Read or excerpt the following quotes:

“Civic engagement underscores the most basic principle of democratic governance. If sovereignty resides ultimately in the citizenry, their engagement is about the right to define the public good, to determine the policies by which they will seek that good, and to reform or replace those institutions that no longer serve. ” -Swarnmin Wagle,“Claims and Resources Civic Engagement at the Macro Level”

“In many respects today’s youth are primed for participation. The 2002 Survey of Student Attitudes (SSA) conducted by Harvard University’s Institute of Politics found that 61% of college students claimed to have taken part in some form of community service in the past 12 months. This trend toward activism manifests itself in cities across the nation, as millions of young people make their presence felt in soup kitchens, neighborhood cleanups, mentoring centers, and countless other youth-driven service initiatives.

“However, the desire to effect positive social change has not yet been successfully translated into sustained political engagement. The SSA found that only 14% of college students had participated in a government or political organization over the same period of time. Such antipathy toward government service is consistent with other indicators of youth political engagement. The National Association of Secretaries of State reported that in 2000, only 33% of citizens aged 18-24 cast their votes in the presidential election.” -Harvard Institute of Politics, “Political Empowerment at the Local Level: A Review of Youth Civic Engagement Efforts in 11 US cities”

Discussion questions:

• What is civic engagement?
• If you feel you are civically engaged, what do you do?
• If you feel you are not civically engaged, why not? What would make civic engagement appealing to you?
• Is community service a form of civic engagement?