Civic Engagement in American Democracy

American democracy is in many ways more vital than ever before. Advocacy groups proliferate and formerly marginalized groups enjoy new opportunities. But worrisome trends exist. Millions of Americans are drawing back from involvements with community affairs and politics. Voters stay home; public officials grapple with distrust or indifference; and people are less likely to coop...

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American democracy is in many ways more vital than ever before. Advocacy groups proliferate and formerly marginalized groups enjoy new opportunities. But worrisome trends exist. Millions of Americans are drawing back from involvements with community affairs and politics. Voters stay home; public officials grapple with distrust or indifference; and people are less likely to cooperate on behalf of shared goals. Observers across the spectrum of opinion agree that it is vital to determine what is happening and why—so that Americans can take well-informed, effective steps to revitalize our national community. The book opens with an eagle-eye look at the roots of America's special patterns of civic engagement, examining the ways social groups and government and electoral politics have influenced each other. Other chapters examine the impact of advocacy groups and socioeconomic inequalities on democratic processes and probe the influence of long-term social and cultural changes on voluntary associations and civic participation. The book concludes by asking why social liberation has been accompanied by new inequalities and the erosion of many important forms of citizen leverage and participation. Coming together from several disciplines, contributors include Jeffrey M. Berry, Henry E. Brady, John Brehm, Steven Brint, Elisabeth S. Clemens, Peter Dobkin Hall, Wendy M. Rahn, Kay Lehman Schlozman, Sidney Verba, and Robert Wuthnow. Copublished with the Russell Sage Foundation

Theda Skocpol is Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology at Harvard University and author of Boomerang: Health Reform and the Turn Against Politics (Norton, 1996), and Protecting Soldiers and Mothers: The Political Origins of Social Policy in the United States (Harvard, 1992) which won five scholarly awards.

Morris P. Fiorina is professor of political science and...

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Theda Skocpol is Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology at Harvard University and author of Boomerang: Health Reform and the Turn Against Politics (Norton, 1996), and Protecting Soldiers and Mothers: The Political Origins of Social Policy in the United States (Harvard, 1992) which won five scholarly awards.

Morris P. Fiorina is professor of political science and senior fellow of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and author of Congress—Keystone of the Washington Establishment (Yale, 1977, 1989), Retrospective Voting in American National Elections (Yale, 1981), and Divided Government (Macmillan, 1992, Allyn & Bacon, 1995).

Preface and Acknowledgments
Making Sense of the Civic Engagement Debate Theda Skocpol
Morris P. Fiorina PART ONE Between State and Society: Roots of
American Civic Engagement
How Americans Became Civic Theda Skocpol
Marshall Ganz
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Preface and Acknowledgments
Making Sense of the Civic Engagement Debate Theda Skocpol
Morris P. Fiorina PART ONE Between State and Society: Roots of
American Civic Engagement
How Americans Became Civic Theda Skocpol
Marshall Ganz
Ziad Munson
Bayliss Camp
Michele Swers Jennifer Oser
Organizational Repertoires and Institutional
Change: Women's Groups and the Transformation
of American Politics,
Elisabeth S. Clemens
National Elections as Institutions for
Generating Social Capital
Wendy M. Rahn John Brehm
Neil Carlson
PART TWO Civic Life in a Changing Society
Professions and Civic Engagement: Trends in
Rhetoric and Practice, Steven Brint
Charles S. Levy
Vital Signs: Organizational Population Trends
and Civic Engagement in New Have,
Connecticut,
Peter Dobkin Hall
Social Change and Civic Engagement: The Case of the PTA
Susan Crawford
Peggy Levitt
Technological Change and Associational Life
Marcella Ridlen Ray
Mobilizing Civic Engagement: The Changing
Impact of Religious Involvement Robert Wuthnow
PART THREE The Ironies of Contemporary Activism
The Rise of Citizen Groups
Jeffrey M. Berry
Extreme Voices: A Dark Side of Civic Engagement
Morris P. Fiorina
Civic Participation and the Equality Problem
Kay Lehman Schlozman
Sidney Verba Henry E. Brady
Advocates without Members: The Recent
Transformation of American Civic Life Theda Skocpol
Contributors
Index
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