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The Impact of High School Community Service Programs on Students' Feelings of Civic Obligation

University of Minnesota

Proponents of community service programs often claim that such programs succeed in educatingyouth for democratic citizenship where traditional civics instruction falls short. Yet it is notclear that all service programs envision such citizenship as linked to political engagement andparticipation. It is hypothesized that only service programs that frame service within a widepolitical context and offer opportunities for public action increase political engagement as measuredby feelings of civic obligation. This citizenship framework may likewise be incorporatedin traditional social studies classes with similar effects. This hypothesis is confirmed using paneldata comparing the effects of different high school service programs and social studies courses.Path analysis, analyzing a subsample of students in a particularly effective service program,shows that political socialization effects remain even when accounting for self-selectionprocesses.

Key Words: community service • civic obligation • civic duty • political socialization • service learning

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