II.  Trends in Civic Engagement and Social Capital

CHAPTER 2:  Political Participation

A.     Involvement with Politics and Government

-      Excepting voting, American’s compare favorably with other democracies in terms of political participation

-      1960—62.8% of voting-age Americans went to the polls

-      1996—48.9% “      “

-      Easier to vote

Registration requirements have relaxed

             “Motor voter” registration

-      African Americans in South were disenfranchised for a time (poll taxes, literacy tests, fraud, violence)

-      Civil Rights movement of 1960s and 1965 Voting Rights Act

-      Social change and generational change are interrelated

o       Many change tastes and habits in a single direction simultaneously (intra-cohort, e.g. SUVs)

o       OR…a slower, more subtle change that appears even if no individual ever changes (inter-cohort)

-      Most social change is both individual and generational

-      Decline in voter turnout in America is virtually all generational

-      Voting is most common form of political activity

-      Voters are more likely to

o       Be interested in politics

o       Give to charity

o       Volunteer

o       Serve on juries

o       Attend community school board meetings

B.     Political Knowledge

-      Generally fewer Americans follow public affairs now than did a quarter century ago

-      Older generation—interested in public affairs/ younger generation—relatively uninterested

-      Daily newspaper readership dropped from 2/3 in 1965 to 1/3 in 1990

C.    Voting in America

-      Voting down by ¼, interest in public affairs down by 1/5 (over last 3 decades)

-      Party organizations as strong as ever at both state and local levels

-      Party finances skyrocketed

o       More staff, more polling, more advertising, better candidate recruitment and training, more party outreach

-      Attending a campaign meeting or volunteering to work for a political party much rarer over the past 30 years

-      More and more party activity involves skilled mass marketing

-      Financial capital—the “wherewithal for mass marketing” has replaced…

-      Social capital—“grassroots citizen networks”

-      Money replaces time

D.    Participation

-      “The frequency of virtually every form of community involvement measured in the Roper polls declined significantly, from the most common—petition signing—to the least common—running for office” (41).

o       Including:  writing Congress, writing an article or letter to the editor, making a speech

-      Over last two decades, number of office seekers shrank by  15% (a quarter million candidates were lost annually to choose from)

-      American public utterly uninvolved rose by 1/3 from 1970-1990

-      The more activities depend on the actions of others, the greater the drop-off in participation

o       Activities that involve “serve,” “work,” “attend” have diminished

o       Most common verb is “write”

-      Cooperative forms of behavior (i.e. sitting on a committee declined more rapidly than Expressive forms of behavior (i.e. writing letters)

-      In absolute terms, declines are the greatest among the better educated

-      Americans score as well as grandparents on civic tests but have had an average of four more years of formal schooling

-      1990:  3 in 4 Americans didn’t trust the government most of the time

 

CHAPTER 3:  Civic Participation

A.     Group Membership

-      Official membership in formal organizations is only one part of social capital

-      Three categories of American voluntary associations

o       Community based

o       Church based

o       Work based

-      More groups does not mean more members

o       Barely half of groups in 1988 Encyclopedia of Associations had individual members

-      New organizations in Washington are professionally staffed and not member-centered

o       May be “mailing list organizations”

o       Members are moving a pen, not making a meeting

-      A social-capital-creating formal organization includes local chapters where members can actually meet one another

-      Group involvement in government has increased while citizen involvement in government has decreased

B.     Membership Trends

-      Front-end prospecting—providing a free gift to nonmembers and then asking for a donation

-      Back-end prospecting—sending gifts after donations have been received

-      During 20^th century, increased numbers of Americans were involved in chapter-based associations

-      Traumatic impact of Great Depression on American communities (dip in civic involvement)

-      Membership rates plateau in 1957, peak in early 1960s and continue to decline after 1969

o       PTA (Parent Teacher Association) percentage doubled between 1945 and 1960

-      Many disaffiliate from national PTA during 1970s to join competing organizations or to be independent

C.    Formal Membership vs. Actual Involvement

-      “Card-carrying membership” does not necessarily equal an active and involved membership

-      According to the General Social Survey (GSS), formal membership rates have not changed much, if rising education levels are ignored

-       1973-1994:  Individuals who took any leadership role in any local organization was cut by more than 50%

-      “If the current rate of decline were to continue, clubs would become extinct in America within less than twenty years” (62).

-      According to organizational records, survey reports, time diaries, or consumer expenditures active involvement in face-to-face organizations has fell dramatically.

 

CHAPTER 4:  Religious Participation

A.     Churches and Religious Organizations

-      Nearly ½ of all associational memberships are church related, ½ of all personal philanthropy is religiously based, and ½ of all volunteering is within a religious context

-      Churches help to develop “civic skills, civic norms, community interests, and civic movement” (66)

-      Church membership strongly related to: voting, jury service, talking to neighbors, community projects, giving to charity

o       75-80% church members give to charity / 55-60% nonmembers

o       50-60% church members volunteer / 30-35% nonmember

B.     Americans’ Religious Commitment

-      Essentially all believe in God, ¾ believe in immortality

-      According to five independent surveys, 40-45% attended religious services in any given week (1940-1999)

-      Involvement in social life of church (i.e. Sunday schools, Bible study groups, “church socials”) has fallen “at least as fast as church membership and attendance” (71)

-      Over last 30-40 years, church membership has declined by 10% and actual attendance and involvement has declined by 25-50%

-      Declines in religious participation are due largely to generational differences

-      Baby boomers are less involved in religion than middle-aged people a generation ago

C.    Trends in Religious Participation

-      A survey administered to college freshman for the past 30 years

o       1968—9% never attended church services

o       Late 1990s—18% “      “

-      It should be noted that: The population that has been “entirely disconnected from organized religion has increased, [while] the fraction that is intensely involved has been relatively stable” (75).

-      The changes have varied dramatically among different denominations.

o       Protestant and Jewish congregations have lost members

o       Catholics and other religions have gained

o       Mainline Protestant congregations are “dwindling, aging, and less involved in religious activities” (76)

o       Blacks continue to be more religiously observant than whites.

-      Evangelicals: more likely to be involved in their own religious community but less likely to be involved in the broader community

o       Evangelicals social capital is likewise vested in the home rather than the wider community

D.    Summary

-      Religion today is “a central front of American community life and health” (79).

-      Broad changes in religious participation mirror trends in secular life.

-      More dynamic forms of faith continue to emerge but the community-building efforts of these new religious have been directed inward rather than outward.

 

CHAPTER 5:  Connections in the Workplace

A.     Work-Related Organizations

-      Among most “common forms of civic connectedness in America” (80)

-      Union membership peaked in mid 1950s, but has decreased from 32.5% to 14.1%

-      The problem may not be about the idea of “union” but more about the idea of “membership”

B.     Professional Associations

-      % of Americans who belong has doubled in last 40 years

-      Relevant question is not, for example, “How big is the American Medical Association?” but “How big is the AMA compared to the number of physicians in America?”

-      Since 1990, associations have seen declining membership rates (i.e. the AMA, the ANA, the ABA…)

C.    Social Capital in Formal Organizations

-      A recent shift from “locational communities to vocational communities” (85)

-      Americans in the labor force—67% in 1997 / 59% in 1950

-      The modern workplace “encourages regular collaborative contact among peers” (87) ideal for the creation of social capital

-      There is no evidence that socializing in the workplace has actually increased

-      Co-workers account for less than 10% of our friends.

-      Downsizing and layoffs have directly impacted the social environment at the workplace.

-      According to management scholar Peter Cappelli, “’The old employment system of secure, lifetime jobs with predictable advancement and stable pay is dead.’”(88)

-      Most common reaction to business restructuring is to focus more on one’s own job.

-      Performance-based pay and job security increases the degree of competition among co-workers

-      A growing proportion of Americans have “contingent” jobs (i.e. part-time employees, consultants, on-call workers).

-      All changes listed above limit social ties at the workplace.

-      Social connections with co-workers continue to be a strong indicator of one’s job satisfaction.

 

CHAPTER 6:  Informal Social Connections

A.     Informal Connections:  Machers & Schmoozers

-      Informal connections include:  getting together for drinks, playing poker, having friends over, meeting in a reading group, etc.)

-      Machers:  people who make things happen in the community, all around “good citizens”

o       Follow current events, volunteer, work on community projects, read the newspaper, follow politics, etc.

o       Tend to be homeowners, better educated, have higher incomes

o       Disproportionately male but shifting as females enter the labor force

-      Schmoozers:  those who spend time in informal conversation and communion

o       Give dinner parties, play cards, hold barbecues, send greeting cards, etc.

o       Tend to be single people, renters, frequent movers

o       More common in contemporary America

o       Trends in Schmoozing are down among men and women, in all age categories, in all social classes, in all parts of the country, in cities, suburbs, and towns, among married and single people (108)

B.     Visiting with Friends

-      On average, those who live in cities know a smaller fraction of their neighbors than those who live in the suburbs or rural areas.

-      Average American is more engaged with people as friends than as citizens.

-      Americans play cards more than twice as often as we go to the movies. (98)

-      1970s, Americans entertained friends at home 14-15 times/year

-      1990s, “      “      8 times/year (a decline of 45%)

-      Dining out has increased very little if at all over the last several decades (100)

-      “Definitely, our whole family usually eats dinner together” went from 50% to 34% over the last 20 years.

-      Between 1970 and 1998, the number of fast-food restaurants doubled.

-      Americans would rather “grab a bite and run” than “sit a while and chat” (102)

-      1940, cards were American’s favorite form of recreation

-      Between 1981 and 1999, American adults’ frequency of card playing went from 16 times/year to 8 times/year.

-      Card playing is a social activity so its “extinction” will speed up towards the end.

-      Substitutes for card playing include: computer and video games, casino gambling (solitary in nature)

-      Sending greeting cards declined by 15-20% over the last 20 years.

-      1 adult in 8 is involved in a neighborhood or homeowners association. (106)

-      Neighborhood watch groups are more common in past 20 years and have an immediate impact in reducing crime. (107)

-      Informal socializing (visiting with friends, hanging out at bars, etc.) fell from 65% in 1965 to 39% in 1995

C.     Participation in Sports

-      Fallen by 10-20% over last decade or two, particularly affecting team and group sports

-      Declines sharpest among the young with rising activity among the older generation

-      Youth sports have been declining or stagnant over the last several decades

-      “All fitness activities combined (apart from walking) are much less common than the more prosaic activities of card playing or dinner parties” (110).

-      1980s-1990s, rise in health clubs but decline in jogging and exercise classes

-      Bowling is the most popular competitive sport in America.

-      League bowling has fallen dramatically in the last 10-15 years.

-      91 million Americans bowled at some point during 1996, “more than 25 percent more than voted in the 1998 congressional elections” (113)

-      Americans are spending less time doing sports, but more time watching sports.

-      1986-1998, churchgoing fell by 10% but museumgoing was up by 10%

-      Households with someone who plays an instrument went from 51% in 1978 to 38% in 1997.

-      Bottom line: More time watching and less time doing.

 

CHAPTER 7:  Altruism, Volunteering, and Philanthropy

A.     Helping Others

-      Social capital refers to doing “with,” not only doing “for”

-      Americans are twice as likely to participate in philanthropy and volunteering as citizens from other countries.

-      In 1989, 74% of Americans gave money (excluding religious and political contributions), 35% volunteered, and 23% donated blood.

-      “Volunteering is among the strongest predictors of philanthropy, and vice versa.” (118)

-      Factors that predict philanthropy and volunteerism: wealth (well-to-do), education (highly educated), community size (more common in small towns than in big cities), age (follows an inverted U-shaped pattern), employment (increases likelihood)

-      Most consistent predictor is involvement in community life

-      “Joiners are nearly ten times more generous with their time and money than nonjoiners.” (120)

-      Being asked to give is a strong motivation for volunteering and philanthropy.

B.     Trends in Giving

-      In the 1990s, “Americans gave a smaller share of their personal income than any time since the 1940s.” (123)

-      ½ of charitable giving is religious in nature

-      Giving to the Protestant church, the Catholic church, and the United Way are all declining significantly

C.    Trends in Volunteering

-      1970s—the average American volunteered 6 times/year

1990s--      “      “                      8 times/year

-      Increase in volunteering is concentrated among those 60 and older

-      Volunteering that can be done by senior citizens is up, volunteering that needs to be done by a younger more able-bodied individual (i.e. fighting fires, building houses) is down.

-      “Volunteers are more interested in politics and less cynical about political leaders than nonvolunteers are” (132).

-      A new spirit of volunteerism seems to be developing and the future of volunteering appears promising.

 

CHAPTER 8:  Reciprocity, Honesty, and Trust

A.     Generalized Reciprocity

-      All accepted moral codes are derived from the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

-      Transaction costs—the costs of the everyday business of life and the costs of commercial transactions (135)

-      An important difference exists between honesty based on personal experience and honesty based on a general community norm

-      Thick Trust—confidence in personal friends, nested in personal relations

-      Thin Trust—a tenuous bond (i.e. between you and an acquaintance from the coffee shop), becoming rarer in our society

-      Those involved in community life are both more trusting and more trustworthy.

B.     Social Trust

-      “Have-nots” are less trusting than “haves”

o       “Haves” are treated with more honesty and respect

-      Crime rates are 2-3 times higher in cities

-      Most Americans believe we live in a less trustworthy society than our parents did.

-      Voluntary returns of mail census forms declined by more than a quarter between 1960 and 1990. (142)

-      Study of drivers’ behavior at stop signs at the same intersections

o       1979—37% made a full stop, 34% a rolling stop, 29% no stop

o       1996—97% made no stop at all

C.    Crime and the Law

-      “Rule of law”—formal contracts, courts, litigation, adjudication, and enforcement by the state (145)

-      Until 1970, employment of guards, police, and lawyers grew relatively little as a fraction of the U.S. workforce

-      After 1970 the legal profession grew three times faster than professions as a whole.

-      Since 1970, informal understandings no longer seem adequate and most want to “get it in writing.”

-      Americans rely increasingly on formal institutions and on the law to accomplish what was formerly accomplished through social capital. (147)

 

CHAPTER 9:  Against the Tide?  Small Groups, Social Movements, and the Net

A.     Small Groups

-      40% of Americans claim to be involved in a small group that meets regularly

o       2 in 5 helped fellow group members who were sick

o       3 in 5 extended to help someone outside of the group

o       4 in 5 said the group made them “feel like you weren’t alone”

-      Reading circles have been very popular especially with women and encourage self-expression and “consciousness-raising”

-      Self-help and support groups have grown in recent years (i.e. Alcoholics Anonymous, Co-Dependents Anonymous, groups for victims of muscular dystrophy, single parenting, Weight Watchers)

o       Provide emotional support and interpersonal ties

o       May substitute for ties that have been weakened in our fragmented society (151)

o       Participation in these groups is 2-4 times higher among divorced and single people

o       Bring private problems into the public realm

B.     Social Movements

-      Sixties were a time of great social change with effects spreading from boycotts with blacks and buses in Alabama to abortion advocates (152)

-      Social capital is essential for social movements

-      Social movements create social capital by fostering new identities and extending social networks (153)

-      Pro-Life organizations have a preexisting social network and draws upon church-based grassroots organizations

-      National Right to Life Committee had 13 million members and 7,000 local chapters in 1993

-      Pro-Choice movement lacks a preexisting social network and must rely on direct mail, telemarketing, and media campaigns

-      Environmental movement blossomed in the 1960s including the Sierra Club and the National Audubon Society, first Earth Day was 1970

o       Membership in environmental organizations doubled to 2 million in 1980 and tripled to 6.5 million in 1990

o       Environmental groups use direct mail to solicit members and retain current members

-      Direct mail educates the public

o       Direct-mail recruits drop out more readily, participate in fewer activities, feel less attachment to group (158)

-      Average environmental organization requests money from members 9 times/year

-      Survey of five top environmental organizations found that members:

o       Averaged less than 3 years’ affiliation

o       More than half belonged to 4 or more similar groups

o       8% described themselves as “active”

-      “Environmentalists”:

o  60% recycle, 50% gave money to an environmental group in the past five years, 30% signed a petition about an environmental issue, 10% are members of a proenvironmental group, 3% participated in an environmental protest or demonstration

-      “Religious activists”:

o       60-70% attended church more than once a week (compared to less than 5% for other Americans)

-      5 states account for more than half of all ballot initiatives nationwide:  California, Oregon, North Dakota, Colorado, and Arizona

-      Surveys indicate “a very low degree of voter sophistication” on referenda issues (164)

-      A slight growth in nationwide rates of demonstration and protest over last 25 years

o       Not an alternative to conventional politics but a complement

o       Protesters are unusually active politically

C.    The Net

-      Telephone is a good comparison

o       By 1998, 2/3 of all adults had called someone the previous day “just to talk” (166)

o       Telephone executives thought that their primary customer was businessmen and discouraged “socializing” by telephone

o       Telephone both gives and takes away socially speaking

o       Used to maintain personal friendships now severed by space (168)

o       Reinforces existing personal networks

o       Facilitates schmoozing with old friends but has not engendered new friendships

-      Internet craze

o       Speed of diffusion “greater than that of almost any other consumer technology in history” (169)