Alan Khazei, On 'Big Citizenship'

Alan Khazei doesn't like to sit still. While a student at Harvard University, Khazei and a friend came up with the idea behind City Year — nearly 25 years later, the youth service corps has expanded to 20 U.S. cities as well as the United Kingdom and South Africa.

In the meantime, Khazei also helped save AmeriCorps from the brink of extinction, and he founded a second public service nonprofit, Be The Change.

Last year, Alan Khazei took on a new challenge: public office. He was one of four Democrats who sought the seat of the late Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. Khazei finished third in the primary election, with 13 percent of the vote, far behind Attorney General Martha Coakley, who went on to lose to Republican Sen. Scott Brown.

Khazei joins us to discuss his service, last fall's special election and his new book: "Big Citizenship: How Pragmatic Idealism Can Bring Out The Best In America."