CLINTON PUSHING FOR VOLUNTEERISM.

Byline: Robert A. Rankin Knight-Ridder Tribune News Wire

It eases social problems, doesn't cost much, makes people feel good, and everybody likes it.

Sounds like Dr. Pangloss' magic elixir, but it's volunteerism - voluntary service to your community - and you're going to be hearing a lot about it soon from President Clinton.

Clinton will extol the virtues of volunteerism Tuesday night in his State of the Union address. Next, together with former President Bush and retired Gen. Colin Powell, he will promote volunteerism as a bipartisan cure for America's ills at a conference in Philadelphia on April 27-29.

And that's just the beginning. Hemmed in by tight budgets and a Republican Congress, Clinton hopes to make volunteerism a signature stroke of his legacy by rhetorical exhortation throughout his final term as president.

He already has inspired some prize examples: Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp. is committing to immunizing 1 million children by the year 2000; Big Brothers/Big Sisters promises to double mentoring relationships to 200,000 by then; LensCrafters will provide 1 million needy people, especially children, with vision care by 2003.

There is one big problem: Even at its best, experts say, volunteerism can only do so much. And in an era when Washington is cutting social spending to balance the federal budget, even people who organize volunteers through social-service charities fear they may be asked to do more than they can tackle to make up the difference.

``There is a lot of anxiety about what nonprofits will be expected to do. It's focused both on how much government funding we may lose, and are we going to be expected to do even more?'' said Rick Moyers, a spokesman for the National Center for Nonprofit Boards.

Make no mistake, charities welcome Clinton's enthusiasm, want more volunteers and believe they can do more to serve America.

``But having said that . . . we are convinced that even more volunteering cannot pick up the gap in human and social service funding that is happening as a result of budget cuts and devolution, OK?'' said Sara Melendez, president of Independent Sector. That is an umbrella group for almost 800 charities, including the Red Cross, the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society, and the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations.

``There is no substitute for having our federal government seeing to the primary needs of our society,'' Melendez warned. ``It can work in partnership with nonprofits and with business, but it cannot abrogate that responsibility and expect that the nonprofit sector will pick it all up.''

Clinton couldn't agree more in theory, but the driving ambition he and Congress share for balancing the budget still spawns worry, even among his allies.

``Volunteerism is fixing problems on the cheap without really fixing the problems,'' suggested Ruy Teixeira, director of politics at the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank supported by labor unions.

In 1992, Clinton called for massive federal spending to repair America's decaying roads, bridges and infrastructure, Teixeira recalled. In 1993, he pushed to overhaul the nation's health-care system and extend insurance to 37 million Americans who had none.

Both crusades failed, so now Clinton calls for spending restraint and attacking problems with volunteers.

``It's nice stuff, but how's that going to solve the problem of people without health insurance?'' Teixeira asks. ``Education is the key to the universe,'' he added, citing another favorite Clinton theme, ``but schools need $100 billion worth of infrastructure repair. These mini-initiatives and getting more people to volunteer - how's that going to replace a decaying school?''

Such criticism echoes harsher attacks Democrats made on George Bush's ``thousand points of light'' campaign for volunteerism. Back then, liberals ridiculed Bush's approach as empty symbolism, an inadequate feel-good substitute for necessary but expensive government programs.

Now Clinton and Bush are working together. Volunteerism is thus a rising trend of governance in the '90s, despite differences of ideology and party - but analysts say those distinctions still matter even in this.

``There are some significant ideological differences between the Bush and Clinton varieties,'' said Benjamin Barber, a political philosopher at Rutgers University recognized as an authority in this field.

The Republican approach to volunteerism ``suggests private individuals developing good moral character and helping people who can't help themselves, but without any reference to government,'' Barber said.

``Clinton is really much more about social responsibility, citizen responsibility, in partnership with government,'' Barber continued, citing the president's national service program as his lead example. In that program, young people earn money for college through community service. ``His is much more rooted in civic and political life.''

Similarly, the White House rejects any suggestion that Clinton is shirking federal responsibilities by promoting volunteerism.

``I don't think that's true at all. There is a recognition that government can't do everything now. I don't think anybody really believes, given these budgetary times, that government can do everything,'' said Deputy Press Secretary Mary Ellen Glynn.

``But volunteerism is a bigger thing than just filling gaps in government services. It's more about connecting people to their communities, making everybody feel like they're responsible. It complements government activity'' as a supplement, not a substitute, Glynn contended.

The National Endowment for the Arts exemplifies how Clinton-style volunteerism differs from the version many Republicans prefer, suggested Steve Grossman, the new co-chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Federal NEA grants support voluntary community-level art projects. Clinton supports the NEA, but the GOP Congress has tried to kill it.

Clinton thus backs ``a much more symbiotic approach'' of ``building a partnership'' with local voluntary efforts than do anti-government Republicans, Grossman said.

Yet Clinton himself stressed the limits of government when announcing the Philadelphia conference recently.

``Much of the work of America cannot be done by government,'' he said. ``Much other work cannot be done by government alone. The solution must be the American people through voluntary service to others.''

About half of all American adults - and 59 percent of teen-agers - devote three to four hours each week to voluntary community service of some sort, from churches and schools to charities, according to annual Gallup surveys for Independent Sector. Some 79 percent of college freshmen do as well, a recent UCLA survey showed.

Melendez, president of Independent Sector, is optimistic that Clinton's crusade will achieve much good, yet even she voiced caution about how much more volunteer service can be squeezed from a stressed-out America:

``It's entirely possible that a good percentage . . . just can't (do more) because of having several jobs or because they are infirm or for whatever reason,'' she said.

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Photo: President Clinton - Charities welcome message