This book outlines how undergraduate students engage with civic and community projects and how this can be encouraged by their universities. It also explores how universities can build on this involvement and develop undergraduates' civic and democratic capacities, including programmatic strategies and conceptual frameworks for understanding the students' activities. As higher education across the globe experiences increasing student numbers it is important to understand how students engage with civic and community service.

Dagger argues for a republican liberalism that, while celebrating the liberal heritage of autonomy and rights, solidly places these within social relations and obligations, which while ubiquitous, are often obscured and forgotten.

American democracy is in many ways more vital than ever before. Advocacy groups proliferate and formerly marginalized groups enjoy new opportunities. But worrisome trends exist. Millions of Americans are drawing back from involvements with community affairs and politics. Voters stay home; public officials grapple with distrust or indifference; and people are less likely to cooperate on behalf of shared goals. Observers across the spectrum of opinion agree that it is vital to determine what is happening and why—so that Americans can take well-informed, effective steps to revitalize our national community. The book opens with an eagle-eye look at the roots of America's special patterns of civic engagement, examining the ways social groups and government and electoral politics have influenced each other. Other chapters examine the impact of advocacy groups and socioeconomic inequalities on democratic processes and probe the influence of long-term social and cultural changes on voluntary associations and civic participation. The book concludes by asking why social liberation has been accompanied by new inequalities and the erosion of many important forms of citizen leverage and participation. Coming together from several disciplines, contributors include Jeffrey M. Berry, Henry E. Brady, John Brehm, Steven Brint, Elisabeth S. Clemens, Peter Dobkin Hall, Wendy M. Rahn, Kay Lehman Schlozman, Sidney Verba, and Robert Wuthnow. Copublished with the Russell Sage Foundation

More than a century ago, John Dewey challenged the education community to look to civic involvement for the betterment of both community and campus. Today, the challenge remains. In his landmark book, editor Thomas Ehrlich has collected essays from national leaders who have focused on civic responsibility and higher education. Imparting both philosophy and working example, Ehrlich provides the inspiration for innovative new programs in this essential area of learning.

The intellectual history of the Civic Culture concept / Gabriel A. Almond -- The structure of inference / Arend Lijphart -- The Civic Culture : a philosophic critique / Carole Pateman -- The Civic Culture from a Marxist-sociological perspective / Jerzy J. Wiatr -- Political culture in Great Britain : The decline of The Civic Culture / Dennis Kavanagh -- The United States : political culture under stress / Alan I. Abramowitz -- Changing German political culture : continuity and change / Giacomo Sani -- Political culture in Mexico : continuities and revisionist interpretations / Ann L. Craig and Wayne A. Cornelius -- On revisiting The Civic Culture : a personal postcript / Sidney Verba