Community Works: American Civic Life at the Turn of the Century

Is America experiencing a boom in voluntarism and civic mindedness? Or is there a crisis in our communities and a breakdown in civil society?

Three important publications on the topic of civic life and civil society have been published this month, including the final report by the Council on Civil Society, A Call to Civil Society: Why Democracy Needs Moral Truths; Community Works: The Revival of Civil Society in America, published by the Brookings Institution Press; and the final report from the National Commission on Civic Renewal, A Nation of Spectators.