Further Civic Engagement and Build Social Capital

SAGE Judging Criterion #6
- One of SAGE’s ten judging criteria addresses citizenship, as follows:

In their annual report and verbal presentation, how effective were the students in demonstrating that: They understand the importance of civic engagement in a democratic society, and that each citizen in a democratic society can exercise their freedom by registering to vote and participating in public elections?

Interpretation: In order to be good citizens in a democracy, it is important that each person be educated and informed about the public issues affecting their professional and personal lives. Also, in order to be responsible commercial and social entrepreneurs, it is important that these individuals know how local, state and national laws affect their business, as well as WHO is passing such laws (i.e., politicians). It is also important that students understand the importance of their involvement in the larger community, and that those who benefit from democracy have a civic duty to participate in the process.

Social Capital - An entity within the community has strong social capital if it has an influential network of other members who can be trusted to work together for the common good; moreover, some of these members have access to resources that can help the network accomplish its goals.

An example of a local network is a city’s Rotary Club. A national network is the League of Women Voters. A transnational social movement organization (TSMO) is an international network advocating educating reform. One example of a TSMO is SAGEGLOBAL, which seeks to change high school education by providing a new structure for students to complete business and social ventures during the year, and then showcase them to a panel of influential judges at the end of the year.