National service and the ideal of community: a commentary on What You Can Do for Your Country

When faced with any of a number of societal problems, 20th‐century American intellectuals and public officials have found a ready answer in the ideal of community. Whatever the difficulty, these thinkers argue, the solution hinges on restoring a sense of community to American society. In this essay, the most recent example of this inclination in the report of the Commission on National and Community Service, What You Can Do for Your Country, is explored. As the Commission sees it, the best vehicle for establishing this sense of community is the introduction of programmes of national and community services in schools and in society at large. The essay examines the recommendations of the Commission and employs a case study of community building in a middle school in Indiana to consider the difficulties involved in such efforts.