Today's Boston Globe article "Youth Propel Push Toward Volunteerism", cites further evidence that youth are volunteering in record numbers.  A recent Corporation for National Service study suggests the number of young volunteers has roughly doubled from a year ago. This growing move to serve seems to be one factor laying the groundwork for the increased voter participation among young adults in the recent election.   

Tom Sander does a nice job on his Social Capital Blog articulating the significance of Tuesday’s election for those of us focused on social capital and civic engagement. He notes that after reaching all time lows a decade ago, voter turnout approached, and perhaps surpassed, the all time highs.

Clearly there are signs the tide is starting to turn on civic engagement, with the significant youth vote being especially heartening for me. Motivated by what at the time was low youth interest in politics and other forms of participation beyond volunteering, the Youth Council was the first program we established when we started SCI seven years ago. One of my favorite Youth Council projects is the one where the youth facilitate debates among candidates for local office at the local high school.  read more »