Florida State’s Novel Civics Program

Authored by Mike Sabo via RealClearEducation,

“Liberty is the lifeblood of America, but it flourishes only when citizens understand the ideas that sustain it,” says Ryan Owens, the director of the Institute for Governance and Civics at Florida State University.

The problem according to Owens is that the serious study of civics has been neglected in recent years. He relates the story of a business leader who recently told him that his biggest personnel problem is younger workers fighting over partisan politics. This is borne out by a recent survey IGC conducted, which is part of its distinctive foundation in social science. It discovered some alarming results.

The survey found that nearly 45% of young adults “would not want someone of the opposite political party to marry into their family.” A quarter said they would refuse to socialize with someone from across the aisle. Sizable percentages of both Democrats and Republicans “would refuse to sell goods to opposite partisans.”

Pointing to these findings, Owens argues that the “next generation needs to understand more about how American institutions operate, the citizen’s role in those institutions and the marketplace, and how to interact with others who hold different views.

Enter the Institute for Governance and Civics. Building a culture that prizes a rigorous study of civics and social science, paired with inculcating the virtues of civil society, is at the heart of the Center’s mission.

Established through legislation in 2023, Owens says that the IGC “seeks to become the nation’s premier policy institute for cultivating effective citizens and responsible leaders.” A faculty partner of the Jack Miller Center, which Owens calls a “force multiplier for civic reform,” the ICG aims to advance “constitutional liberty, economic liberty, conscience liberty, and educational liberty through bold research and transformative teaching.”

“The Institute for Governance and Civics is both a policy institute and a civic thought institute,” Owens notes. “We seek to produce students who understand civic thought and also have the social science skills to compete effectively in a marketplace that demands them. To create the next generation of effective citizens and responsible leaders, students must understand civic thought and social science skills.”

In addition to directing IGC, Owens is a professor of political science and an affiliate faculty member in the FSU College of Law. He calls himself an empirical legal scholar who looks to “apply statistical modeling to answer important normative questions.” His own work focuses on the U.S. Supreme Court, federal appellate courts, and judicial behavior. His recent book “Cognitive Aging and the Federal Circuit Courts” won the 2025 C. Herman Pritchett Award for the best book on law and courts written by a political scientist.

The IGC’s focus is on constitutional liberty, economic liberty, conscience liberty, and educational liberty. “We promote rigorous scholarship and teaching on the architecture of American government and the rationale for liberty,” Owens reports. “We conduct data-driven research to inform policy discussions. And we strengthen the fabric of our civic life by inviting intellectually diverse perspectives—fostering dialogue where others fear discussion.”

The IGC’s “dynamic agenda to encourage civic education” includes an undergraduate degree program in Civics and Liberty Studies, where students will supplement classes on civic thought with courses in social science.

The Institute also features a First Amendment Law Clinic in the College of Law. There, students will litigate First Amendment cases pro bono and will learn the ins and outs of how these cases wind their way through the judiciary.

Awards and scholarships are available to students as well. In 2025, FSU students read and analyzed the main points of Yuval Levin’s newest book, “American Covenant: How the Constitution Unified Our Nation – and Could Again.” The IGC gave three scholarships to students who wrote the best papers and three additional scholarships to students who exhibited public leadership.

Owens notes that showcasing “intellectually diverse perspectives on campus” and modeling “respectful dialogue” is of paramount concern. The IGC has hosted North Korean defector Yeonmi Park, who shared her harrowing escape from tyranny and human trafficking and emphasized the crucial importance of the rule of law. Jess Bravin of the Wall Street Journal and Mollie Hemingway of The Federalist engaged in a fruitful discussion about the Supreme Court. Owens says that these and other events have had a very good turnout, drawing hundreds of students.

Amidst a focus on civics education in the states, Owens wants to have the IGC “become the hub of the wheel for data related to civics and K-12 reform.” As he notes, “States across the country are taking bold steps through civics reforms to address” the lack of civic knowledge among students. The Institute is currently conducting polls to identify the state of civic knowledge in America. Owens says that the IGC plans on making this information available so it can inform broader policy discussions. Plans are also in place to host a treasure trove of data for researchers looking to examine K-12 education and civics more broadly.

Even though it was recently founded, the Institute for Governance and Civics is already making a notable impact in the important mission of reforming civic education across the nation.