Democracy runs on mathematics. Tallying votes, allocating legislative seats and drawing district maps all depend on mathematical choices that can produce dramatically different outcomes.
Math provides a common language that shifts attention away from partisan ideology and toward cooperation, neutrality and shared facts. It sheds light on democracy’s structural problems and provides a way to create systems that are fairer and more resilient.
At a moment when educators are rethinking how to prepare students for an increasingly complex world, the mathematics of democracy offers a rare opportunity to teach intellectually rigorous, consequential topics that can build awareness and capacity.
Decisions about which topics to prioritize teaching are often framed as zero-sum. If we teach art, then we cannot also teach personal finance. If we prioritize math, science and English language arts, then social studies and civics need to take the back seat.
We believe it doesn’t have to be that way. Having to choose between teaching math and civics is a false dichotomy. Educators can and should teach concepts at the intersection of math and civics, such as voting methods, gerrymandering, the Electoral College, proportional representation and political data analysis.
The only way to fully understand the key mechanisms of democracy is through learning their conceptual mathematical foundations. Further, civics concepts can make math relevant and engaging for students to learn.
For example, discussing voter turnout — analyzing voter characteristics such as age, family income and race/ethnicity — can help develop an understanding of statistics and data visualization. It can also encourage students to think about why turnout is uneven among different groups.
Comparing election outcomes across various tallying methods provides a better understanding of functions and counting techniques.
And fractions become more concrete and relevant when students use them to proportionally allocate government representatives among geographic areas.
Although schools teach mathematics as a core subject and civics has recently gained renewed attention, the two remain largely compartmentalized. We are working to build widespread support for introducing and scaling math-civics concepts in K-12 schools. Our first step was to learn about current practices and the barriers to and pathways for bringing these topics to more classrooms, so our University of Southern California and Wellesley College research team interviewed 123 educators and curriculum providers across six states: California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York and Texas.
Participants included teachers, school officials, district and state education leaders and math and civics curriculum providers across elementary, middle and high school contexts.
Educators in all these groups expressed enthusiasm for math-civics topics because they connect classroom learning to students’ real questions, such as “When am I going to use this in real life?”
Many also viewed math-civics literacy as a way to reduce polarization, strengthen democracy and empower future voters and leaders.
The educators who had already integrated math-civics concepts into their instruction said students learned to identify flaws in democratic institutions and evaluate democratic reforms, thus preparing these future voters to demand greater transparency and accountability from public officials.
Proponents of teaching math-civics concepts in math classes said they saw it as a compelling way to teach real-world applications. Those supporting math-civics concepts in civics/social studies classes noted that related topics already appear in their courses, and civics standards may allow more flexibility for interdisciplinary instruction.
Interviewees also saw opportunities across grade levels: Elementary grades lend themselves to interdisciplinary teaching because a single teacher typically teaches multiple subjects. District and state social studies curriculum requirements often feature middle school civics courses, and math-civics concepts align well with middle school math standards. High schools could incorporate math-civics units in AP Statistics, government, economics or electives, though elective-only models would miss many of the students who would benefit the most.
Despite clear enthusiasm, respondents said there is very little teaching on the mathematical foundations of democracy. Where it exists, math-civics instruction is usually tied to election-cycle activities or depends on individual teachers’ intitiative rather than a systemic approach.
The result is minimal instruction on these topics at a time when debates over ranked-choice voting, districting and the merits of the Electoral College are increasingly occupying the public square.
This omission leaves citizens less able to evaluate democratic systems as fair or representative and more vulnerable to misinformation and disenfranchisement.
That is why, drawing on our research, we are defining what we consider to be desired learning outcomes and aligning them to existing state standards. We will contact state departments of education and ask that they include math-civics concepts in student learning standards. We are also reaching out to a recently announced panel that is developing a new student civics learning framework to suggest including math-civics concepts. As another approach, we will partner with a core math curriculum provider and districts to pilot pedagogical supports for teachers.
Without a mathematical component, education for citizenship leaves students only partially prepared for democratic participation. Civic quantitative literacy is therefore not a luxury but a prerequisite for a healthy democracy.
Anna Saavedra serves as the director of the Center for Civic Society within the University of Southern California Schaeffer Institute for Public Policy and Government Service.
Ismar Volić is a Wellesley College professor of mathematics and co-founder and director of the Institute for Mathematics and Democracy.
Contact the opinion editor at opinion@hechingerreport.org.
This story about math-civics literacy was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for Hechinger’s weekly newsletter.
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