Student Government: Definition, Structure, and Purpose

Student government, also known as "student council" or "youth council," serves as a vital form of experiential civic education for students spanning primary, middle, and secondary schools. In higher education, it is commonly referred to as Student Government, according to the American Student Government Association's database. These organizations play a crucial role in shaping campus life, advocating for student interests, and fostering leadership skills.

The Purpose and Problems Addressed by Student Government

In democratic societies, it is imperative to train young people in the nature of public problems and how to address them. Student government provides a platform for students to engage with issues that directly affect their lives and the broader community. This engagement helps them develop critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills necessary for effective citizenship.

Cultivating Civic Engagement

Student government offers a hands-on approach to civic education. By participating in student government, students learn about the democratic process, including elections, legislation, and advocacy. They gain experience in representing their peers, negotiating with administrators, and implementing change.

Addressing Student Concerns

Student governments serve as a conduit between the student body and the institution's administration. They provide a forum for students to voice their concerns and advocate for their needs. This can include issues related to campus safety, academic policies, student activities, and overall campus life.

Promoting Leadership Development

Student government provides opportunities for students to develop their leadership skills. By serving as officers, senators, or committee members, students learn how to lead meetings, manage projects, and work collaboratively with others. They also develop skills in public speaking, negotiation, and conflict resolution.

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Historical Evolution of Student Government

The American belief that education transmits democratic ideals to a new generation is as old as the republic. Throughout the nineteenth century examples in secondary schools and colleges can be found of students taking on responsibilities for the functioning of their institutions. The widespread expansion of student government began at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century.

Early Initiatives

In colleges, the impulse came from students' beliefs that they should be involved in the aspects of college life which most affected them. Advocates of Progressive-era political and educational reform, meanwhile, saw training young people in the practicalities of democratic citizenship as an answer to a political system they feared was dominated by "bosses." The school, as an increasingly universal experience, seemed the logical site for such instruction.

Adult proponents saw student government as an extension of the progressive educational concept of learning by doing. They assailed authoritarian school systems and argued that only if students experienced democracy in their school life would they become effective adult citizens. Experiments in student participation modeled on existing structures of city and federal governments were tried in many secondary schools during the first decades of the twentieth century, gaining media attention and support from political and educational leaders. Opponents, however, charged the schemes would simply reproduce the corruptions of the existing political system rather than offer a model of democratic behavior. Despite successes, programs that established a "school city" or "school republic" faded in the years after World War I.

The Rise of Social Organizations

By the 1920s, fraternities and sororities had become the center of college society and these social organizations dominated many student governments. The first national organization of student government leaders, the National Student Federation (founded in 1925), supported reforms of education and restrictions on student behavior.

A focus by administrators on school as the center of young people's lives made student government an important component of high school culture during the 1920s and in subsequent years. New initiatives were based on life within the school and became a means to promote "school spirit." Student government stood at the head of an array of clubs that operated outside the standard curriculum. Many student councils and their teacher advisers had responsibility for promoting social activities, monitoring halls, lunchrooms, and organizing assembly programs. During World War II, councils turned to drives for war bonds in addition to their management of social life.

Mid-Century Developments

While participation had once been limited to club officers and those who met certain academic requirements, by mid-century councils were increasingly elected at large and in homerooms and qualifications for participation were removed. The Progressive-era focus on modeling adult structures had been replaced by an emphasis on students learning "responsibility" and "cooperation." Student government was a special kind of "delegated authority" in which students stood at the bottom of a long chain of command.

Promoted by the National Association of Secondary School Principals, student government entered the postwar years as a predictable aspect of any high school life. The high school became the appropriate focus for students' patriotism and student government the principal's cooperative partner in managing the school.

College student government hit a high-water mark during the 1950s as a larger and demographically diverse student population poured onto campuses. Student government was almost universal in colleges of all sizes. Although leaders complained about apathy, most students voted in campus elections. Student government leaders, represented nationally by the National Student Association (founded in 1947), felt student government should have greater responsibility and involvement not only in student social affairs but also in the educational matters facing their institutions. When they called for academic freedom, an end to racial discrimination, and reform of in loco parentis authority over students, leaders imagined such changes would occur within a college's existing power structure.

Challenges and Transformations

While students played significant roles in the civil rights and antiwar movements during the 1960s, student government declined in its importance during this period. Although many activists were or had been student government leaders, student governments themselves waded into the fray only tentatively. Campus protests against the unequal distribution of power in college students' lives and demands for greater involvement in campus decision-making that resulted in significant upheaval often made the student government appear to be a "sandbox" for make-believe politics. The National Student Association's reputation was damaged significantly when it was revealed in 1967 that the Central Intelligence Agency had been providing substantial funding for its international student exchange programs and had exerted unofficial influence on its policies since the early 1950s.

The transformation of educational governance policies in the early 1970s prompted by student unrest seemed to presage a renaissance for student government. In secondary schools, a robust student council that focused on dropouts and drugs as much as, or more than, improving lunchroom behavior and the participation of student representatives on local school boards were deemed the best way to promote democracy and avoid future strife. Colleges and universities transformed many of their governing bodies to involve students in decisions regarding student life and educational policy. As the years went on, however, the feeling of urgency regarding student involvement in governance began to fade. Studies found declining sentiment for student involvement in governance and participation in college elections. High school involvement declined even more and experts' proposals for increased student participation were often precisely the same ones described as accomplishments of a dynamic student council in the 1940s.

Contemporary Landscape

By the end of the twentieth century, high school students involved in government balanced the demands of multiple extracurricular activities; school councils made announcements and coordinated clubs and social events but even that level of responsibility was declining. On college campuses, student government leaders often sat on university committees, managed a considerable student activities budget funded by activities fees, provided other services to students, and worked with an expanding staff of "student affairs" professionals. While the belief that a new generation must learn the skills of democracy remained, the role of student government in that quest is less clear than it was to its progressive advocates.

Structures of Student Government

Student governments vary widely in their internal structure and degree of influence on institutional policy.

Branches of Government

Many student governments are structured similarly to the federal government of the United States, consisting of distinct executive, legislative, and judicial branches. These structures often include elements which are not found in the federal government (e.g. legislative veto, programming branches which may or may not be independent from the executive branch, initiative, recall, referendum). Just like the federal government, these governments have the trappings of a presidential system, with a separation of powers between branches and a presidential veto. This is by far the most common type of structure, and is found in model student government constitutions and by-laws.

The vast majority of student governments operate under a two branch system, with an executive and legislative branch.

Executive Branch

Typically headed by a president, the executive branch is responsible for implementing policies and overseeing the daily operations of the student government. This branch may also include vice presidents, secretaries, treasurers, and other officers with specific responsibilities.

Legislative Branch

The legislative branch, often called the student senate or student council, is responsible for creating and à¤ªà¤¾à¤¸ing legislation that affects the student body. This branch typically consists of elected representatives from various colleges, departments, or class years. For example, the legislative branch of Student Government consists of 31 senators elected by the Student Body during annual elections held during Spring Semester or appointed, pursuant to the Student Government Constitution.

Judicial Branch

Some student governments also have a judicial branch, which is responsible for interpreting the student government's constitution and bylaws, as well as resolving disputes between students or between students and the administration.

Representation and Inclusivity

At institutions with large graduate, medical school, and individual "college" populations, there are often student governments that serve those specific constituencies. Similarly, multiple undergraduate student governments sometimes form to address specific facets of university decision-making. At the University of Texas, for example, students are served by three equal and independent student governance organizations: the Student Government represents students generally, but focuses on undergraduate student life matters; the Senate of College Councils represents undergraduate and graduate students in academic affairs; and the Graduate Student Assembly represents graduate students in both academic and student affairs.

While some student governments incorporate undergraduates and graduates together, at the University of Oklahoma, for example, the legislature is bicameral: The Graduate Student Senate and the Undergraduate Student Congress.

Alternative Governance Models

Not all American colleges and universities have a separate student government. A handful of small liberal arts colleges in the United States use a governance model in which key decisions are made democratically by the community as a whole, with students and faculty on equal footing.

Powers, Responsibilities, and Limitations

Student governments have historically been considered auxiliaries of the university to which they belong. Since ultimate responsibility over the direction of a university is usually vested in a Chancellor or President appointed by the Board, some conflicts may arise between Student Government and the institution's administration, especially in the area of fiscal matters.

Authority and Influence

State law often provides student governments with substantial legal rights and a significant role within the institution. Student governments tend to be chartered by the Board but, in the case of public universities operated by a State, may be recognized by the state legislature. Their structure, purpose and responsibilities are usually established in a constitution ratified by the student body. Some states, such as California and Florida, specifically provide for "student body organizations" in their public institutions by statute.

Budget and Funding

Many colleges/universities also allow the student governments to manage and disburse the student activities (student life) funds generated by the fees students pay each quarter/semester/year. Student government budgets range from as high as $90 million (UCLA) to less than a few thousand dollars. Large public residential universities tend to enjoy the largest operational budgets, while commuter-based public colleges and private colleges tend to have the smallest budgets. The vast majority of student governments receive their funding from a portion of the student activity fees.

Relationship with Administration

In addition to a student government, many institutions also establish governments for faculty (e.g. Faculty Senate) and staff (e.g. Staff Assembly). In such cases, there occasionally exist links and dependencies between these bodies.

Only about 20 percent of all Student Governments have a student serving as a voting member of the Board of Trustees/Regents/Governors, according to ASGA's Student Representatives on Board of Trustees Survey. Nearly 64 percent of nearly 400 participating institutions of all types and size indicated that they have a student member of their institution's board of trustees/regents.

Autonomy

Some of the student governments of prestigious American universities have a history of social activism against their campus and act as independent organizations, the most notable of which being the Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC), which is the student government of UC Berkeley. The ASUC operates independently and autonomously from UC Berkeley and exists as a 501(c)(3) non-profit in the state of California, managing its own budget, legal defense, and expenditures without university influence or oversight. The ASUC is one of the few student governments in the country that operates entirely independent and autonomous of its university.

Challenges and Opportunities

Despite their potential, student governments face several challenges, including low voter turnout, apathy among students, and limited influence on institutional policy.

Increasing Student Engagement

Average voter turnout in all 4,700 student governments nationwide is in the range of 4 percent, according to the ASGA SG database. This number is negatively skewed by poor participation overall in SG at the more than 2,000 American community and technical colleges which have larger commuter and non-traditional populations and therefore have less emphasis on traditional student services and programs such as student government. State universities and colleges tend to have a 10-15 percent voter turnout, while private colleges tend to be 15-20 percent, but can have much higher totals, sometimes into 40 percent or higher, according to ASGA.

To address this challenge, student governments can implement strategies to increase student engagement, such as:

Promoting opportunities more effectively
Hosting events at accessible times
Connecting students with organizations that match their interests
Strengthening communication between students and leadership
Creating a stronger, more connected campus community where every student feels heard and valued
Creating more safe spaces where people from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds can express themselves freely and without fear of judgment

Enhancing Influence

To enhance their influence on institutional policy, student governments can:

Build strong relationships with administrators and faculty
Conduct research and present data to support their proposals
Form coalitions with other student organizations
Advocate for student representation on decision-making bodies

Vision for the Future

The vision for student government is to create a more connected and inclusive campus by strengthening communication between students and leadership and to give incoming first-year students the opportunity to meet more educated students who can help guide them throughout their first year. A mentorship program that allows students to gain service hours and experience of leading to place on their rÃ©sumÃ© could boost student performance and increase employment after college.

Student government has a unique ability to engage students given that it is comprised of students who have a finger on the pulse of student interest.

Some specific visions for student government include:

Making campus safety a top priority
Increasing student engagement and involvement across campus
Building a more connected and inclusive campus
Strengthening the bond between different schools within the university
Bridging the gap between students and the industry
Creating a more inclusive and supportive environment for all students
Strengthening student voices and advocating for a more inclusive and supportive campus

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