III.  Why?

            CHAPTER 10:  Introduction

A.     Changes in Civic Engagement

-      First 2/3 of century, Americans took a more active role in social and political life of their communities (183)

-      Compared with our recent past, we are less connected

B.     Solving the Mystery of Social Participation

-      Look to see if declines in civic engagement follow social characteristics

-      Effects started by social change often spread well beyond initial point

-      Steady declines in all sectors of American society in roughly equal measure

-      Education most important predictor or social participation

o       A proxy for privilege (social class and economic advantage)

o       Educated people are more engaged with community because of their skills, resources, and inclinations

o       1960 8% of Americans had a college degree

o       1998 24% of Americans had a college degree

o       Education boosts civic engagement, education levels have risen massively

-      So why hasn’t civic engagement increased?

o       Busyness

o       Women into the paid labor force

o       Suburbanization

o       Disruption of marriage and family ties

o       Growth of welfare state

o       The sixties:  Vietnam, Watergate

 

CHAPTER 11:  Pressures of Time and Money

A.     Pervasive Busyness

-      “I don’t have enough time” reason most Americans give for failure to participate

-      Not clear whether Americans work harder than their parents did

-      Men over 55 have more leisure time today, mainly because of early retirement

-      Harris polls found that the median time Americans have available to relax, participate in sports, go to the movies, attend concerts, get together with friends, etc. has remained steady at 19-20 hours/week

o       Free time may come in forms “not easily convertible to civic engagement” (190)

o       Less educated Americans gain free time but college-educated have lost it

o       Dual-career families are more common and spending more time at work than they used to

o       Coordinating schedules has become more burdensome

-      Employed people are more active civically and socially than those outside of labor force.

-      Best way to get something done is to give it to a busy person.

-      Falloff in civic involvement is mirrored among full-time workers, part-time workers, and those who do not work

B.     Economic Pressures

-      Financial anxieties rose over last 25 years which has a depressing effect on social involvement

o       Associated with less frequent moviegoing, less card playing, less frequent attendance at church, less interest in politics

-      Economy has gone up and down and up and down but social capital has only gone down

-      Declines in engagement are as great among the affluent as among the poor

C.    Movement of Women

-      A theory that women’s liberation has caused our civic crisis (not likely)

-      Women who work outside the home went from less than 1 in 3 in 1950s to 2 in 3 in the 1990s

-      A double edged sword

o       A job outside the home increases opportunity for making new connections but decreases time available for exploring those opportunities (194)

-      Those active in the workforce are more involved in their communities

-      “Virtually all the increase in full-time employment of American women over the last twenty years is attributable to financial pressures, not personal fulfillment.” (197)

-      Women working full-time go fewer club meetings than other women.

-      Women invest more time in associational life than the average man. (200)

-      Greatest involvement is found in part-time workers, especially those who work by choice.

-      Women are not to blame for our civic disengagement.

-      Professional and service organizations have benefited by full-time employment increases.

-      Neither women’s movement into the workforce or financial distress is the main reason for the nationwide decline in civic engagement

            CHAPTER 12:  Mobility and Sprawl

A.     Frequent Movers

-      One in five Americans move each year

-      Those who have recently moved to a new community are less likely to vote, less likely to have supportive networks of friends or neighbors, and less likely to belong to civic organizations (204)

-      Mobility is not to blame for civic disengagement as mobility has not increased over the last fifty years

-      Largest metropolitan areas have fewer group memberships, fewer club meetings, attend church less, and are less likely to attend public meetings (205)

-      “Civic engagement is not correlated with whether one would prefer living in a big city, a suburb, or a small town” (206).

-      1950s—half of Americans lived in a metropolitan area, 1990s—4 in 5 lived in metropolitan area

-      Suburbanization resulted in greater separation of workplace and residence and greater segregation by race and class (208)

-      The greater the social homogeneity of a community, the lower the level of political involvement. (210)

-      Jobs and shops have also moved from the cities to the suburbs

-      Shopping in the suburbs at impersonal malls does not involve interaction with people that are embedded in the same social network.

-      From 1969 to 1995, the average trip to work increased by 26% and the average shopping trip increased by 29%

-      According to the Department of Transportation’s Personal Transportation Survey, American adults average 72 minutes behind the wheel each day.

-      Driving alone has become the most common way to travel for Americans.

-      “Each additional ten minutes in daily commuting time cuts involvement in community affairs by 10 percent” (213)

-      Metropolitan sprawl has contributed to civic disengagement over the last 30-40 years

o       Sprawl takes time.  More time in the car alone means less time with family, friends, at meetings or working on community projects.

o       Sprawl and social segregation go hand-in-hand.

o       Sprawl disrupts community “boundedness.”  Participation decreases in the community as members commute to work or shop.

 

CHAPTER 13:  Technology and Mass Media

A.     Changes in Technology

-      News and entertainment are increasingly individualized

o       1900-- people who wanted to enjoy music sat with other people at fixed times and listened to fixed programs

o       2000—one can use a Walkman CD and listen to anything he or she wants at any time or place

-      Electronic technology allows us to consume entertainment in private or utterly alone

-      T.S. Eliot observed of television that, “It is a medium of entertainment which permits millions of people to listen to the same joke at the same time, and yet remain lonesome.” (217)

B.     Media and Civic Engagement

-      Newspaper readers are older, more educated, and more involved in their communities than average American

-      Newspaper readership has diminished in recent decades

-      TV news and the newspaper are complements, not substitutes (219)

-      TV news viewing is positively associated with civic involvement (220)

-      60% of adults viewed the nightly network news in 1993 compared to 38% in 1998

C.    Entertainment

-      1950—10% of American homes had televisions,              1959—90% of Americans had televisions

-      Average American watches about 4 hours of television/day

-      Sixth-graders with a TV set in their bedroom:  6% in 1970 to 77% in 1999

-      In 1982, a survey reports that 8 out of 10 most popular leisure activities were based at home.

-      According to social critic James Howard Kuntsler, “The outside world has become an abstraction filtered through television, just as the weather is an abstraction filtered through air conditioning.” (224)

-      One study suggests that ½ of all Americans usually watch TV by themselves.

-      Selective viewers—those who turn on the television only to see a specific program and turn it off when they’re not watching

-      Habitual viewers—those who turn the TV on without regard to what’s on and leave it on in the background

-      Americans born before 1933—43% were selective viewers in 1993

-      Americans born after 1963—23% were selective viewers in 1993

-      Younger generations are more likely to engage in “channel surfing” or switching from program to program

-      “During every period of the day at least one-quarter of all adults report some TV viewing” (227).

-      ½ of all Americans watch TV while eating dinner

D.    Changes Leading to Civic Disengagement

-      Americans spend almost an hour more per day watching TV in 1995 than in 1965

-      Heavy viewers outnumber light viewers by nearly 2 to 1.

-      7% watch TV primarily for information, 41% watch TV primarily for entertainment

-      Dependence on television is the “single most consistent predictor” that the author found for civic disengagement.

-      TV minimalists—definitely disagree that “television is my primary form of entertainment”

-      TV maximalists—definitely agree that “television is my primary form of entertainment”

E.     Correlation, Yes.  Causation, ??

-      Television itself may not be the cause of disengagement.

-      The problems with civic disengagement began more than a decade before television became widely available.

-      Heavy television watching probably increases aggressiveness and probably reduces school achievement. (237)

-      Television may reduce civic engagement

o       “Television competes for scarce time.”

o       “Television has psychological effects that inhibit social participation.”

o       “Specific programmatic content on television undermines civic motivation.” (237)

F.     Lethargy and Passivity

-      Television watching is a relaxing, low-concentration activity, which makes viewers passive and less alert.

-      According to time researchers Kubey and Csikszentmihalyi, “television is surely habit-forming and may be mildly addictive. (240)

-      The DDB Needham Life Style survey determined that people who complain of frequent headaches, stomachaches, and insomnia also have a high dependence on television as entertainment.

G.    Programmatic Content

-      Top of the “pro-civic hierarchy” are news programs and educational television

-      Pro-social programming may have positive effects, such as encouraging altruism

-      Most programs on television are empirically linked to civic disengagement.

-      It is likely that television encourages materialist values.

           

CHAPTER 14:  From Generation to Generation

A.     Aging

-      Age is second to education as a predictor of civic engagement

-      Middle-aged and older people are more active, more philanthropic, and work more on community projects than younger people

-      Life cycle effects—individuals change, society as a whole does not

-      Generational effects—society changes, individuals do not

-      Life cycle patterns caused by various factors

o       Demands of family

o       Slackening of energy (going from adolescence to old age)

o       Shape of careers (going into and leaving the labor force) (249)

-      Baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) are not as civically active as the generation that came before them

-      Fall off in newspaper readership from 1970s to 1990s heavily concentrated in younger generations.

-      “The more recent the cohort, the more dramatic its disengagement from community life” (251).

-      Key question, not how old are people now, but when they were young.

-      “Each generation that has reached adulthood since 1950s has been less engaged in community affairs than its immediate predecessor” (254).

-      The most civic generation was those born from 1910-1940 although these individuals received substantially less formal education.

-      There must be something significant about being raised after World War II that makes people less likely to connect with the community.

-      Effects of “generational disengagement” have been delayed

o       A postwar boom in college enrollment increased civic mindedness

o       It takes a certain generation several decades to become “numerically dominant in the adult population” (255)

-      In the last 25 years, “boomers” and “X’ers” tripled from one out of every four adults to three out of four.  This explains the collapse of civic engagement.

-      The older generation is “holding up more than its share of the civic burden” (256).

B.     Baby Boomers and Gen X’ers

-      Boomers are 1/3 of the adult population and are the best educated generation in American history.

-      Boomers are the first generation to be exposed to TV throughout their lives (257)

-      Boomers have more libertarian attitudes and have less respect for authority, religion, and patriotism than their elders.

-      The X Generation (those born between 1965 and 1980) emphasizes the personal and the private over the public and collective.

-      Political discussions among high school students were half as common in the late 1990s when compared to the late 1960s.

-      Only 54% of Generation X’ers feel guilty when they don’t vote compared to 70% for older generations. (261)

-      A trend exists toward increasing depression and suicide that is generationally based.

-      From 1950 to 1995, the suicide rate for those age 15-19 quadrupled and tripled for those age 20-24.

-      Surveys on “malaise” or headaches, indigestion, and sleeplessness indicate that middle-aged and younger people are becoming more and more afflicted.

-      Social isolation may be to blame for the trend toward suicide, depression, and malaise among younger generations.

-      Compared with people in the 1950s, youth in the 1990s report “fewer, weaker, and more fluid friendships” (264).

-      On a positive note, young people have been significantly more active in volunteering and community service in the past ten years.

C.    Society Wide vs. Generational

-      Society wide forces have been “especially detrimental to private socializing” (266).

-      Generational forces have had more gradual effects on public engagement, “such as religious observance, trust, voting, following the news, and volunteering” (266).

-      Generational change can account for about half of the decline in civic engagement.

D.    A Change after WWII

-      The patriotism and national unity felt around 1945 increased civic-mindedness.

o       External conflict tends to increase internal cohesion (267)

o       A significant burst in volunteering and service occurred during and after WWII.

-      16 million people who served in the armed forces, 6 million volunteers, and their immediate families made up ¼ of the U.S. population.

-      From 1942-1943, the civilian defense corps increased from 1.2 million to 12 million Americans.

-      Civic and economic equality were accentuated by the war.

-      Shortages and rationing during the war also led to hoarding and black marketeering. (271)

-      Racial tensions were heightened by the war in some areas including the Japanese Americans who were sent to internment camps in California.

-      1975—people asked to identify elements of “the good life”

o       38%--“a lot of money”

o       38%--“a job that contributes to the welfare of society”

-      1996—people asked to identify elements of “the good life”

o       63%--“a lot of money”

o       32%--“a job that contributes to the welfare of society”

-      Clear differences in state of mind depending on which generation an individual was born.

-      Younger generations feel less connection to their communities.

 

CHAPTER 15:  What Killed Civic Engagement?  Summing Up

A.     The Traditional Family

-      Structure of American family changed over the last several decades

-      Breakdown of traditional family unit (mom, dad, and kids)

-      Currently married fell from 74% in 1974 to 56% in 1998

-      Adults married and have kids at home, 26% in 1997

-      Marriage and children change kinds of social networks one belongs to

-      More likely to be involved in religious activities and school and youth groups if married with children

-      Marriage and children negatively correlated with membership in sports, political, and cultural groups

-      Married people more likely to give/attend dinner parties, entertain at home, take an active role in community organizations

-      Divorce negatively related to involvement in religious organizations

-      “The decline of the traditional family may have contributed to the decline of traditional religion, but the reverse is equally possible” (279).

-      Decline in traditional family cannot explain the major declines in social capital.

B.     Race

-      Racial differences in associational membership not large

-      Decline in social capital affected all races

-      Sharpest drop in civic activity (1970-1990) was among college-educated African Americans

-      “If racial prejudice were responsible for America’s civic disengagement, then disengagement ought to be especially pronounced among the most bigoted individuals and generations.  But it is not” (280).

C.    Government

-      Some government policies destroyed social capital

-      Differences in social capital uncorrelated with measures of welfare spending or government size

-      Recent trends create doubt that the welfare state is responsible for the declines in social capital

D.    Big business, Capitalism, the Market

-      Market capitalism has been basically constant over the years

-      Increasing globalization, replacement of local businesses with multinational empires, results in a more impersonal and less community-minded state

E.     Summing up:  Contributed to Decline in Civic Disengagement

-      Pressures of time and money—10%

-      Suburbanization, commuting, sprawl—10%

-      Effect of electronic entertainment (especially television)—25%  overlaps with generational change

-      Long civic generation replaced by less involved children and grandchildren (generational change)—50%