WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR YOUR COUNTRY - ARGUMENTS FOR AND AGAINST CLINTON NATIONAL SERVICE LEGISLATION

This paper outlines the National Service legislation in the USA introd uced by President Clinton in 1993. It summarises some of the reasons w hy national service has attracted widespread popular and political sup port and considers the claims made for national service. These include : the potential of service for helping to overcome growing socio-spati al segregation in the USA; its contribution to solving urgent social p roblems; and its value in reconstructing the welfare agenda, replacing entitlements with programmes which emphasise the reciprocal responsib ilities of those receiving aid. Some pilot programmes are examined and the claims of proponents of national service are then examined, putti ng service legislation in the wider context of the challenges facing t he American welfare state and drawing lessons which may be of wider ap plicability.