Civic Service in North America

Abstract

Civic service is well established in North America, where the United States and Canada are among the world leaders. The evolution of civic service has not been a story of continuous growth but rather one of episodic and cyclical development. The past decade’s events indicate that civic service is in a new cycle of growth and innovation. Among the reasons for the health of civic service in North America are the institutional structures there that define it. Civic service institutions in Mexico, largely because of its status as a developing country, are less accessible and less supportive of the service role than institutions in the rest of North America, where civic service is widely accessible to all types of servers and all social sectors are legitimately perceived as civic service providers. Open access is complemented by incentives and support for servers and organizations providing service opportunities. Several priorities are identified for further research.