Name(s): _______________________________________________________________________________
Step I – Brainstorm & Choose a Problem, Issue, or Policy to Address in Your
Civic Action Project
What problems or issues within your community would you like to improve? What role does public policy play in
these problems or issues? (Perhaps an existing policy isn’t effective, or perhaps a new policy could help improve
your identified problem.) Effective community members are able to solve problems and understand the role that
policy plays in doing so. You can make a difference by identifying a problem or an issue that you care about and
taking civic actions to try to improve your community. You will be completing a Civic Action Project. Through this
project, you will make an impact on an issue, problem, or policy of your choice, while exploring connections
between the issue, your actions, and policy.
1. Brainstorm! Consider problems affecting your community (and beyond.) What would like to see
improved? Create a list of all the problems, issues, and/or problematic policies that come to mind. Don’t
limit yourself when brainstorming – write down anything and everything that comes to mind. (One
example is provided for you.)
Creates problems for teens who
work late
I think City Council passed it around 5 yrs. Ago
– will need to check
Local
curfew
ordinance
for youth
VERY unfair policy for
anyone under 18
for youth
PROBLEMS,
ISSUES,
and/or
PROBLEMATIC
POLICIES
2. Narrow Down Your Ideas: Once you finish your brainstorm, review your ideas and decide which of the
problems are the most important to you and which problems you can fix. Consider which of your
identified problems:
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Touches your life the most? You will probably work best on problems that are part of your life.
Most affects other people in the community? They may want to help.
Needs to be fixed soon? More people will want to work on an urgent problem.
Will be interesting to work on? You’ll work harder if it interests you.
Could you affect the most?
Would you learn the most from?
After considering these questions, narrow down your brainstorm to 2-3 ideas:
3. How does your identified problem(s) connect to policy?
 Policy- A principle, plan, or course of action, as pursued by a government, organization, or
individual.
 Public policies- The policies that governments adopt to solve problems.
Policies are established ways of doing things. You have ways of doing things, and so do businesses and
government. We all adopt policies to solve problems. A policy can be a principle, e.g., a company
pledges to make a special effort to employ homeless people. A policy can be a plan, e.g., an individual
creates a budget plan to save $50 a month. A policy can be a course of action, e.g., a city develops a
program to feed homeless people at a shelter. Many policies are translated into law by government
action. For example, to control drunk-driving deaths, a state may pass tougher drunk-driving laws. These
laws in turn may require administrative action, such as enforcement by police.
You may not see it right away, but for most public problems, there is a policy implication. For example:
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Enforcing an Existing Policy- Let’s say you are concerned about cars speeding in your neighborhood.
Even though drivers are supposed to know the speed limit for a residential street, you notice that
there is no posted speed limit on any of the streets in the vicinity. Your CAP is about getting the city
to better enforce the policy on your street by posting a speed limit sign. If just posting it isn’t
enough, a next step might be to get the city to take further measures such as installing speed
bumps.
Creating a New Policy - You notice that huge amounts of paper are in the trash cans at school. You
want your school to create a new recycling policy, which may include placing recycling cans next to
the trash cans.
Modifying an Existing Policy - Your city has a curfew ordinance that applies to people under the age
of 16. You and many people you know have summer jobs that require you to be out after curfew.
You want to persuade the city to change the existing policy to make exceptions for teenagers who
are working at night.
Eliminating an Existing Policy - In one of the CAP lessons there is the example of students working
with school administrators to eliminate the policy of locked restrooms during the school day.
Consider your final 2-3 ideas and describe what you think their connection(s) to policy might be:
4. Why do you want to work on this? What’s your buy-in? You need to be able to convince others
(including your teacher or group leader) that the problem, issue, or policy you want to work on is
important. Do a final review of your ideas and determine which you care most about, would be most
interested in taking a stand on, could most likely impact in a positive way, and would enable you to
convince others of its importance.
Choose your final problem that you would like to address in your CAP project and brainstorm it in in
your description can help you make a compelling case. In addition to your written description, try to
collect evidence to make your case. Evidence might include taking photos, attaching artic les or URL links
that show why this problem, issue, or policy needs to be addressed. You will use this first draft of
Final problem/issue you hope to work on in your CAP:
POSSIBLE CAUSES
(of this problem)
POSSIBLE EFFECTS
(how is the problem impacting the
community)
Why do you care about this issue? Why should other people care?
You will use this brainstormed information to create a final CAP proposal that you submit to your teacher or
group leader for approval.