the roles that
religion and schooling might play in either our
civic life or in other aspects of
society. And so I have felt Notre Dame to
be a very natural fit for the sort of
work that I do and I am glad that I'm here
and that the institution has supported
me in the work for that I've pursued.
