At a moment when America is at war abroad and divided at home, it is time to embrace a simple but powerful idea: every young American between the ages of 18 and 28 should be required to give at least one year of service to the nation.
The United States today asks remarkably little of its citizens in return for the blessings of liberty.
Fewer than 1% of Americans serve on active duty in the armed forces. Sacrifice fades from national consciousness, and decisions about war and peace are made by leaders who have little connection to those who fight. The distance between the nation and those who defend it grows wider. And in such a system it becomes easier to believe that service to the country is someone else’s duty.
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A required year of national service — military or civilian — would begin to close that distance.
Imagine a generation that begins adulthood not only with personal ambition but a common commitment. Some would serve in the armed forces. Others would teach children struggling to read, rebuild communities after disasters, conserve forests and waterways, or care for the elderly. The work would vary. The purpose would be shared.
National service would also cultivate something critical in public life: character.
Character is not formed in comfort. It is formed in responsibility — in rising early to meet a task larger than oneself, working alongside people who think differently and learning discipline, resilience and humility. These are not abstract virtues, but habits developed through experience.
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The architects of our republic understood this truth. A self-governing nation requires citizens capable of self-government who recognize freedom is sustained not only by rights, but by duties.
Today, many Americans worry that public life suffers from a deficit of character. Leadership too often rewards division over duty. The pursuit of power and self-aggrandizement eclipse the spirit of public service. A year of service can help shape a generation with a depth of character, duty, and commitment to the nation’s ideals.
Service also brings Americans together at a time when our politics pushes us apart.
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National service would place young Americans with different beliefs and from every corner of the country in shared work. A student from Boston might rebuild homes with a peer from rural Alabama. A young woman from Los Angeles might tutor children alongside a young man from Iowa. In the process, stereotypes fade into friendships and suspicions yield to understanding. Shared effort has always been one of the most powerful antidotes to division.
The idea itself is deeply rooted in American history. Nearly every president since Washington has discussed the centrality of service to our nation’s health. In times of crisis, Americans have repeatedly answered the call to serve on a vast scale. During World War II, millions entered military service while millions more labored in factories, fields and civil defense to support the nation.
But service has also shaped America in times of peace. During the Great Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps put millions of young Americans to work restoring forests, building parks and protecting natural treasures. The program provided jobs and dignity in a time of hardship while leaving a national legacy.
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We need that spirit of shared commitment again.
Some will argue that mandatory civilian service violates the Constitution. We have legal guidance that such a program could provide choices for those who serve to avoid the 13th Amendment prohibition against involuntary servitude, the 5th Amendment prohibition against deprivation of liberty, and challenges under the 1st Amendment protection of free speech.
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Others will say the program is too expensive, but the $40 billion needed from the federal government for living stipends and education awards in exchange for service represents 0.5% of the annual federal budget. The nonprofit sector could chip in, given the increased human capital to meet their public missions. And the benefits to those who serve, like the GI Bill, would enable more to go to college and find productive work.
Still others will say America’s greatest value is liberty and that we ought not compel such service. We believe Americans will do more to protect liberty, the Constitution and rule of law if they have the experience of serving their country. One year in a lifetime is not too much to ask.
America has always been defined not only by individual aspiration but common purpose. We built railroads across a continent, lifted generations from poverty and reached the moon because we believed great challenges required collective effort.
Today we face challenges no less demanding: renewing trust in institutions, healing divisions, providing opportunity, revitalizing democracy and sustaining alliances to preserve peace.
A year of national service will not solve every problem. But it would do something just as important. It would remind Americans — especially the next generation — that the country belongs to them and that its future depends on their willingness to serve it.
John Bridgeland is former Director of the White House Domestic Policy and post-9/11 National Service Czar. He co-chairs More Perfect, an alliance of 43 Presidential Centers and 100 partners working to revitalize democracy.
