Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Promoting Voter Turnout: an Unanticipated Impact of Early-Childhood Preventive Interventions

  • Published:
Prevention Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Preventive interventions in early childhood have a range of behavioral and health effects. However, there is an emerging literature extending this work to include acts of civic engagement, such as voting. Given that America has one of the lowest and most disparate rates of voter turnout in the world—and most of the current efforts aimed at boosting voter turnout and making the electorate more representative of the general public are proximal to the voting experience—there is a need for a better understanding of the potential long-term impact of early-childhood programming on civic engagement in adulthood. This paper builds on theories of political socialization and prior research demonstrating significant impacts of the Fast Track preventive intervention on voter turnout to examine the extent to which there are positive impacts on voter participation for other evidence-based preventive interventions targeting children’s social and emotional capacities. Specifically, we leveraged data from a randomized controlled trial of the classroom-centered (CC) and the family school partnership (FSP) preventive interventions delivered in first grade. We analyzed data from approximately 700 urban, predominately African American, public school students who were randomly assigned to classrooms that either implemented (1) the classroom-centered intervention (which included the good behavior game), (2) the FSP intervention, or (3) the business as usual (i.e., control group). Data from the trial were combined with archival voter data when the youth were in their early 30s. Analyses demonstrated positive impacts of the CC preventive intervention on voter turnout more than two decades after exposure to the prevention program. Taken together, these findings provide additional evidence that some of the attributes that promote active participation in democracy can be fostered in early childhood—long before most interventions that have previously tried, and often failed, to increase voter turnout.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References  

  • Akee, R., Copeland, W., Holbein, J. B., & Simeonova, E. (2020). Human capital and voting behavior across generations: Evidence from an income intervention. American Political Science Review, 114, 609–616.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Almond, G. A., & Verba, S. (2015). The civic culture: Political attitudes and democracy in five nations. Princeton university press.

  • Ansolabehere, S., & Hersh, E. (2012). Validation: What big data reveal about survey misreporting and the real electorate. Political Analysis, 20, 437–459.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barber, M., & Holbein, J. B. (2020). The participatory and partisan impacts of mandatory vote-by-mail. Science Advances, 6, eabc7685.

  • Barrish, H. H., Saunders, M., & Wolf, M. M. (1969). Good behavior game: Effects of individual contingencies for group consequences on disruptive behavior in a classroom. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 2, 119–124.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bedolla, L. G., & Michelson, M. R. (2012). Mobilizing inclusion: Transforming the electorate through get-out-the-vote campaigns. Yale University Press.

  • Bradshaw, C. P., Zmuda, J. H., Kellam, S. G., & Ialongo, N. S. (2009). Longitudinal impact of two universal preventive interventions in first grade on educational outcomes in high school. Journal of Educational Psychology, 101, 926.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brady, H. E., & McNulty, J. E. (2011). Turning out to vote: The costs of finding and getting to the polling place. American Political Science Review, 115–134.

  • Bullock, J. G., Green, D. P., & Ha, S. E. (2010). Yes, but what’s the mechanism? (don’t expect an easy answer). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98, 550.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burden, B. C., Canon, D. T., Mayer, K. R., & Moynihan, D. P. (2014). Election laws, mobilization, and turnout: The unanticipated consequences of election reform. American Journal of Political Science, 58, 95–109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burden, B. C., Fletcher, J. M., Herd, P., Moynihan, D. P., & Jones, B. M. (2017). How different forms of health matter to political participation. The Journal of Politics, 79, 166–178.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, D. E. (2006). Why we vote: How schools and communities shape our civic life (Vol. 87). Princeton University Press.

  • Catalano, R. F., Hawkins, J. D., Berglund, M. L., Pollard, J. A., & Arthur, M. W. (2002). Prevention science and positive youth development: Competitive or cooperative frameworks? Journal of Adolescent Health, 31, 230–239.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chilenski, S. M., Ang, P. M., Greenberg, M. T., Feinberg, M. E., & Spoth, R. (2014). The impact of a prevention delivery system on perceived social capital: The PROSPER project. Prevention Science, 15, 125–137.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Condon, M., & Holleque, M. (2013). Entering politics: General self-efficacy and voting behavior among young people. Political Psychology, 34, 167–181.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dahl, R. A. (1973). Polyarchy: Participation and opposition. Yale University Press.

  • Dawes, C., Cesarini, D., Fowler, J. H., Johannesson, M., Magnusson, P. K., & Oskarsson, S. (2014). The relationship between genes, psychological traits, and political participation. American Journal of Political Science, 58, 888–903.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dawson, R. E., & Prewitt, K. (1968). Political socialization: An analytic study. Little, Brown.

  • Denny, K., & Doyle, O. (2008). Political interest, cognitive ability and personality: Determinants of voter turnout in Britain. British Journal of Political Science, 38, 291.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Downs, A. (1957). An economic theory of political action in a democracy. Journal of political economy, 65, 135–150.

  • Enamorado, T., Fifield, B., & Imai, K. (2019). Using a probabilistic model to assist merging of large-scale administrative records. American Political Science Review, 113, 353–371.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Enos, R. D., Fowler, A., & Vavreck, L. (2014). Increasing inequality: The effect of GOTV mobilization on the composition of the electorate. The Journal of Politics, 76, 273-228

  • Flanagan, C., & Levine, P. (2010). Civic engagement and the transition to adulthood. The future of children, 159–179.

  • Flagan, C. A. (2004) Volunteerism, leadership, political socialization, and civic engagement. Handbook of adolescent psychology, 2, 721–745.

  • Fowler, J. H., & Kam, C. D. (2006). Patience as a political virtue: Delayed gratification and turnout. Political Behavior, 28, 113–128.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fowler, J. H., & Kam, C. D. (2007). Beyond the self: Social identity, altruism, and political participation. The Journal of Politics, 69, 813–827.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fraga, B. L. (2018). The turnout gap: Race, ethnicity, and political inequality in a diversifying America. Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Furr-Holden, C. D. M., Ialongo, N. S., Anthony, J. C., Petras, H., & Kellam, S. G. (2004). Developmentally inspired drug prevention: Middle school outcomes in a school-based randomized prevention trial. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 73, 149–158.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Green, D. P., & Gerber, A. S. (2019). Get out the vote: How to increase voter turnout. Brookings Institution Press.

  • Green, D. P., McGrath, M. C., & Aronow, P. M. (2013). Field experiments and the study of voter turnout. Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties, 23, 27–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenstein, F. I. (1965). Children and politics (Vol. 13). Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heß, S. (2017). Randomization inference with Stata: A guide and software. The Stata Journal, 17, 630–651.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holbein, J. B. (2017). Childhood skill development and adult political participation. American Political Science Review, 111, 572–583.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holbein, J. B., & Hillygus, D. S. (2020). Making young voters: Converting civic attitudes into civic action. Cambridge University Press.

  • Ialongo, N., Poduska, J., Werthamer, L., & Kellam, S. (2001). The distal impact of two first-grade preventive interventions on conduct problems and disorder in early adolescence. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 9, 146–160.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ialongo, N. S., Werthamer, L., Kellam, S. G., Brown, C. H., Wang, S., & Lin, Y. (1999). Proximal impact of two first-grade preventive interventions on the early risk behaviors for later substance abuse, depression, and antisocial behavior. American Journal of Community Psychology, 27, 599–641.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kautz, T., Heckman, J. J., Diris, R., Ter Weel, B., & Borghans, L. (2014). Fostering and measuring skills: Improving cognitive and non-cognitive skills to promote lifetime success. NBER Working Paper, #20749.

  • Kosterman, R., Hawkins, J., Hill, K. G., Bailey, J. A., Catalano, R. F., & Abbott, R. D. (2019). Effects of social development intervention in childhood on adult life at ages 30 to 39. Prevention Science, 20, 986–995.

  • Langton, K. P., & Jennings, M. K. (1968). Political socialization and the high school civics curriculum in the United States. American Political Science Review, 62, 852–867.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lakens, D., Scheel, A. M., & Isager, P. M. (2018). Equivalence testing for psychological research: A tutorial. Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, 1, 259–269.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leighley, J. E., & Nagler, J. (2013). Who votes now?: Demographics, issues, inequality, and turnout in the United States. Princeton University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Lupia, A. (2016). Uninformed: Why people know so little about politics and what we can do about it. Oxford University Press.

  • McMahon, R. J., Bierman, K. L., Coie, J. D., Dodge, K. A., Greenberg, M. T., Lochman, J. E., & Pinderhughes, E. E. (1999). Initial impact of the Fast Track prevention trial for conduct problems: I. The high-risk sample. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 67, 631–647.

  • Ojeda, C., & Pacheco, J. (2019). Health and voting in young adulthood. British Journal of Political Science, 49, 1163–1186.

  • Pettigrew, S. (2017). The racial gap in wait times: Why minority precincts are underserved by local election officials. Political Science Quarterly, 132, 527–547.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pietryka, M. T., & DeBats, D. A. (2017). It's not just what you have, but who you know: Networks, social proximity to elites, and voting in state and local elections. American Political Science Review, 360–378.

  • Prior, M. (2018). Hooked: How politics captures people’s interest. Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Putnam, R. D. (2000). Bowling alone: America’s declining social capital. In Culture and politics (pp. 223–234). Palgrave Macmillan, New York.

  • Riker, W. H., & Ordeshook, P. C. (1968). A theory of the calculus of voting. American political science review, 62, 25–42.

  • Rosenstone, S. J., & Hanse, J. M. (1993). Mobilization, participation, and democracy in America. Longman Publishing Group.

  • Schoneveld, E. A., Lichtwarck-Aschoff, A., & Granic, I. (2018). Preventing childhood anxiety disorders: Is an applied game as effective as a cognitive behavioral therapy-based program? Prevention Science, 19, 220–232.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Searing, D. D., Schwartz, J. J., & Lind, A. E. (1973). The structuring principle: Political socialization and belief systems. American Political Science Review, 67, 415–432.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sherrod, L. R., Torney-Purta, J., & Flanagan, C. A. (2010). Handbook of research on civic engagement in youth. John Wiley and Sons.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Smets, K., & Van Ham, C. (2013). The embarrassment of riches? A meta-analysis of individual-level research on voter turnout. Electoral Studies, 32, 344–359.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sondheimer, R. M., & Green, D. P. (2010). Using experiments to estimate the effects of education on voter turnout. American Journal of Political Science, 54, 174–189.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sorensen, L. C., Dodge, K. A., & Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group. (2016). How does the Fast Track intervention prevent adverse outcomes in young adulthood? Child Development, 87, 429–445.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Storr, C. L., Ialongo, N. S., Kellam, S. G., & Anthony, J. C. (2002). A randomized controlled trial of two primary school intervention strategies to prevent early onset tobacco smoking. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 66, 51–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, D. M., Wu, J. A., Yoder, J., & Hall, A. B. (2020). Universal vote-by-mail has no impact on partisan turnout or vote share. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117, 14052–14056.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Valentine, J. C., Pigott, T. D., & Rothstein, H. R. (2010). How many studies do you need? A primer on statistical power for meta-analysis. Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, 35, 215–247.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verba, S., Schlozman, K. L., & Brady, H. E. (1995). Voice and equality: Civic voluntarism in American politics. Harvard University Press.

  • Verba, S., & Nie, N. H. (1987). Participation in America: Political democracy and social equality. University of Chicago Press, Harvard.

  • White, A. (2019). Misdemeanor disenfranchisement? The demobilizing effects of brief jail spells on potential voters. American Political Science Review, 113, 311–324.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolfinger, R. E., & Rosenstone, S. J. (1980). Who votes? Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We wish to thank audiences at the University of Virginia, the University of California Berkeley, Duke University, Furman University, Brigham Young University, Pew Research, the Students Learn Students Vote Coalition, and the Civics Center/American Constitution Society for their feedback. We are grateful to Calliope Holingue for help with the data collection process.

Funding

Funding for this research was provided to Holbein by the National Science Foundation (SES-1657821) and Ialongo from the National Institutes of Health (MH570005, DA11796, DA044184) and a NIDA training grant (DA007292).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, USA

    John B. Holbein

  2. School of Education and Human Development, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, USA

    Catherine P. Bradshaw

  3. Department of History & Political Science, Utah Valley University, Orem, USA

    B. Kal Munis

  4. Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA

    Jill Rabinowitz & Nicholas S. Ialongo

Authors
  1. John B. Holbein
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Catherine P. Bradshaw
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. B. Kal Munis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jill Rabinowitz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Nicholas S. Ialongo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to John B. Holbein.

Ethics declarations

Research Involving Human Participants and/or Animals

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

The Johns Hopkins University IRB provides approval for this study and specifically approved the consenting processes used in the original study. The current paper reports on secondary data analysis and the use of administrative data linked with the extant longitudinal data set, and thus is in line with the IRB-approved study and approved data use processes.

Conflict of Interest

Bradshaw is the editor of the journal and, as such, the review of the manuscript was completely handled and managed independently by another associate editor. The authors declare that they have no other conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary Information

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary file1 (DOCX 88 KB)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Holbein, J.B., Bradshaw, C.P., Munis, B.K. et al. Promoting Voter Turnout: an Unanticipated Impact of Early-Childhood Preventive Interventions. Prev Sci 23, 192–203 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-021-01275-y

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-021-01275-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation