A Sense of Agency

""I'm taking this class because I want to be the president of the United States." A student told me that, with a straight face, on the first day of class in a summer session of American Government at Rutgers, back in the '90s. I responded with something like "I'd better do a good job with this class, then!" Probably half of the students came in with relatively clear political leanings, and several seemed intent on acting on them."

"Admittedly, American politics in the 2020s is less inviting than it was in the 1990s. But I don't think that's the critical variable. The Gaza protests at high-profile institutions in 2023-24 were certainly consistent with a sense of political agency. Those tended not to happen at community colleges. In the community colleges at which I've worked over the last 20-something years, my overwhelming impression has been that students are too preoccupied with other things to pay attention to politics."

"Scholars from Nina Eliasoph to Arlie Russell Hochschild to Jennifer Silva have documented the ways that political apathy in the working class is consciously produced and encouraged. If the people bearing much of the social cost of upwardly redistributive policies don't push back-whether because of confusion, hopelessness or busy-ness-then those policies will continue. Over time, they can even become self"

A 1990s American Government summer class included students with clear political ambitions and intent to act on them, including one student who declared a desire to become president. Instructors should supply common baseline information, introduce varied perspectives, and encourage students to pursue political engagement. Community college students display noticeably less political agency and public protest participation than students at high-profile institutions. Many community college students prioritize work, family, and other obligations, channeling civic impulse into volunteering rather than political action. Scholars Nina Eliasoph, Arlie Russell Hochschild, and Jennifer Silva document how working-class political apathy is produced and sustained. Reduced engagement allows upwardly redistributive policies to persist.

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