National Service, Citizenship, and Political Education

Eric B. Gorham is Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Loyola University, New Orleans.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroductionPart I: A Critique of National Service 1. National Service, Political Socialization, and Citizenship2. National Service: The Debate over Current Proposals3. The Creation and Structure of National Service4. Registering and Training Service Participants5. Testing and Vocational Education6. The Theory and Practice of Service and Service-Learning7. Political Education in Service Programs Part II: A Democratic Alternative to Service 8. National Service in Institutional Perspective9. Educating Adults Politically10. National Service as Political ServiceNotesSelected BibliographyIndex

"Political socialization has long been a theoretical sore spot in political science. Gorham has demonstrated its weaknesses as a conceptual scheme for interpreting citizenship, and he has opened up a new area of investigation for political scientists and theorists concerned about the current debates and proposals for a new national service. His argument has historical depth, theoretical rigor, and immediate practical implications." — Stephen L. Esquith, James Madison College of Michigan State University"Gorham's book is stimulating and provocative. It contributes to a growing body of thought on the importance of a new public philosophy, one that emphasizes politics and community as necessary and positive dimensions in individual life. His criticism and prescriptions for national service policy should take center stage in the current debate." — Richard T. Green, University of Wyoming"Citizenship has become a topic of central concern to political scientists and political theorists in the last few years, and Eric Gorham's book is an important contribution to the intellectual debate on the subject. National Service, Citizenship, and Political Education is a masterly analysis of the arguments surrounding the national service debate, and provides further evidence of the major contribution political theorists can make to understanding the public policy process." — Alan Ware, Worcester College, Oxford University