We have reached what many observers believe is a crisis of democracy. In the election of 2000, only 42 percent of 18-24 year-old citizens turned out nationally, compared with 70 percent of citizens 25 and older. Nationally, youth voting declined by 13 percentage points from 1972 to 2000. Other forms of youth civic participation also have declined over time. For example, youth volunteer at lower rates today than their parents, who volunteered less than their parents.

The crisis of democracy is a crisis of citizenship. Citizenship has become optional. If citizenship was a sport, many of us would be spectators. We need to embrace the challenge from President Bush’s inaugural speech, “I ask you to be citizens. Citizens, not spectators. Citizens, not subjects. Responsible citizens, building communities of service and a nation of character.”

IU is among 180 colleges and universities working to change how we view our roles as citizens. The university campuses are participating in the American Democracy Project, a national initiative of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities and the New York Times.

The project rests on a core belief that civic engagement—working to make a difference in the civic life of our communities— is critical for the vitality of American democracy. As IUPUI Chancellor Charles Bantz stated during his installation last December: “We have a special obligation to be good citizens in a place where individuals, families and organizations demonstrate extraordinary commitment to community.”

As voting statistics indicate, many Americans, particularly young people, have tuned out of politics. Their reasons for doing so are understandable. In our current political culture, many politicians come across as conniving and insincere.

As true as this image may seem, how long can people who find fault with our public life stand idly by without risking irreversible damage to our civic institutions? Benjamin Franklin reminded us of democracy’s fragility. Upon exiting the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Franklin was asked what sort of government the delegates had created. His answer: “A republic, if you can keep it.”

For many Americans, the lesson of Sept. 11, 2001 is that our way of life is both precious and at risk. It would be ironic if we were to win both the war in Iraq and the fight for Iraq’s democracy at the same time democracy at home becomes meaningless—but we face that very prospect in the gradual erosion of our obligations as citizens.

We all have an obligation to give back, which makes us neither heroes nor altruists. Giving back is the price of membership in this great country. William F. Buckley, the noted conservative intellect, labels this sentiment gratitude. William Galston, a professor at the University of Maryland and former adviser to President Clinton, views giving back as simple reciprocity—the golden rule. Gratitude and reciprocity are the impulses of good citizens.

There is much we can do to make our gratitude, our reciprocity, real rather than merely sloganeering. When I ask students what citizenship requires of us, their initial list of answers is typically short. As students reflect further about what it means to be citizens, their list can grow quite long. I offer some ideas below that by no means exhaust what we can do to make our citizenship real:

• Vote. Voting has always been understood as one of the basic rights of citizenship. But more and more Americans, particularly young people, see voting as a choice, not a duty or obligation.

• Participate as a volunteer in the electoral process. Did you realize that it will take more than a million volunteers to run this year’s elections in the 200,000 polling places across America? The Election Assistance Commission (http://www.eac.gov), created as a result of the election administration problems of the 2000 elections, is recruiting poll workers and one of their incentives is offering scholarships for college students.

• Serve on a jury. A bedrock principle of our legal system is trial by a jury of our peers. This principle is a hollow promise, however, if we us leave jury service to others. Recent evidence indicates we are doing just that, with avoidance of jury duty running at rates over 50 percent.

• Volunteer in a community organization. Steve Miller, former president and chair of the board of Shell Oil, argued in a recent presentation at IUPUI that corporations are not the best situations for learning the skills that effective top corporate leaders need. He noted that community volunteering is far more useful for learning the creative and persuasive skills that tomorrow’s leaders need.

• Take a service learning or community-based course.

• Join an advocacy group, such as the Democracy Action Project, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, American Civil Liberties Union or the National Rifle Association. America has been a model to the rest of the world for almost two centuries because of our rich associational life. Associations provide all of us the opportunity to band together with like-minded citizens to pursue our common interests. If you feel passionately about something and can not find an organization that serves your needs, then consider starting your own.

• Participate in an Internet discussion forum about an issue important to you. Internet sites like Meetup.com and Youth04 offer new options for getting involved in civic life.

• Communicate your views to your local newspaper or a public official. Our concerns about the unresponsiveness of public officials and the press become self-fulfilling prophecies if we do not communicate to people who matter.

Whatever your status at IU—undergraduate or graduate student, faculty, staff or other—I hope you will join in our collective commitment to building a distinctive experience in civic engagement at Indiana University.

Jim Perry is also chair of the Indiana Governor’s Commission on Community Service and Volunteerism.