Across the country, youth advocates, civic activists, community builders, and young people themselves have been calling for more meaningful roles for young people in society. This special issue brings the voices of researchers into that conversation. In doing so, it builds in important ways on a small but growing evidence base that underscores the importance of youth involvement in civic life. As a set, the seven articles in this special issue help make the case for engaging young people, particularly marginalized young people, in civic activism. While each author labels and defines civic activism somewhat differently and is interested in different aspects of youth engagement, they are consistent in their belief that psychological and sociological theories of the past century have failed to capture the critical role that civic or "sociopolitical" activism plays in both youth and community development. In response to that failure, they offer a thoughtful examination of the political dimensions of youth development and lay the groundwork for a range of important future research. Is young people's civic participation important for their own individual development or as a vehicle for public contribution and community change? The authors of this article would argue both. But valuing both kinds of impact means measuring both kinds, and few studies have managed to do so. Few youth organizing efforts focused on social justice and community change have measured the developmental impact of participation on young people, and on the flip side, few civic engagement programs coming from a youth development perspective have measured impact in terms of community change. The authors of this article contend that in order to effectively leverage the surge of interest in youth participation in community development, a balance between individual outcomes for youth and broader outcomes for communities will need to be found. In addition to contributing to the research base in important ways, the authors in this volume also offer a great deal of fodder for advancing the research agenda in this area. Several new measures and frameworks are introduced, and specific gaps in the research are identified. Gaps include research that help describe and differentiate different types of civic engagement opportunities, research on the factors that influence and sustain involvement, and further exploration of civic engagement and marginalized youth.