John Bridgeland says: Volunteerism continued to climb through September 2005, when it dropped significantly



Bridgeland and the National Conference on Citizenship try to measure the strength of that "third life" through its annual Civic Health Index. The scorecard is based on nearly 40 indicators, including joining groups, voting, charitable contributions and levels of trust in other people and major institutions. It reveals steep declines in civic engagement from the 1970s and 1980s, a rise in the late 1990s and a spike after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist strikes. Volunteerism continued to climb through September 2005, when it dropped significantly. The public's trust in other people, church membership, charitable contributions and newspaper readership also dropped in recent years. "We are back to pre-911 levels" of civic engagement, Bridgeland said. Why? New technologies, longer commutes, pressures of time and money tend to distract and dissuade all but the most civic-centered people from community service, sociologists say. But part of the blame rests with Bush, who missed an opportunity after the attacks to rally people behind a cause greater than themselves. "I believe that the big mistake that our leadership of our nation made after 9/11 is we told people to go shopping and we told them to take a trip," said GOP presidential candidate John McCain. John Bridgeland of Ohio was the first head of President George W. Bush's USA Freedom Corps.

John Bridgeland says: Volunteerism continued to climb through September 2005, when it dropped significantly

ON DEADLINE: Civic life a sleeper issue

By RON FOURNIER, Associated Press Writer

Tue Oct 9, 6:03 AM ET

WASHINGTON - It happens every election year: Pollsters slice and dice the electorate, identify an important new group and give those voters a fad-worthy monicker. Reagan Democrats. Angry Men. Soccer Moms.

Here's a heads-up on what should be the dynamite demographic of 2008: "The Civic Core."

That's the name given to 36 million Americans who actively discuss society's problems and work to solve them. These community-building citizens are both a key to the nation's future and a valuable resource for political candidates.

And yet, with few exceptions, Democrats and Republicans alike are giving the Civic Core — and community service itself — short shrift.

"John Kennedy was able to touch a national nerve when he turned things on their head and talked about what you could do for the country rather than what government could do for you," said John Bridgeland, a former community service czar under President Bush who now chairs the National Conference on Citizenship.

"If I were a candidate, I would integrate a call to service in every campaign stop," he said. "Every policy and every speech would have some element of that ask."

He doesn't need to tell that to Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd, a former Peace Corps volunteer and the only presidential candidate who has made community service a priority of the campaign.

Dodd would, among other things, require community service for high school graduation and offer tax credits to businesses that give workers paid time off to perform community service.

"Campaigns for the presidency need to be more than a grocery list of issues — checking boxes on where you are on Iraq, education, etc.," Dodd said in an interview between Iowa campaign stops. "People are desperately looking for something deeper than that."

There is no greater issue than civic engagement.

A democracy is based on the notion that its citizens contribute to their society and solve problems together. In addition, there are numerous studies linking a person's health to the strength of his or friendships and community ties.

"To young people I say, 'I hope you have a good professional life and I hope your family life is good,'" Justice Stephen Breyer, an advocate for civic engagement, told The Associated Press. "But I will also say that's only two-thirds of the equation, because there is also a third life — a community life."

Bridgeland and the National Conference on Citizenship try to measure the strength of that "third life" through its annual Civic Health Index. The scorecard is based on nearly 40 indicators, including joining groups, voting, charitable contributions and levels of trust in other people and major institutions.

It reveals steep declines in civic engagement from the 1970s and 1980s, a rise in the late 1990s and a spike after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist strikes.

Volunteerism continued to climb through September 2005, when it dropped significantly.

The public's trust in other people, church membership, charitable contributions and newspaper readership also dropped in recent years.

"We are back to pre-911 levels" of civic engagement, Bridgeland said.

Why? New technologies, longer commutes, pressures of time and money tend to distract and dissuade all but the most civic-centered people from community service, sociologists say.

But part of the blame rests with Bush, who missed an opportunity after the attacks to rally people behind a cause greater than themselves.

"I believe that the big mistake that our leadership of our nation made after 9/11 is we told people to go shopping and we told them to take a trip," said GOP presidential candidate John McCain.

Bridgeland argued that Bush called on Americans to serve in his 2002 State of the Union address, and added money to new and existing service programs.

But even he acknowledges that the Iraq war came to dominate Bush's agenda "and there was no more domestic oxygen left."

Still, there is good news in the Civic Health Index:

_Most Americans crave a greater sense of community, even if they don't all act on it.

_The Internet and other new technologies are helping people build community ties.

_Young Americans, ages 18-25, are showing signs of being as civic-minded as the so-called Greatest Generation.

Bridgeland's organization says the foundation for a civic reawakening is the so-called Civic Core — 36 million Americans, from all age groups, who are well informed; attend public meetings; work together on community problems; are leaders in clubs and associations; attend religious services; and vote and volunteer.

They are diverse in terms of race, ethnicity and political ideology.

They are ready to be asked to do something, anything, for the common good.

They're a slice of what's best about America — a political constituency in the waiting.

"Being a nation of community activity and community service is not totally unique to us as a people," Dodd said, "but damn near unique to us."

Microtarget that.

___

EDITOR'S NOTE — Ron Fournier has covered politics for The Associated Press for nearly 20 years. On Deadline is a weekly column.

Links to Related Topics (Tags):

Headlines: October, 2007; Figures; USA Freedom Corps; National Service; Speaking Out

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