The 2008 election has drawn relatively high levels of citizen participation. Voter turnout in the primaries was the highest since 1972, according to the Center for the Study of the American Electorate1; and some Americans have been inspired to participate in ways that go beyond voting—from knocking on doors to making political videos. In our survey:

52% said they had tried to persuade someone else to vote for or against a particular candidate;

39% said they had watched an Internet video that supported or opposed a presidential candidate;

33% had watched a presidential candidate’s speech online;

26% said they had displayed a bumper-sticker or poster or worn a button related to the campaign;

15% said they had given money to a candidate or party;

13% said they had attended a political meeting or rally; and

7% said they had volunteered for a presidential campaign2

News reports about large numbers of campaign contributors and large crowds at political rallies in 2008—combined with the comparatively high rates of participation found in our survey—suggest that this is a remarkably participatory election.3

In short, many Americans are engaged right now—talking and thinking about issues and personally taking action. Their engagement provides an opportunity to broaden and deepen democracy and civil society in the United States.

But there is no guarantee that electoral participation in the presidential election will translate into continued political participation or other forms of civic engagement beyond November. Voter turnout spiked in 1992, for example, yet the 1990s were generally a period of low voting and political activity. We also know that non- political forms of engagement, such as joining voluntary groups and attending local meetings, may decline when voting rises. The NCoC’s 2006 Civic Health Index found “consistent” and “relentless” declines in “community connectedness—attending meetings, belonging to groups, trusting other people, and the like,” even though “political activities and expression of political views” had increased in recent years.4

This year’s survey finds that participating in non-political civic activities, such as volunteering, does not predict how excited individuals are about the election, once we statistically control for other factors, such as age, ethnicity, and educational background. In other words, electoral participation is different from volunteer service, and increasing the former does not automatically boost the latter.

To compound the challenge, participation and enthusiasm in the 2008 election so far have been highly uneven. In our survey, 19% of respondents called the campaign “exciting and inspiring,” 22% said “satisfactory”; 12% said “irrelevant,” but 43% said “frustrating.”5 The low proportion who called the campaign “irrelevant” suggests that most people do think it matters. But the group who chose the word “frustrated” to describe their feelings was more than twice as large as the “excited” group. There were significant differences by party-identification, race, and age.