We know that Americans will engage in many ways after the election. For instance, recent federal surveys have found that 26-28 percent of adults—more than 60 million Americans—volunteer each year.8 And more than half of all Americans are members of at least one voluntary group or association—55% in our survey and 62% in the 2004 General Election Survey. Consistent with historic trends, these forms of engagement will no doubt continue after Election Day.

It is a different question whether Americans will act voluntarily on issues that were specifically raised during the political campaign. We asked people whether they expect to engage after the election in any of four possible ways:

1 contacting elected officials about issues raised in the campaign,

2 contacting the media about such issues,

3 discussing such issues with friends, and

4 working to change local policies in schools, workplaces, etc.

We expected inflated results due to social desirability bias and unrealistic expectations. Sixty-two percent said that they might do at least one of these things; but each specific action drew fairly low responses and 38% of respondents answered that they would “definitely not” or “probably not” do any of these activities (which were asked as separate questions).

There were significant differences among the various forms of engagement. Contacting the media and elected officials were much less likely than talking to friends and working on local policies. 9