The term “civic engagement” has become one of the more vague in public policy discussions. More than any other national organization, the Congressionally chartered National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC) has sought to bring clarity to this very important subject through survey research and promoting civic participation. Their annual “Civic Health Index” studies American civic engagement on activities ranging from voting to volunteering to many in between. For the last three years, NCoC has also focused on California for one of its state–level reports. To help dene the term, this year's report is divided into “political civic engagement” (voting and registering to vote, discussing politics with friends/neighbors) and “social civic engagement” (volunteering, having dinner with family, working on community problems).

As with so many things related to California, the 2010 California Civic Health Index illustrates both the challenges to and promises of building a healthy civic culture in the state. In both its political and social ndings, the results outlined in this report demonstrate that although Californians confront many hurdles to participation, they are responding positively with several engagement trend lines moving upward.

The data discussed in this survey demonstrate that California has great room for improvement when it comes to the civic engagement of its residents. But the data also suggest that there has been and will continue to be progress in this area. At a time when the prognosis for traditional political processes in California looks particularly bleak, residents and community leaders have an opportunity to work together in new ways to nd new processes to replace those that are failing.

VOTING
Californians seem to be mirroring the national average in many areas of civic engagement. They turned out to vote at nearly the same percentage seen nationally (63.4% and 63.6%, respectively), and at the midterm elections (47.8% in California and nationally). Although Californians are keeping up with the national average on most areas of civic engagement under review, the percentages remain well below ideal. California ranked 42nd among all states in voter–registration rate. While California saw a turnout of 68.2% of eligible voters, the national voter–registration rate for all eligible citizens in 2008 was 71.0%.

SOLVING PROBLEMS AND TALKING POLITICS
Community collaboration and discussion of politics are also important areas to consider in the assessment of civic engagement. In 2009, 8.3% of Californians worked with neighbors to x a problem, up from 5.7% in 2006 and just below the national average of 8.8%. Attention to and discussion of politics are also areas that should be reviewed. Rates of news consumption and discussion in California are somewhat below the national average. Thirty–three percent of Californians discussed politics with friends and family at least a few times a week, ranking 46th in the nation.

SERVICE AND VOLUNTEERING
Volunteers provide essential human capital needed to run many nonprofit and government service organizations. Between 2007 and 2009 an estimated 6.8 million Californians contributed their time to helping such organizations provide service to the larger community. In 2009, 24.6% of Californians reported volunteering at least once in the last 12 months, slightly lower than the national average of 26.8%; California ranks 39th among the states in percentage of residents who volunteer.

COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS
In 2009, 8.3% of Californians say they work with neighbors to improve the community, slightly below the national average of 8.8%. In this measure of engagement, California ranks 33rd in the nation. On a less formal level, 13.8% of Californians exchange favors with neighbors a few times a week while the average for the entire country is 15.9%. Another informal method of social engagement is family connectivity. Nationally, 89.1% of Americans eat dinner with their family a few times a week. California ranks 41st in the nation with 87.8% of residents reporting that they eat with their family a few times a week. Leadership and group membership are both strong predictors of other forms of civic engagement. In California, the percentage of group members who volunteer is 43.2% while 83.1% of group leaders volunteer. More than a quarter of leaders have also worked with neighbors to improve the community.