Civic Engagement & Service

As an international leader in research on civic engagement and service, the center seeks to understand, inform, test and expand opportunities for civic engagement and service worldwide.

At CSD, civic engagement is defined as social action that makes a difference at a local, national, or international level. Contributing to the life of a community, such as building houses for Habitat for Humanity or serving on an association’s board are examples of civic engagement. 

In an electoral democracy, voting is a core act of civic engagement, and the center’s efforts on civic engagement include research on inclusive participation in voting. CSD uses its expertise to assess and test practical innovations that remove barriers to voting and enhance voter participation.

Civic service is a particular type of civic engagement, defined as formal volunteering in a structured program (Peace Corps and AmeriCorps are well-known examples of civic service programs). Civic service can be viewed across the life course. A young person today may be involved in a service-learning program during secondary school, in an international service experience in college, and in national service following college graduation. This person may then focus on career and family, returning to service in later adulthood and in retirement. A long-term perspective to global demographic changes suggests that older adults will be an important vehicle for social change through service programs. In this view, a lifelong ethic and practice of service may become common. ​

The center’s research on service across the life course concentrates on voter access and engagement, community and national service, international service, and productive aging.

Voter Access and Engagement

A strong democracy depends on a guarantee that all Americans have the right to vote. However, a legacy of social injustice and voter suppression challenge the votes of countless Americans, particularly Black and Brown populations.

The Voter Access and Engagement (VAE) initiative at the Center for Social Development aims to redress these disparities and ensure the right to vote for all Americans, not just a few. Through an intentional focus on the fundamental rights of citizenship, deliberate dialogue, and citizen action, VAE works to create a culture of voting.

VAE’s body of work aims to strengthen democracy, voter education, and research on interventions that facilitate or hinder voter engagement. Through this work, VAE imagines an inclusive democracy wherein racial equity, electoral reform, and full voter participation are realized.

Community and National Service

Research suggests that community engagement and nonmilitary (or post-military) national service, such as AmeriCorps, may have great potential to foster civic engagement and employability. In some cases, national service may provide employment for underemployed youth and may be a career path, especially for disadvantaged youth. In addition, it may be used to bring people from different groups together to promote understanding, tolerance and cooperation.

International Service

International service is defined as service across borders. In an era of increasing globalization, international service may have significant potential to contribute to international peace, cooperation and development. The Center for Social Development’s research explores how to create avenues for participation in international service and to ensure that it provides meaningful and long-lasting value to both sending and hosting communities. 

The Center has collaborated with the Brookings Institution to further a global research agenda on international service, and with Duke University on the role of higher education in international service learning (summit on International Service Learning at Duke University, 2015). 

Productive Aging

The world is in the midst of a demographic revolution. Globally, those age 60 and above will comprise 13.6 percent of the population by 2020 and 22.1 percent of the population by 2050. In the United States, these numbers will be even higher. As the aging population grows in the U.S. and around the world, it will be necessary to develop policy and programs that support active engagement in later life.

In its work on productive aging, CSD seeks to advance national and international research and policy innovation to actively involve older adults in employment, volunteering, caregiving, education and other productive activities. The imperative to change policies and expectations about aging in America is based on evidence that ongoing productive engagement produces positive outcomes for older adults, their families, communities and society as a whole.

“Advance long and productive lives” is one of the 13 Grand Challenges for Social Work.

Projects

Voter Access & Engagement

Voter Access & Engagement

We use our expertise to assess and test innovations that remove barriers to voting and enhance voter participation.

International Voluntary Service for Development

International Voluntary Service for Development

International Service

CSD is leading a global research agenda to study volunteerism as a strategy for meeting global sustainable development goals.

Advancing Research & Policy on International Volunteer Service

Advancing Research & Policy on International Volunteer Service

International Service

We partner with the Brookings Institution to research avenues for meaningful participation in international volunteering and service. 

All Democracy and Civic Engagement Projects
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‘The Mission Continues’ National Initiative

Community and National Service

We conducted a study involving nearly 500 veterans in more than 400 nonprofit organizations in 42 states. 

A Research Project to Develop an ‘Audit Toolkit’ to Assess the Impact of Service Programmes and Volunteering

Community and National Service

We develop an instrument that allows service and volunteer organizations to assess the impact of their programs.

Advancing Research & Policy on International Volunteer Service

International Service

We partner with the Brookings Institution to research avenues for meaningful participation in international volunteering and service. 

AmeriCorps*VISTA Entrepreneur Corps

Community and National Service

We assess activities and recommended performance measurement indicators to organizations aiming to increase asset ownership among low-income groups.

Assessing Effective Practices of International Service

International Service

In partnership with the University of Ottawa, we surveyed more than 300 volunteer partner organizations operating in more than 80 countries in the Global South.

Assessing Intercultural Competence in International Service in Ecuador, Great Britain and Switzerland

International Service

We test intercultural competence and the impact of international youth service programs on Swiss and British volunteers and their Ecuadorian hosts. 

Civic Service in Lesotho: Local Sources and U.S. Connections

Community and National Service

Our research finds that informal and formal civic service traditions in Lesotho are primarily a response to social necessity.

Civic Service Research Fellows Program

Community and National Service

We support innovative research on civic service in countries all over the world from a multinational network of scholars and researchers.

Community Health Impacts of International Service in Uganda

Community and National Service

We designed a randomized clinical trial measuring the impacts of volunteer-based health trainings on behavior in central Uganda.

Contributions of International Volunteers to Gender Equality

International Service

This collaboration with the University of Ottawa and an international team of researchers has collected and analyzed data from partner organizations in 10 countries to examine the roles international development volunteers play in advancing gender equality and empowering women.

Development of Transnational Youth Voluntary Service in the European Union

Community and National Service

We analyze national policies in France, Italy, the Czech Republic and Poland to investigate how national frameworks can expand international voluntary service. 

DukeEngage Community Partner Project

Community and National Service

We assessed community partner perceptions of student volunteers, their preferred attributes and perceived impact from 2011-2013 survey data. 

Emerging Perspectives on International Volunteerism in Asia

International Service

Our project examines challenges and emerging perspectives in international volunteerism in Asia through an online survey and in-country interviews.

Environmental Attitudes and Civic Programs: A Critical Study of Engagement in the United Arab Emirates

Community and National Service

We investigate the impact of service learning on environmental awareness and civic engagement.

Experience Corps School-based Tutoring Project

Productive Aging

Experience Corps  is an inter-generational tutoring program that places older adults in public schools to help students who experience trouble with reading. 

Global Assessment of Civic Service

Community and National Service

We assess the forms, purposes, activities, servers  and operations of all civic service programs worldwide.

Global Service Learning Research

International Service

Led by the Center for Peace and Global Citizenship at Haverford College, we surveyed students from multiple institutions of higher education who participated in global service learning.  

Impact of Service of National Youth Service Volunteers in Israel

Community and National Service

We study the impact of the service experience on participants in two programs for voluntary national service in Israel. 

Impacts of International Service

International Service

Our project determines which features of voluntary service have the greatest impact on volunteers, host organizations, and community outcomes in Peru and Costa Rica. 

Impacts of International Service on European Volunteers and Host Communities in Africa

International Service

Our partnership with Volunteer Organization and Service Enquiry Southern Africa examines the impact of international service in South Africa, Mozambique and Tanzania. 

In Between Occupational Work & Volunteer Work: Serving as a Teacher in France & in the U.S.

Community and National Service

We compare American youth service programs City Year and Teach for America with French programs Unis Cite and AFEV. 

Institutional Capacity for Older Adult Engagement in Service

Productive Aging

Our project identified factors that discourage or encourage older adults in voluntary service to society through 22 organizations in the St. Louis metropolitan area.

International Service as Alternative Diplomacy

International Service

In collaboration with researchers at the University of Ottawa and the University of Technology Sydney, we investigate volunteering as a pathway to more effective foreign aid development policy, exploring how international volunteers engage in alternative public diplomacy roles.

International Service in the Context of Higher Education

International Service

We aim to advance knowledge and practice of international service in the context of higher education through summits and collaborations. 

International Voluntary Service for Development

International Service

CSD is leading a global research agenda to study volunteerism as a strategy for meeting global sustainable development goals.

K-12 Service Learning in Argentina Schools

Community and National Service

We explore the general characteristics of schools in Argentina that run service-learning programs.

Measuring Effectiveness of Civic Participation at the University Level in Turkey: A Case Study of the Civic Involvement Project at Sabanci University

Community and National Service

We study the impact of the service experience on participants in two programs for voluntary national service in Israel. 

Measuring the Institutional Determinants of Volunteering by Older Adults

Productive Aging

We explore the language, measurement tools and impetus for a broader and more balanced discussion of elder volunteerism and service.

North American Community Service (NACS)

International service

We evaluated a pilot project in transnational youth service and its impacts involving Mexican, Canadian, and U.S. youth.

Older Adults in Service to Society

Productive Aging

We develop a measurement tool to assess institutional capacity to engage older volunteers and collect data on volunteer programs and older adult volunteers.

Older Adults in Uruguay: Volunteer Work and Civic Service Actors

Productive Aging

We investigate the characteristics of civic service programs in Uruguay that most effectively recruit and retain older adults.

Productive Aging in China

Productive Aging

China’s growing older population includes many who are healthy and who want to be engaged. Their contributions are crucial for China’s social and economic development.

Productive Engagement of Older Adults: Effects on Well-being

Productive Aging

We analyze the level of engagement of older adults in productive activities and their impact on the adults’ physical and mental health.

Service and Volunteering in Five Southern African Countries

Community and National Service

We analyze civic service and volunteering initiatives in five Southern African countries and examined their implications for social development in the region.

Service Learning in Middle School

Community and National Service

We examine the effects of embedding a yearlong service learning program into existing school curricula for students in a middle school setting. 

Service with Older Adults

Productive Aging

Our research investigates the impacts of service on the health and well-being of older adult volunteers and their potential to address critical social development needs.

Social Innovation and Civic Engagement in Higher Education

Community and National Service

Washington University and Duke University held a think tank about the relationship between social innovation and civic engagement in higher education.

Social Innovations in the Voluntary Sector

International Service

We investigate social innovations in the voluntary sector at the intersection of nonprofits and social enterprises

Statism, Youth, and the Civic Imagination: A Critical Study of the National Youth Service Corps Programme in Nigeria

Community and National Service

We explore the nature of service and citizenship in the National Youth Service Corps program in Nigeria and how political forces have affected the program. 

Study of Outcomes of Participation in the Bonner Scholars Program

Community and National Service

We explore the impact of participation in a service-learning program at the college level on participants’ civic engagement following graduation.

Study of the UN Volunteers Program in Mongolia

Community and National Service

We investigate the potential of youth civic service programs to serve as effective development tools for transitional countries through focusing on Mongolia. 

The Civic50: Corporate Volunteering

Corporate Volunteering

We investigate corporate volunteering and its association with various dimensions of corporate philanthropy. 

The Impact and Sustainability of an Intervention of the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps into Communities

Community and National Service

We use the Social Network Analysis as a tool to measure the community-level impacts of the work accomplished by AmeriCorps volunteers in three U.S. cities. 

The Paradoxes of International Service and Civic Nationalism in Nigeria and the Gambia

Community and National Service

We investigate the Technical Aids Corps Scheme in Nigeria to examine participation, its effects on servers’ civic nationalism and its impact on communities. 

The Rise and Fall of National Service in Nepal

Community and National Service

We examine whether Nepal’s National Development Volunteer Service enhances civic engagement, especially among the nation’s youth. 

The Scope and Nature of Service Learning: A Comparative Study of Urban and Suburban Schools

Community and National Service

We examine the scope and nature of service learning in urban and suburban schools and across socio-economic levels.

The Voluntary Cultural Year in Germany

Community and National Service

We investigate the characteristics and motivations of youth who serve in Germany’s voluntary cultural year. 

Volunteerism and Civic Service in Latin America and Caribbean

International Service

We explore organizational factors promoting long-term civic service engagement at Habitat for Humanity International programs in Latin America and the Caribbean. 

Voter Access & Engagement

We use our expertise to assess and test innovations that remove barriers to voting and enhance voter participation.

Youth Service

Community and National Service

We investigate youth civic service worldwide and measure its impact on volunteers and the individuals and communities they serve.