Civic education is an established part of the curriculum in social studies. Content in government, law, and citizenship is woven into the typical elementary school social studies program. During the 1980s, content in civics has increased at the expense of subject matter from the behavioral sciences. High school government courses are mostly offered at the twelfth grade. Courses in LRE are widely offered as high school electives in more than twenty states.
Civic education is also a prominent part of most secondary school courses in American history.
Despite a long-standing tradition of civic education in elementary and secondary schools, there is substantial evidence that more than half of young Americans lack knowledge, attitudes, and skills that leading civic educators believe they should have in order to be responsible citizens of a constitutional democracy. Most high school students and adults appear to lack detailed knowledge and understanding of institutions, principles, and processes of government in the United States. The superficial knowledge that young Americans have about government, constitutional history, and law is reflected in their civic attitudes. Adolescents' attitudes toward democracy and constitutional government tend to be favorable in the abstract. However, their commitment to democratic attitudes is not consistently applied to unpopular individuals or ideas in particular cases.