Making Civics Count: Citizenship Education for a New Generation is a book co-edited by David E. Campbell, Meira Levinson, and Frederick M. Hess. The authors explore the civic development of adolescents from a variety of perspectives (they span a broad ideological spectrum but avoid predictable positions), and they consider all of the most significant subtopics, e.g., Michael Johanek on the history of civics and the traditional importance of school/community partnerships, Meira Levinson on diversity and civic education, Keith Barton on civics in ed. schools, Joe Kahne and colleagues on digital learning, Diana Hess on professional development for teachers, and Dave Campbell on private and religious schools–to name just some.

Yours truly has an argumentative chapter claiming that we’re doing OK at teaching kids about the constitution and the formal political system, but we need youth to learn how to participate in civil society.

Overall, this is the most current book on “civics” and, in my judgment, the most comprehensive and sophisticated.