Working Paper by OSUN's Jonathan Becker Defines Civic Engagement for the 21st Century

The Democracy Institute at Central European University has published a new working paper by Jonathan Becker, Vice Chancellor of OSUN and Director of Bard College’s Center for Civic Engagement, that interrogates the meaning of civic engagement, a term used frequently but rarely defined.

In “What Civic Engagement Is…And Is Not,” Becker attempts to make sense of several theoretical issues that impede discussions about civic engagement while providing insights to help practitioners act thoughtfully. He pays particular attention to university environments, where civic engagement can inspire youth and promote innovative teaching and research.

Ultimately, he argues in favor of the “civic engagement wager,” explaining that when members of a community purposefully work with others to promote the common good, individuals and society are more likely to benefit than under circumstances where citizens are disengaged or excluded. While civic engagement is not a panacea, it is an endeavor worth understanding and promoting because it can help foster individual development while addressing societal needs.

Becker discusses the association of civic engagement with participatory democracy and tries to disentangle the two terms. He clarifies that civic engagement is not politically neutral, nor does it necessarily stand in opposition to government or business. He also states that civic engagement does not only occur in democracies. 

The definition he arrives at is: “In the 21st century, civic engagement means recurrent and purposeful efforts by members of a community, who through their voluntary interaction with others, seek to promote the common good – locally, nationally, or globally – by means of political and non-political processes and actions.
  
“While civic engagement may not be the magic elixir to ensure democracy, its presence is necessary for democracy to emerge or thrive,” writes Becker. The alternative, he claims, is a “party/state that closely governs even the most mundane individual action and which mediates effectively all forms of public engagement so that any form of autonomous collective action is impossible.” 

Becker asserts that a personal and social benefit associated with civic engagement is that it provides a “pathway to individual agency, whereby individuals, acting as a part of a collective, can impact society and societal choices.” Civic engagement can also address issues related to equity and inclusion, giving voice to the marginalized or oppressed, and gives voice to youths who are systematically underrepresented in decision-making, particularly in the political sphere. 

The paper concludes with a quote from Michele Pierre-Louis, Former Prime Minister of Haiti, who says that “civic engagement requires of each one of us a sense of our common humanity, our common human condition, and a decision to take the risk of transposing this belief into action to improve living conditions.”

Read the working paper here

Post Date: April 11, 2023