NCOC

Some reading to get you through Friday and on to the weekend. Enjoy!

• Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert announced their Rally to Restore Sanity to America last night (October 30, 2010 in Washington D.C.). The event is now posted on Facebook.
• Related, Stewart and Colbert both enjoy unparalleled credibility among the 18-49 crowd, as illustrated in a news consumption survey released by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press:
  

  In terms of age, the “Colbert Report” (80%), “Daily Show” (74%) and New York Times (67%) have the biggest percentage of viewers and readers in the coveted 18-49-year-old demographic. Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly (35%) and Sean Hannity (33%) have the smallest.

• The National Conference on Citizenship and the Corporation for National and Community Service released the first Civic Health Assessment on Thursday, finding that millions of Americans are working together to solve problems. Read the full report here.
• Nick Troiano, a Georgetown student and an advocate for technology and open government, comments on the goings-on on the first day of the National Conference on Citizenship from DC.
• "Young people lead the way in volunteerism," writes Mikhail Zinshteyn from Campus Progress.
• Young people don't support the Tea Party movement, as surprising as that may be. (Please recognize my sarcasm.)
• What, exactly, is the Tea Party?
• NPR explores conflicting Millennials views: optimistic about their long-term ability to be better off than their parents, but worried about the myriad problems they face.
• Rock the Vote poll of 18-29 year olds: If you problem-solve, you'll be supported.
• Two college students from Colorado lobbied their senator, Sen. Michael Bennet (D), to end Don't Ask Don't Tell by recording themselves leaving him a voicemail on YouTube and posting it. Bennet recorded his own YouTube video in response. Watch here.
• What should Obama do? John Della Volpe, Director of Polling at Harvard's Institute of Politics, says engage Millennials. Now.

Just found about a digital upgrade concerning NCoC's upcoming conference on September 9. The conference is fully booked, I think, but they are opening up for questions via Twitter and you can follow it all via live stream. I'm really looking forward to this event; they'll be capping it off with a naturalization ceremony, a very moving experience. Tune in on the 9th! Details below.

The National Conference on Citizenship is taking place on September 9 from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. in the Library of Congress. This year, NCoC looks forward to expanding beyond the Conference walls to allow individuals who cannot join the event in Washington DC to participate online. Through the utilization of several forms of social media, virtual attendees will be able to watch conference programming, as well as submit questions and comments online. We’ll be streaming the event online and every time the conference opens for questions, our “Twitter Correspondents Desk” will make sure we take one that was submitted online. Follow @NCoC on Twitter to participate and get linked to the event live stream. Go here for more details.

Passing along an invitation... Two things. I've collaborated with the National Conference on Citizenship through my work with CIRCLE. Also, I totally know David Smith and am grateful for his leadership in the area of civic engagement. - Karlo

2009 National Conference on Citizenship

Sustainable Impact: A Civic Return on Investment

Registration is open for the 2009 National Conference on Citizenship, being held September 9 at the Library of Congress.

Themed Sustainable Impact: A Civic Return on Investment, the conference will explore ways public engagement can lift us out of the tough times our country is facing by challenge the ways ROI is evaluated. NCoC feels it is important to encourage commitment to civic responsibility not only through dollars, but actions, collaborations, and economic decisions.

• Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia will give the keynote
• To release the 2009 America’s Civic Health Index and discuss the impact of the economic crisis on the civic health of states, we will be joined by former Florida Senator Bob Graham and Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie
• A preview of the new Ken Burns PBS documentary “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea” will showcase the role of public lands in helping citizens realize the full meaning of democracy
• For the second year, Chief Judge Royce Lamberth will perform a naturalization ceremony welcoming America’s newest citizens

The National Conference on Citizenship is an annual event that focuses on the state of civic engagement in America, and is designed to bring together civic leaders, educators, CEOs, and representatives from each of the three branches of government to address issues related to our nation’s civic health. Visit http://ncoc.net/conference to register.

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.