What can you do for your Country? Arguments for and against Clinton’s National Service Legislation

Abstract

This paper outlines the National Service legislation in the USA introduced by President Clinton in 1993. It summarises some of the reasons why national service has attracted widespread popular and political support and considers the claims made for national service. These include: the potential of service for helping to over-come growing socio-spatial segregation in the USA; its contribution to solving urgent social problems; and its value in reconstructing the welfare agenda, replacing entitlements with programmes which emphasise the reciprocal responsibilities of those receiving aid. Some pilot programmes are examined and the claims of proponents of national service are then examined, putting service legislation in the wider context of the challenges facing the American welfare state and drawing lessons which may be of wider applicability.

Limitations of civic service: critical perspectives

“…Certain types of service have been studied more than others, including service learning, youth service, and national service (Eberly & Sherraden, 1990; Education Commission of the States, 1999;Evers, 1990; Grantmaker Forum on Community and National Service, 2000; Mohan, 1994;Perry & Imperial, 2001;Roux, 1991;Sherraden, 2001a;Warner, 1995). These types of service may be more institutionalized, in terms of their connections to broad-based funding and policy support.…”

“…For the server, service is associated with social, economic, and civic effects. Outcomes may include decreased isolation, increased tolerance and cross-group understanding, and improved mental health and self-esteem (Education Commission of the States, 1999;Mohan, 1994;Wilson & Musick, 1999). In China, for example, service may introduce urban youths to the hardships faced by the country's rural population (Eberly and .…”

Character, Civic Renewal and Service Learning for Democratic Citizenship in Higher Education

“…While there are only a few researchers in the UK who are currently attempting to argue for the civic role of higher education (e.g. Ahier et al ., 2003;Annette, 1999;Coffield and Williamson, 1997;Hall and Hall, 2002;Mohan, 1996), there is an interesting history in the UK of linking civic engagement and higher education, which has been largely ignored in the present discussions of the purpose and future of higher education. For example, the Scottish Universities as part of the legacy of the Scottish Enlightenment, were influenced by civic ideals and the study of moral philosophy, which became an integral part of the undergraduate curriculum (Davie, 1961;Winch, 1978).…”

Making a difference? Student volunteerism, service learning and higher education in the USA

“…The Federal Education Department's Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) supports innovative programmes which seek to incorporate community service with academic study. However, the biggest impetus is likely to come from the recent national service legislation (Mohan, 1994a), an important element of which is that financial aid towards the costs of higher education will in part be contingent on performing community service. The Corporation on National and Community Service (otherwise known as AmeriCorps) sees higher education as one of the building blocks for a broad-based network of service opportunities.…”

“…1 University presidents talk of the need to provide students with the opportunity to serve, as a good in itself; students talk of the need to 'make a difference' to someone or to a community; professors talk of the educational value of community service with some going so far as to argue for making service a component of the education of every student; and there are the debates about national service and the proposals for the linking of financial aid to community service (Mohan, 1994a). This paper describes elements of this growth in student volunteerism, including the demands for engaging more students in it and the various policies being developed to expand it, before assessing its wider significance.…”