CIVICS, in its broadest signification, may be taken to include the activities of the citizen in his relationship to the State and society in general. Formerly it meant the study of civil Govern ment. "Civics" is defined as follows : "The science and con sideration of the structure and administration of local, state and national government ; of the development in the public mind of the will for constructive, intelligent and healthful participation in the work which governments—local, State and national—are empowered by the people to perform ; and of the development of the procedures and processes which make for the greatest good of the greatest number in the governmental and group relations of all social units." "Civics" embraces much more than a study of or dissertation on structures and functions, or a general inter pretation of laws applying to these. It includes public-minded ness ; the creation of right attitudes toward public duties; the formation of habits of helpful, constructive, participating citizen ship; the development of activities which result in effective par ticipation in good government ; the consideration and application of procedures and processes which will result in the greatest good for the greatest number in all social units, big or little. The more modern textbooks on civics make the formal study of civil gov ernment only a part, and far from the largest part of their treat ment. They teach the essential facts concerning sanitation; personal and community hygiene ; fire prevention ; care of the water supply; and a long list of other public activities. Whatever affects the well-being of social co-operative units is considered a part of civics even more than the purely governmental phases of the handling of such units.
In an address before a Congressional committee which had under consideration the operations of the U.S. Housing Corpora tion, the secretary of the American Civic Association, Harlean James, made this distinction between a social worker and a civic worker :—"A social worker deals with those persons who fall below the level of self-support either financially, physically or morally, and this holds true even when an effort is exerted to prevent any of these catastrophies. The civic worker deals with those persons who are sufficiently above the level of self-support financially, physically, mentally and morally to be in a position to contribute to the improvement of the community. Community improvement may be accelerated by good governmental ma chinery, but it is not the inevitable result of reform in municipal, county or state forms of government." A well-known writer of books under this heading, Mabel Hill, described "civics" as it is presented in high schools and junior colleges, as a study of the "social life in municipalities," and that life includes in its social relationships the Government of the town and city, the State and Federal Government, the institutions, social and ethical, as well as political, and sometimes, though not by any means always, would include religious institutions. Such a survey of municipal life, whether in the small manufacturing village or crowded metropolis gives opportunity to touch upon the theory of present government and the possibilities of changes that may occur because of trade unions. Likewise, "civics" should include the problem of the rural town and its relation to public service through agricultural interests; but above all, the teaching of "civics" should be a presentation of insistent opportunity for practice of the laws of sound citizenship and the ideals of the better citizenship for the future.
Sundry national, State and local volunteer organizations, es pecially in the United States, have the word "civics" in their titles. One of the oldest of these, the National Civic Federation, has an elaborate programme of activities, ranging from inter national relations to the individual voter, including economic and industrial questions and the relation of capital and labour. It grew out of the old Chicago Civic Federation, which was origi nally just what its name implied, a federation of local bodies interested in city or civic affairs. The American Civic Association which was formed of the merger of the American Park and Out door Art Association and the American League for Civic Im provement is concerned with the improvement of physical condi tions in city, State and nation.
Generally speaking at the present time civic organizations are motivated by the broader idea of civics. Their objectives are no longer of a strictly political nature; their objectives now include the well being, physical and economic as well as political, of the individuals in the social unit. This broader meaning in practice of the word "civics" is largely due to the modern textbooks on the subject. (C. R. W.)