Extended Learning

A. Congratulations!

You have earned the Citizenship in the Community merit badge — one of the badges required for Eagle Scout. You have mapped your community, attended a government meeting, investigated a local issue, volunteered your time, and presented what makes your community unique. That is a lot of ground covered, and you should be proud of the effort you put in. But citizenship does not stop when you sign off on the last requirement. The skills and habits you have built here are meant to last a lifetime.

B. How Communities Are Shaped

The Power of Local Planning

Every building, road, park, and business in your community exists because someone planned for it. Local planning and zoning shape the physical character of a town — where houses can be built, where businesses can operate, how tall buildings can be, and how much green space is preserved.

Planning commissions and zoning boards hold public hearings where citizens can weigh in on proposed changes. A new apartment complex on the edge of town, a cell tower near a school, a gas station on a historic street — all of these require public review. The people who show up to these meetings have an outsized influence on the outcome, because most people never attend.

Understanding how planning works gives you real power. If you care about what your community looks like in 10 or 20 years, start paying attention to the planning commission now. Many communities even allow young people to serve on youth advisory boards that feed into the planning process.

Here are some concepts worth understanding:

• Zoning divides a community into areas designated for specific uses (residential, commercial, industrial, mixed-use). It prevents a factory from being built next to a school.
• Comprehensive plans are long-term visions that guide how a community will grow and change over decades.
• Variances are exceptions to zoning rules granted to property owners with unique circumstances.
• Eminent domain is the government’s power to take private property for public use (like building a highway), with compensation to the owner. It is one of the most debated powers in local government.

Civic Technology

Technology is changing how citizens interact with their governments. Many communities now offer digital tools that make participation easier than ever.

311 systems let residents report potholes, broken streetlights, graffiti, and other non-emergency issues through an app or website. The reports are tracked and routed to the right department automatically. Some cities publish dashboards showing how quickly issues are resolved.

Open data portals publish government information — budgets, crime statistics, inspection results, permit applications — in formats anyone can download and analyze. Civic hackers and journalists use this data to hold governments accountable and identify patterns.

Online public comment systems allow citizens to submit testimony on proposed laws and regulations without attending a meeting in person. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many governments expanded virtual participation options, and many have kept them.

Participatory budgeting is a process where residents directly decide how to spend a portion of the public budget. Cities like New York, Chicago, and dozens of smaller communities have used this approach to fund parks, school improvements, and infrastructure projects based on residents’ votes.

These tools lower the barrier to participation. You do not need to take time off work, find childcare, or drive across town to have a voice in your government. But they work best when citizens actually use them.

C. Youth Civic Engagement

Why Young Voices Matter

There is a common myth that you need to be old enough to vote before you can influence your community. That is simply not true. Young people have driven some of the most significant civic movements in American history.

In the 1960s, young people were at the forefront of the civil rights movement — organizing sit-ins, freedom rides, and voter registration drives. The 26th Amendment, which lowered the voting age from 21 to 18, was ratified in 1971 largely because of young activists who argued that if they were old enough to be drafted and fight in a war, they were old enough to vote.

Today, youth-led movements continue to shape policy on issues ranging from climate change and gun violence to education equity and mental health. Young people bring energy, creativity, and moral clarity to public debates — and they are often more effective at reaching their peers than traditional institutions are.

How to Stay Engaged After This Badge

Earning this merit badge gave you a foundation. Here are concrete ways to build on it:

• Join your school’s student government. Student council is real governance practice — you set budgets, plan events, and represent your classmates’ interests.
• Attend more public meetings. Now that you know what to expect, go back. Follow an issue over multiple meetings to see how decisions unfold over time.
• Write letters to elected officials. A thoughtful, specific letter from a constituent — even a young one — gets attention. Focus on one issue, state your position, and explain why it matters.
• Start or join a service club. Organizations like Key Club, Interact (Rotary’s youth program), or school-based service clubs provide structure for ongoing community engagement.
• Register to vote as soon as you are eligible. Many states allow 16- and 17-year-olds to pre-register. When you turn 18, you will be ready.

D. Understanding Community Budgets

Following the Money

One of the most powerful things a citizen can do is understand how public money is spent. Government budgets are not just spreadsheets — they are statements of priorities. A community that spends heavily on parks and recreation is telling you something different from one that puts most of its money into law enforcement.

Most community budgets are public documents, available on the city or county website. Here is how to read one:

• Revenue is the money coming in — property taxes, sales taxes, fees, grants, and other sources.
• Expenditures are the money going out — salaries, infrastructure, programs, and services.
• The general fund is the main operating account that pays for core services like police, fire, and public works.
• Capital budgets cover long-term investments like new buildings, road construction, and major equipment purchases.
• Debt service is the cost of paying back money the government has borrowed (like bonds for a new school or library).

Budget hearings are open to the public and are one of the most impactful meetings you can attend. This is where citizens can directly advocate for funding the things they care about — more money for after-school programs, better park maintenance, or new sidewalks in underserved neighborhoods.

Understanding budgets also helps you evaluate claims made by politicians and advocates. When someone says “the government wastes money,” you can look at the actual numbers and form your own opinion. That is the kind of informed citizenship that strengthens democracy.

E. Real-World Experiences

Seek out these opportunities to deepen your understanding of community citizenship:

Shadow a Local Official

Contact your mayor’s office, city manager, or a council member and ask if you can shadow them for a day. You will see firsthand how decisions get made, how constituents are served, and what the daily work of governance actually looks like.

Attend a Naturalization Ceremony

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) holds naturalization ceremonies where immigrants officially become U.S. citizens. These events are often open to the public and are deeply moving. Watching someone choose to become a citizen can give you a new appreciation for what citizenship means.

Visit Your State Capitol

If you have not been to your state capitol, plan a trip. Many state legislatures offer tours, and you can sit in the gallery to watch a legislative session. Some states have formal youth programs that let young people serve as pages or participate in mock legislative sessions.

Organize a Community Service Project

Take what you learned from Requirement 7 and go bigger. Plan and lead a service project for your troop, your school, or your neighborhood. Choose a need you identified during this merit badge, recruit volunteers, and make a measurable impact.

Participate in a Mock Trial or Model Government

Many schools and community organizations run mock trial competitions, Model United Nations, or model state legislature programs. These simulations let you practice civic skills — debate, negotiation, legal reasoning, and public speaking — in a supportive environment.

F. Organizations

These organizations support civic engagement and can help you continue your citizenship journey: