Tear Down the White Picket Fence

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Whoever moves into the White House next year needs to nurture this civic reflex both within and beyond the under-30 set. And to help, a number of groups are already gearing up for the day after the election.

The November 5th Coalition, an informal group of civic engagement experts, is pitching national service programs that focus on developing leadership and problem-solving skills. Not the kind of service programs, says Peter Levine, director of the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement and a coalition member, “where you just have a bunch of people drafted to paint buildings or something.” They’re also promoting national and local forums that bring together diverse groups to tackle the vexing issues that haunt politicians and communities, such as health care and education reform.

In Bridgeport, Connecticut, for example, “community conversations” about the down-and-out industrial town’s schools not only led to improvements—smaller classes, more-involved parents, fewer poor-performing schools—but also laid the groundwork for a thriving culture of civic participation that has stretched beyond school halls, the think tank Public Agenda notes in a 2007 report.

 “Civic participation,” says Melanie Campbell, executive director of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, “is about engaging in a process that helps to improve your individual life, your family, your community, your nation, and your world.” Her group is launching academies to train activists to use new technologies, gearing up for the 2010 Census to make sure everyone gets counted, and planning a postelection debriefing with its young leaders.

As for the young people themselves, the question of what they’ll do if their horse doesn’t win on Election Day looms. And after that: What happens if promises aren’t kept?

You get back to work, says Heather Box, a 26-year-old San Francisco organizer and national fund-raiser for the League of Young Voters.

“Young people are smart enough to know that voting for a certain presidential candidate is not going to change everything and suddenly make things better,” Box says. “We know that there are problems in our schools and in our local communities. Once we realize that we can get together with our friends and get someone elected to the school board or hold a city council person accountable, then we understand what it really means to build power and to be engaged.”

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