Civic engagement is similar to the platform I ran on when I participated in the local Miss Small Town pageant. Then I called it Community Involvement. Now I call it Civic Engagement. Community Involvement and Civic Engagement are a cornerstone to a meaningful life. Humans are social creatures. We need to be part of a larger group. I hadn’t thought much about my civic engagement until the 2016 presidential election. Post-election I found myself filled with fear and anxiety. I decided: Now is not the time to watch the political world like it’s a reality TV show.
Instead of watching, I chose civic engagement and would like to encourage the same for you. Let’s begin with a definition and then three ways to be more engaged with the civic process. The following is an excerpt from Civic Responsibility and Higher Education edited by Thomas Ehrlich:
Civic Engagement means working to make a difference in the civic life of our communities and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivation to make that difference. It means promoting the quality of life in a community through both political and non-political processes.
You might be thinking “Sounds good, but how?” The first way that takes the least amount of time to be civically engaged is to Vote! Whether it is a city, county, state, or federal election you have many opportunities to vote. I Googled “When is the next election?” At the time of this post, the next federal election is the US Midterm election. That will be on November 6th of 2018. All 435 seats in the house of representatives and 34 of the 100 US senate seats will be voted upon. It is free to vote, it is your right as a citizen and it’s a core activity in civic engagement.
Whether you voted or not, you still have the right to contact your representatives This civic engagement activity may take a bit more time but it’s not a major time commitment. Setting aside 30 minutes to send an email or make a call when a bill comes up in congress that you have an opinion about is all it takes to be engaged. The first step here is to go to congress.gov and view the current bills. Next go to commoncause.org and from their main navigation select “Find Your Elected Officials” under the “Take Action” tab. Finally, write your representatives or call and tell them how you would like them to vote on the bill you chose.
Maybe you don’t want to wait for a bill about a cause you care about to come up in congress. Instead of waiting you can be civically engaged by becoming a civic leader or volunteering. This engagement requires the most time but your actions have immediate effect on the causes you are passionate about.Being a civically engaged leader can mean running for president… either for the United States or maybe just the local PTA. It can also mean serving as a board member for a non-profit you support. Being a civically engaged leader can be as simple as setting an example by volunteering and encouraging others to join you.
The National Conference on Citizenship identifies civically engaged individuals as people who take any of following actions to improve the world around them:
· Political action
· Connecting to information and current events
· Social connectedness
· Participating in a group
· Service
There are a variety of actions you can take to be more civically engaged each with different time commitments. While you think about what Civic Engagement means in your life, I’ll give you this quote from President John F. Kennedy, “…ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.”
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