Abstract
The state of civic participation in the U.S. is the subject of much hand-wringing. The lament is generally that citizens are withdrawn - that civic life is less vibrant than it once was and should be. This book review welcomes Downsizing Democracy: How America Sidelined its Citizens and Privatized its Public, by Matthew Crenson & Benjamin Ginsburg (2002), as an alternative to the tendency to blame citizens for the current malaise. Crenson & Ginsburg make the case that the government itself has disinvited civic participation in several key ways. The author observes that, notwithstanding this lack of invitation, citizens can and should still take on themselves the responsibility for civic action - not just in traditional political spheres, but in the myriad venues of our everyday lives.