Political vs. Civic Engagement

A few days ago I attended the mandatory DukeEngage Academy for my participation in the program this summer. During the academy’s second day we were presented with fifteen or so topical panels and given the opportunity to attend three of our choice. A particularly interesting session I went to was led by Eric Mlyn, the director of DukeEngage, and was titled “Where is the Political in Civic Engagement.”

He talked about the important relationship between political and civic engagement and about connecting whatever passions we may find to some sort of policy or political advocacy, exactly what we're tying to do in Medvocacy! He showed us recent data on how people our age are much more involved in civic rather than political engagement. Yet as we age this relationship reverses and adults tend to be more engaged in politics over service, evidenced by the demographics’ higher voting rates and involvement in political issues.

We discussed reasons for this strange relationship, such as the fast-paced nature of current young lifestyles and the need for tangible and gratifying immediate rewards. Civic engagement typically produces these rewarding experiences while political action often doesn't result in visible effects until the long-term, which many of us are unwilling to wait for. Another reason could be our lack of faith in current government and its role. We’ve experienced high military spending, prolonged wars, budget deficits, faltering economy, huge debates over any compromises towards progress, and a range of other issues; with constant mention of our governments inefficiency in the media and other outlets. Maybe all these reminders of federal ineptitude have led young people to just lose trust in effecting any change through political means.

Or yet another reason could be that most college students only advocate for social issues they’re directly affected by or have a uniquely strong passion for. For us maybe the extensive amount of opportunities for civic engagement and thus an inherent separation of service concentrations may actually hinder attempts to organize a large movement for political impact. Do we need to first relate many forms of civic engagement to each other before taking on politics or policy change?

How do we bridge the divide between service and political action?
Eric Mlyn summed up the dilemma very well in his introduction with his metaphorical question; it concerned education improvement and went along the lines of ‘is it better to tutor children in schools or lobby for educational reform?’
Or is the solution a combination of both, and if so how do we find that right balance to achieve beneficial lasting reform.

Thoughts?