Civic & Democratic Engagement

What is Civic Engagement?

Civic engagement is contributing and working to make a difference in the public (or civic) life of our communities and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values and commitment to make that difference. It means promoting the quality of life in a community and solving public problems, through both political and non-political processes. Civic engagement is undergirded by constructs of collective action and social responsibility. (Ehrlich, 2000). Democratic engagement is a component of civic engagement.

What is Democratic Engagement?

Democratic engagement is the practice of engaged citizenship (defined as membership in a community) through democratic mechanisms and principles. Politics, and agency within political processes, is a particularly important component of democratic engagement. Politics is a process by which a group of people, whose opinions or interests might be divergent, reach collective agreements that are generally regarded as binding on the group and enforced as common or public policy (AAC&U, NASPA).  Specifically being here in the United States, democratic engagement means being involved in our democracy, contributing positively to our communities through our democratic government/political process.