Book Review: Civic Service: What Difference Does It Make?

• Author: Donald E. Klingner
• Date: 01 September 2005
• DOI: 10.1177/0734371X04271155
• Published date: 01 September 2005
• Subject Matter: Articles

REVIEWOFPUBLICPERSONNELADMINISTRATION/Sept.2005

BOOKREVIEWS

Perry, James L., & Thomson, AnnMarie. (2003). Civic service: What differ-

ence does it make? Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 248 pp.

DOI: 10.1177/0734371X04271155

In this book, Perry and Thomson assess the impact of a broad range of

civil service programs in the United States and identify the policy implica-

tions of these evaluations for the future of civil service. Their conclusions

are based on a synthesis of the results of more than 100 studies on civic ser-

vice programs, such as the Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930s and

the AmeriCorps program (begun during the Clinton administration).

For Perry and Thomson, civic service combines the essentially private

elements of volunteerism as an individual response to perceived commu-

nity needs and the instrumental value of such responses for public institu-

tions. Although civic service thus embodies the critical link between citi-

zenship and public service, it is both poorly understood and inadequately

researched.

The book is organized into four sections: (a) ideological and historical

context, (b) evidence and methods, (c) research synthesis findings, and (d)

summing up and taking stock. First, the ideological basis for democratic

society has historically included voluntary participation as a civic virtue and

a system requirement. When tied to specific policy objectives such as con-

servation, international development, or the eradication of poverty, it has

resulted in the development of programs, such as the Civilian Conservation

Corps, the Peace Corps, or AmeriCorps, that use civic service as a problem-

solving strategy.

Second, although the evidence on which to base an evaluation of civic

service outcomes is often case based and diverse (the authors list these stud-

ies on pp. 47-48), it is adequate as a basis for generating experimen-

tal hypotheses about the relationship between civic service and program

outcomes or identifying implementation factors likely to affect outcome

effectiveness.

Third, the authors’ synthesis of these research findings leads them to

conclude that civic service has definable outcomes for servers, beneficiaries,

institutions, and the community. For servers, it generates skill develop-

ment, civic responsibility, educational opportunity, self-esteem, and toler-

ance for diversity. Civic service not only develops and deepens the institu-

tions that provide these services, but it also strengthens the community in

288

BOOK REVIEWS

Review of Public Personnel Administration,Vol. 25, No. 3 September 2005 288-295

© 2005 Sage Publications