The article illustrates the phenomenon of the 'deficit of civic attitudes' observable among Polish rural youth. The data (from the author's own research and from other available sources) indicate that this deficit is not a specific feature of rural youth in Poland but of the Polish youth in general as well as of young people living in Western Europe. Simultaneously, the data presented in the article show that rural youth possesses a large civic potential. The latter can be attributed to the rural youth's openness to social changes which, in its opinion, Poland and its rural community clearly need. The materialization of these changes could lead to the civic awakening of young people. The absence of such changes, needed to create a wider space for the functioning of young people, as well as a relatively higher degree of social helplessness of the rural community may turn the 'deficit of civic attitudes' into a permanent feature of the younger generation.