But after the opening lecture, citizens in the abstract become taxpayers, voters, and constituents, members of interest groups, and Constitutionally protected individuals in the concrete. The skills taught in mainstream civics reflect this understanding. As Americans we have the God-given right to plead, complain, and make demands, as individuals and in organized groups, to have our problems solved. Through community service, young people directly work to end problems like hunger, homelessness, and drug abuse. Reflection components are designed to help young people process, and learn from, their experiences.
Service is seen as an alternative to politics and as a remedy for the failures of government.
It is also the ability to engage in the caring that nurtures that interconnectedness. It is a virtue that everyone should strive for . . . So while service teaches young people an active understanding of citizenship, the public and political nature of citizenship goes largely unexamined. Unlike both mainstream civics and most service learning programs, Public Achievement's perspective on civic education works to bring young people into both the processes of decision making and taking action, and helps them see this as the expressly political work of the citizen.