A new era of
National Service
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Trails, roads, and shelters built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, 1933-1942. Today, it’s the most-visited national park in America.
The mission
National service is one of the rare ideas big enough to meet this moment — and the public already knows it: 78% of Americans support it, including 84% of Trump voters. What it has lacked, for a generation, is what every transformational idea requires: political power behind it. American Service Project exists to build that power — and to make national service the backbone of the AI transition, and a new rite of passage for 18-year-olds in America.
Three crises are converging. America faces unprecedented polarization and fractured civic trust, disconnection and loneliness for a generation coming of age on their phones, and AI disruption poised to reshape society and the entry-level jobs that once launched careers. All of this as our global rivals gain ground. The nation that best navigates the AI transition will lead the century.
In past moments of upheaval, national service has played a pivotal role. From the Civilian Conservation Corps in the Depression to the G.I Bill after World War II, the Peace Corps during the Cold War, and AmeriCorps. It remains one of the few interventions that can begin to address all three at once: people from vastly different backgrounds working side by side, a renewed sense of common purpose, and a path to skills and opportunity.
The moment
The evidence
78% of Americans support
78% of Americans support a national service program for young adults. 82% Republicans, 81% Democrats, 84% Trump voters. MAGA Hardliners show 44% strong support, the highest of any Trump voter segment.
Americans want government to act
National service is one of the rare ideas that is very popular with Americans across the political spectrum. American Service Project and More in Common completed the first nationally representative cross-partisan polling on national service in early 2026 (n=3,151, with a Trump voter over-sample of 2,459). You can find the full report here; highlights below:
Americans across the spectrum want government to act on AI disruption. Even among Republicans, 45% favor a more active federal role in helping young people adapt, versus only 16% who want government to stay out. Republicans are 3x more likely to want action than inaction.
National service beats UBI 7-to-1. 71% prefer earning support through service against 10% who prefer direct cash, holding across party (D 73%, R 73%, I 69%) and across every Trump voter segment. The public has rejected the UBI frame.
National service beats UBI 7-to-1
The right design lands across the spectrum
The right design lands across the spectrum. Support is highest when programs are voluntary, civilian and military options, focused on skilled trades, infrastructure, healthcare.
