Evidence has emerged that the civic engagement movement in US higher education may not be fulfilling its transformative potential, having lost sight of its core democratic purposes. Civic engagement conceptualised only in terms of activity and place--programmes in communities--may be easily accommodated to prevailing technocratic practices. For the civic engagement movement to challenge and change higher education, it must promote democratic processes and purposes--and pursue institutional change strategies aimed at realigning the work of the academy to serving democracy. (Contains 2 tables and 1 note.)