Maine outpaces most other states on several measures of civic engagement. That's according to a new report from Colby College, published at a time when trust in government and democratic processes is fraying across the country.
Maine ranks first in the nation in public meeting attendance, and is in the top ten states when it comes to the frequency of contacting elected officials and paying attention to the news.
Quixada Moore-Vissing, with the group Public Engagement Partners, which helped conduct the study, called the results something to celebrate. But she cautioned that some of those national averages are pretty low to begin with.
"It's great that we're leading the country, but the country and Maine both have some room to grow here," she said.
Still, she said there are areas where Maine notches high scores in absolute terms, including voter participation and trust in fellow residents.
Co-author Nicholas Jacobs, a government professor at Colby, said there's a wide generational gap, with older Mainers tending to be much more civically engaged than younger ones.
"Much of what we have to celebrate when it comes to Maine's strong civic health is a function of our unique demography," he said. "In other words, we kind of get lucky that we're, on average, an older state."
The authors said lower engagement among younger people is consistent with national trends.
While Mainers have a relatively high level of trust in local government, far fewer said they trust state and national governments.
Maine's first so-called "civic health" report is based on Census data and survey results from over one thousand respondents.
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