As we celebrate Independence Day, it's as good a time as any to reflect on our stewardship of the remarkable experiment in freedom and representative democracy launched in Philadelphia 224 years ago. The signers of the Declaration of Independence could scarcely have envisioned the current power, prosperity, and global influence of the nation they created--or the extent to which their words and values still inspire people around the world struggling towards democracy. But they might have been equally, and less happily, surprised by the lackluster involvement today of Americans themselves in political and civic life.

Despite near-universal literacy, compulsory education, extraordinary advances in public access to information, and steady progress in improving avenues for political involvement, Americans are among the least involved citizens in the industrial world. Our voting participation rates are consistently and significantly lower than in other functioning democracies. Fewer than half of adult citizens can accurately name major office-holders below the level of the presidency. Interest in public affairs news or political campaigns is lower than it has been in decades. And all these trends are getting much stronger among Americans just reaching voting age.

It's time to get serious about making civic education--the preparation of our young people for the responsibilities of active citizenship--a major part of our educational process.

In the Spring 1999 issue of Blueprint: Ideas for a New Century, Charles N. Quigley, Executive Director of the Center for Civic Education, showed how a lack of attention to civic education is producing a lack of attention to civic life. Only 20 states, noted Quigley, require any instruction in American government. Those that do typically provide one course in the eighth or ninth grades. Quigley proposes a "capstone" course in citizenship just prior to, and required for, graduation. Moreover, he suggests the course focus not just on instruction in the facts and figures of politics and government, but on engaging students in direct civic participation, including community service.

Indeed, the nexus between community service and other forms of civic engagement is critical at a time when most young people are far more likely to volunteer for a soup kitchen than to vote. Boston's City Year program, one of the best and largest community service initiatives in the country, requires participants to register to vote. The many school districts around the country that are adopting strong community service programs for high schools should link these efforts to a broader curriculum of civic education.

The genius of this country's Founders ensured that we would inherit a constitutional democracy with institutions that would endure despite the conflicts or failures of any particular generation of leaders or citizens. But these institutions may not survive a long period of indifference and negligence. A serious commitment to civic education is an important investment in the American experiment.