Campus Vote Initiative: Connecting Service

Like service, voting is part of the process of civic engagement. Unfortunately, studies suggest that the civic interest that motivates students to engage in service does not lead to engagement in the electoral process. Instead, service is often seen as an alternative to political engagement and voting. The suggestions below are meant to help bridge that gap by showing that service activities can serve as the starting point for further political engagement. (Some information taken from YSA’s ServiceVote 2000 handbook.)

Suggestions

• Integrate campaign or electoral politics issues into a service-learning course or challenge students to connect their service with issues that are or should be on a candidates’ agenda.
• Create a service project around election issues (e.g. work with community-based organizations to register and educate voters in the local community, design education and information activities for students).
• Organize a service stop — Invite candidates to come to a service activity.
• Organize a service day — Invite campaign volunteers and candidates to participate in service projects specially organized to match their schedule.
• Organize a forum connecting a particular service activity with policy issues that are on or need to be on a candidate’s agenda.

See also Connecting service with voting – A program from Penn State University