Americans turned out in force for the 2008 Presidential Election with over 133 million ballots cast. Voters were heeding the call for change, but will citizens continue to be involved beyond Election Day? "Beyond the Vote" was the theme of the 2008 National Conference on Citizenship. Panel discussions and America's Civic Health Index results released at the conference delve into the issue of promoting more committed civic involvement. How do we sustain engagement, how do we transfer electoral energy into our communities, and how do we tap our nation's greatest resource, our citizens?

The 2008 Civic Health Index reveals that Americans overwhelmingly support changes in law and policy that would institutionalize civic involvement. Eighty-seven percent of Americans support tuition assistance for community or national service and 80 percent support a national deliberation on key issues.

How we talk about engagement is as important as what we talk about. Nearly one third of CHI survey respondents felt they did not know what the phrase "civic engagement" meant. "Service" "Citizenship" and "Democracy" – words often associated with the civic engagement - are not words that most Americans connect to active civic involvement. Thirteen percent of respondents reacted negatively to "democracy." A sobering statistic.

So how do we involve citizens in solving our most important problems? See what some experts have to say and let us know what you think.