Wonkette (not that I read her, or anything) thinks that this expensively produced ad will actually turn off young voters, because it’s corny and unrealistic. It shows voting to be a “pointless charade enjoyed by gullible old people.”

I’m not certain what to think. On one hand, the spot advocates voting: for no particular purpose. I assume that people vote for or against something (often something controversial); but there is no hint in the ad of what those issues might be. The arguments it gives for voting are all personal and all positive, which makes it quite different from real political discourse. Also, I must say that I’m always suspicious of generic appeals to vote. Since voting per se is uncontroversial, a pro-voting ad is a safe way to promote a brand name without alienating anyone.

On the other hand, evidence from field experiments shows that young people are more likely to vote when someone tells them to–including when they are given nonpartisan messages that emphasize civic duty (pdf). This broadcast spot might work as well as a phone call; and we know that calls boost turnout. The URL advertised at the end leads to information about registering and voting, although there’s nothing on the site about issues or candidates.

During conference calls today, I idly searched for myself on Google Images. Here I am–at least, these are the search results for “Peter Levine.” You’re looking at a successful pop psychologist, the chairman of Lloyds of London, a cowboy singing dude, a rugby player, a runner, and a chef, among others.

Cindy Gibson has published a White Paper, funded by the Case Foundation, entitled “Citizens at the Center: A New Approach to Civic Engagement.” It’s groundbreaking because it asks funders, policymakers, and others to look beyond individual acts of civic participation, such as voting and volunteering, and instead to consider people’s collective work in naming, discussing, and addressing problems. If taken seriously, Cindy’s paper would cause major changes in philanthropy and policy throughout the fields of “service” and “citizenship.” I have posted somewhat more detailed comments on a discussion page that Case has set up; many others have weighed in as well.

I’m in Newark, New Jersey for a MacArthur Foundation conference on “Digital Media and Learning.” MacArthur is supporting a whole series of edited volumes on various aspects of this broad topic, including a book organized by Lance Bennett on digital media and civic engagement. For that volume, I have drafted a chapter about the benefits of using electronic media for civic purposes in schools. I also discuss the barriers to that kind of work. I examine a wide range of barriers, including the lack of training for teachers and limits on political advocacy; but I focus on the difficulty of building an appropriate audience for students’ products.

Today’s the day that the National Conference on Citizenship releases its new Civic Health Index and an accompanying report entitled Broken Engagement. My colleagues and I at CIRCLE analyzed the data for the Index–combining 40 different measures of civic participation–and helped to write the report, which depicts an erosion of public life over the last quarter century. Particularly striking to me is the big drop in the proportion of Americans who say that they work with others to address community problems–down from about 45% in the 1970s to about 25% in the current decade. The rate of membership in groups has not fallen. Put those two facts together, and it seems that groups have become less likely to promote community problem-solving. We belong to more mailing lists and dispersed professional associations, but fewer grassroots organizations.

Speakers at the launch of the report will include Attorney General Alberto Gonzales; former Senator Harris Wofford; Harvard professor Robert Putnam; John Bridgeland, formerly of the Bush administration; columnist E. J. Dionne; and Irasema Salcido, founder of the Chavez Charter School in Washington. I have several radio interviews scheduled to discuss the Index, and here is a Time Magazine piece about it.

[See also Amy Goldstein’s piece in the Washington Post.]