Democratic engagement is the practice of engaged citizenship (defined as membership in a community) through democratic mechanisms and principles. Politics, and agency within political processes, is a particularly important component of democratic engagement.
Campus Compact identifies six core components of educating students for democracy:
- Student voting: With a goal of increasing the proportion of college students who vote in local, state, and national elections;
- Democracy in principle and practice: With a goal of increasing student understanding of the underpinnings of democracy and the workings of democratic institutions;
- Deliberation for a shared future: With a goal of increasing students’ capacity to listen respectfully to the ideas of others and engage in both constructive and critical discussion of public questions;
- Media fact and fiction: With a goal of increasing the capacity of students to distinguish reliable from unreliable political information;
- Student leadership for democracy: With a goal of building a network of student leaders committed to democratic renewal; and
- Teaching for democracy: With a goal of preparing faculty and staff members to develop and execute high-quality courses and programs focused on democratic engagement.