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Survey predicts drop in political interest post-Nov. 4

Caitlin Varley

The election-induced political fervor in Ohio won't last beyond Election Day, according to a report released Oct. 23.

The National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC) teamed up with Miami University's Harry T. Wilks Leadership Institute to release the first report on Ohio's civic health.

According to David Smith, director of NCoC, the study showed very high levels of engagement this year in particular, but also showed a high number of people who do not intend to be involved in any way after the election.

"Although it's great to see the energy this year, we're also seeing that there is already an admitted vacuum for engagement beyond Election Day itself," Smith said.

Smith said one of the top ways to sustain engagement is by supporting various public policy reforms, many of which were highly supported by respondents.

"Although individuals on their own are reporting that they're not going to be significantly involved beyond the election, what they're asking for is ways that the government is willing to reach out and provide opportunities for people to be engaged in a more institutionalized and systematic way," Smith said.

Kathleen Knight Abowitz, interim director of the Harry T. Wilks Leadership Institute, said she was surprised by the number of respondents that supported policy proposals aimed at sustaining citizen engagement between elections.

According to Knight Abowitz, 82 percent of Ohio respondents agreed that government is run largely in the interest of the powerful few. She said this was a little higher than the national response.

"I was surprised at the level at which respondents expressed distrust in their governmental institutions," Knight Abowitz said.

Smith said Ohio also ranked higher in volunteerism and working together to solve community problems.

"Ohio is doing well in terms of the overall civic health of our country," Smith said. "When we look at it compared to other states, Ohio is definitely above average."

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According to Smith, the number one way civic health has decreased over the last 30 years has been by people losing trust in each other and in political institutions.

"The main way to combat it is to start to build that trust through (a) relationship," Smith said. "By building those relationships ... people will realize that our elected officials, our community leaders and our friends and family care about the same issues we care about and they have solutions."

Knight Abowitz said there were 437 respondents from Ohio, in addition to the national sample.

She said participating in the study was a good way to help promote people's involvement in their communities and politics after the election. Knight Abowitz said it was a great way to start building a network around Ohio with other people interested in civic engagement.

"I thought it was great opportunity for us to put something out there that hadn't been out there before but also put some data out there that would be useful to building networks of civic engagement around the state," Knight Abowitz said.

Smith said this is the third national report the organization has released, but the three state reports-in Ohio, California and Florida-are a first.

Smith said the NCoC wanted to look at the civic health of specific states over time, choosing to conduct over-samples in Ohio, California and Florida by working with partners in each of the states.

Smith said the conference chose to partner with Miami because several NCoC advisers were impressed by the Harry T. Wilks Leadership Institute at a Miami-hosted event this summer. Ohio was also a particular draw, Smith said, since it is one of the deciding states in the 2008 election.

Smith also said NCoC wanted to choose states with a wide range of civic health levels. Florida and California currently rank in the 40s, while Ohio is closer to the middle at 24th.

"Overall, (Ohio is) a very good indicator as to kind of a median state so they're a great partner to choose in that way," Smith said.

Smith said NCoC plans on working with the same institutions in Ohio, California and Florida in the future, but it also have plans to expand.

"Our goal is that over the next few years, we could actually expand this to measure the civic health in all 50 states and potentially break it down by cities for some of the larger cities," Smith said.