Brian O'Connell is Professor of Public Service at the Lincoln Filene Center for Citizenship and Public Affairs at Tufts University and a Fellow and Trustee of the National Academy of Public Administration. Founding president and former active head of INDEPENDENT SECTOR, the US umbrella group for voluntary action and philanthropy, he also served as Chairman of the Organizing Committee and first Chairman of CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation. His 13 books include Powered by Coalition (1997), People Power (1994), Volunteers in Action (1989), Philanthropy in Action (1986), and America's Voluntary Spirit (1983).
Edward Gibbon said of the ancient Athenians, "when the freedom they wished for most was freedom from responsibility, then Athens ceased to be free." America...