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H IGH LIGH T S FROM “To a remarkable extent given their relatively small size, the CCC, VISTA, and AmeriCorps reflect the policymaking ethos and political controversies of their eras, illuminating principles that hold well beyond the field of national service.” s “Paradoxically, the best way to encourage national service and make it an option for all who want it is to abjure the goal of making it a requirement for everyone.” s “How well the CCC fit or did not fit the changing definitions of national service and citizenship are not the only reasons that Congress ended it. . . . Political reasons—some unique to the times, others due to the changing nature of the times, and still others consistent across time—also played a role.” s “That VISTA survived is a testament to its ideological and programmatic flexibility and to defenses afforded by the post–New Deal political system, which allowed it to overcome more resistance than the CCC ever faced. Still, surviving is not thriving: VISTA remained small and beleaguered. As a result, policy entrepreneurs interested in creating an American national service institution quickly looked elsewhere for ideas and inspiration.” s “In President Clinton, domestic civilian national service found its strongest advocate and defender since Franklin Roosevelt. But just as FDR’s strong support proved a double-edged sword for the CCC, so did Clinton’s support for AmeriCorps : it immensely benefited—and imperiled—his signature program.” s “By placing members’ service work in its larger civic and political context, by more clearly connecting service to other aspects of citizenship, and by more clearly highlighting the role played by nonprofit organizations and especially government, AmeriCorps can better fulfill its potential as public policy for democracy.” BROOKINGS INSTITUTION PRESS Washington, D.C. www.brookings.edu/press THE POLITICS AND CIVICS OF NATIONAL SERVICE ...

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