We Still Need to Do a Better Job Connecting Service Work and Politics

I just finished reading through the National Conference on Citizenship's 2008 Civic Health Index (pdf). Here are the highlights that are most relevant to our work:

• The 2008 survey finds that Americans are actively engaged with this year’s presidential election. For example, more than half said they had tried to persuade someone else to vote for or against a particular candidate; and 39% said they had watched an Internet video that supported or opposed a presidential candidate. But more say they are “frustrated” (43%) than “excited” (19%) by the presidential election.
• We know that Americans will engage in many ways after the election. [...] Not many people expect to work on the issues raised in the campaign after Election Day. Just fourteen percent, for instance, were confident that they would try to change local policies in schools, neighborhoods, or the workplace. Less than 20% were sure they would talk about the issues raised in the campaign after it is over.
• However, citizens overwhelmingly support changes in laws and policies that would support greater citizen engagement between elections.

I thought these were pretty interesting, especially considering the fact that it looks more likely than ever that Obama will win the election. If that happens, it's going to be our jobs to get our generation to specifically engage on the very issues being fought over in this election - the economy, the environment, health care, the war. Many people - young and old - are engaged in their communities and/or the electoral process, but there is still no connection between that work and becoming involved in a way that can help shape and push through the legislative changes that the country wants to see. Making this conversion from electoral activism to issue work is going to be the big challenge for many organizations and individuals in the next year.

The report goes on to talk about Millennials specifically:

The Millennials so far appear to be considerably more civically engaged than their immediate predecessors, “Generation X.” The voting turnout of young adults (ages 18-29) almost doubled in the 2008 primaries and caucuses compared to the most recent comparable year (2000). There were also substantial youth turnout increases in 2004 and 2006. Youth volunteering rates are higher in the 2000s than they were in the 1990s.

Compared to the Baby Boomers when they were young adults, Millennials are somewhat more likely to volunteer. They are less likely to vote and to participate in face-to-face civil society, as reflected by questions about attending meetings, belonging to groups, and attending religious services. Declines in face-to-face engagement occurred before the widespread use of the Internet; but clearly, today’s youth have new opportunities for online interaction. Overall, if we compare Millennials to previous generations when they were young, the Millennials appear more engaged than Generation X and engaged in different ways from the Boomers.

Despite the emphasis on "different ways" that the internet is enabling Millennials to participate, the report singles out the fact that Millennials are still more likely to become involved in service work than politics, and that there is little in the way of institutions, educational opportunities, or legislative proposals to help connect the two:

The Millennials’ parent generation, Baby Boomers, were more likely to belong to groups and clubs when they were young, but the prevalence of the Internet is helping the Millennial Generation to get more involved. However, we classify more than half of the Millennials as “not very engaged.” A substantial group (17%) is involved in volunteer service but not in other types of engagement; they may need help connecting their service to leadership in formal groups and clubs and political participation. [...]

In other words, electoral participation is different from volunteer service, and increasing the former does not automatically boost the latter.

That's a pretty strong endorsement for programs like Democrats Work, which attempts to bridge the gap between service and politics.

Finally, the report had some interesting information that can help inform our messaging around our own work, and the service work of our peers. Specifically, the report found that:

• 42% of Millennials don't have a clear ideas as to what the term civic engagement means. Those who offered potential answers often mentioned service work and volunteering. Only 16% thought the term had political connotations.
• 32% of Millennials didn't have a clear idea of what Social Entrepreneurship meant. Many respondents thought it referred to business and capitalism (lacking any political connotations), and others thought it referred to a socialist "nanny state."

That's pretty shocking, but I guess it's just indicative of the bubble that I live in, talking about this stuff all the time. Clearly we have a work cut out for us when two of the most important terms to describe our work are virtually unknown to the majority of our peers.