Connecting to civic and religious groups: Such groups are the seedbeds of democracy. They recruit and educate citizens, bring them together for discussion, and increase their capacity for improving society.
•Belong to group or organization: 48%
•Attend a club meeting: 27%
•Work on a community project: 19%
•Attend religious services at least once a month: 39%

Trusting other people: Trust correlates with associational membership because one must have at least limited trust in at least some others before one can work with them voluntarily; and collaborative work often enhances trust.
•Definitely or generally agree that most people are honest: 67% •Definitely or generally agree that most people try to be helpful: 58%

Connecting to others through family and friends: Close interaction with families and/or friends promotes health and well-being and supports civil society by providing the information, encouragement, and networks that people need to engage in larger groups and communities.
•Whole family eats dinner together: 60%
•Spend a lot of time visiting friends: 40%
•Spend a lot of time communication with others using a computer, cell phone, or other electronic device: 58%

Citizen-centered engagement: “Citizen-centered” engagement means bringing diverse groups of citizens together both to discuss and define an issue and to work voluntarily to address it. Citizen-centered engagement thus combines deliberation with action.
•Attend a community meeting in which there was a discussion of community affairs: 16%
•Work with other people in your neighborhood to solve a community problem: 13%
•Try to change local policies in a place like a school, workplace, college or neighborhood: 8%

Giving and Volunteering: Voluntary contributions of time and money address serious public problems and support civil society.
•Volunteer: 40%
•Willing to spend more time volunteering: 40%

Staying informed: Valuable participation requires information, which can be gleaned from other citizens, the news media, the Internet, and many other sources.
•Generally follow news about the government and public affairs: 62%
•Use the internet at least once a week to gather information about politics, a social issue, or a community problem: 18%
•Watch a presidential candidate’s speech online: 21%
•Watch an online video in support of or opposition to a presidential candidate: 21%

Understanding civics and politics: Related to the previous category, these measures measure to what degree Americans feel informed.
•Feel able to understand politics and government: 45%

Participating in politics: Regardless of one’s political views and attitudes toward government, it is important to influence democratic institutions.
•Voted in the 2008 Presidential Election: 78%
•Since the election, contacted elected officials about any issues that were discussed during the campaign: 12%
•Tried to persuade friends about an issue that was discussed: 33%

Trusting and feeling connected to major institutions: Trust in government and the mass media can be understood as a subjective attitude that often (but not invariably) correlates with taking voluntary political action. Trust can also be understood as a measure of how trustworthy our institutions actually are.
•My vote matters: 70%
•People like me have a say: 47%
•Government in Washington generally does what is right: 26%
•Confidence in the people who run the press, such as newspapers, and news magazines: 10% have “a great deal” of trust (and 58% have some trust)

Expressing political views: Voting is a powerful means of making choices, but it communicates the voter’s views very imperfectly. Fortunately, citizens have other opportunities to say more precisely what they believe about public issues.
•Write a letter or email to the editor of a newspaper or magazine: 5%
•Try to talk to someone about why they should vote for a candidate or party: 32%
•Wear a campaign button, put a campaign sticker on the car, or place a campaign poster in the window or in front of the house: 18%
•Express opinions about political or social or community Issues by…
- Email: 45% •Blog: 5%
- Writing on Someone Else’s Blog: 9%
- Social networking site: 17%
- Facebook causes Application: 7%
- Making a photo, video, audio: 7%
- Commenting on Someone Else’s photo, video, audio: 14%
- Chat room: 7% •Instant Messaging: 14%
- Text messaging: 17%
- Voting in favor or against a video or news story on YouTube or Digg: 8%