Society & Culture - Posted by Michelle Bryant-U. Texas on Friday, September 2, 2011 11:37 - 6 Comments 
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Civic groups face drop in active members
There are a number of potential explanations for the shift from more active to passive participation, says sociologist Pamela Paxton. Communities are designed differently with less neighborhood interaction, commutes tend to be longer, television keeps us inside more and there are some generational differences. (Credit: iStockphoto)
U. TEXAS-AUSTIN (US) — The decline in active memberships in civic groups, fraternal organizations, and other local associations is greater than the increase in checkbook memberships, according to new research.
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The text of this article by Futurity is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License.
“There is a lot of evidence that our democracy is based on having citizens connected with one another,” says Pamela Paxton, a sociology professor at the University of Texas at Austin. “When we connect with one another in associations we learn that our self interest is actually connected to the interests of others. That gives us a conception of the public good, common identity and sense of common responsibility as a nation and as citizens. Any decline in that scholars see as potentially detrimental to democracy.”
Paxton and co-author Matthew Painter II, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Wyoming, used the Iowa Community Survey and the General Social Survey to explore the changing nature of voluntary association membership between 1994 and 2004, using responses from about 10,000 citizens in 99 small towns in Iowa as well as a national sample of the United States population.
They compared active members, who regularly attend local meetings, to checkbook members who do not attend any meetings and whose only requirement for membership was likely just to write a check.
Six broad categories of organizations are represented in the study: service and fraternal organizations, recreational groups, political and civic groups, job-related organizations, church-related groups, and all other groups and organizations.
The findings show that small-town Iowans on average actively participated in about one-quarter fewer associations in 2004 than they did in 1994.
The largest declines are seen for fraternal, recreational and “other” memberships, although declines are seen for all other categories of membership as well. Active participation in recreational groups declined the most at 6 percent.
The smallest declines in participation occurred for church and political/civic associations, with the latter possibly due to 2004 being a presidential election year. Church participation declined by 3.5 percent, and active memberships in political and job-related groups declined by 2 percent.
Overall, the evidence from Iowa suggests not only declining membership in general, but also a shift in how members participate in voluntary organizations.
“Even if we thought these checkbook memberships were equivalent to being actively involved in an organization, the decline in the active associations is greater than any increase we are getting in checkbook memberships,” Paxton says.
All categories except fraternal organizations, which stayed the same, show small but significant checkbook membership increases of 1 to 1.6 percent.
Paxton said there are a number of potential explanations for the shift from more active to passive participation. Communities are designed differently with less neighborhood interaction, commutes tend to be longer, television keeps us inside more and there are some generational differences.
Paxton says scholars are still trying to understand the decline, but if it is happening in small towns in Iowa, the heartland of America, she expects the declines may be even more drastic elsewhere in country.
The researchers presented their findings at the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association.
More news from the University of Texas at Austin: www.utexas.edu/news/
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6 Comments
Kathi
Barbara Correro
I dropped out of a local community group because it became too expensive. The cost of gasoline and “always bring a dish of food” just became too expensive. I live 17 miles one way from this monthly event which stretched out to many more “events”. Living on a fixed income did not allow for the additional expenses. I do attend critical events regarding the environment.
Eric
Actually, the form of participation may not be so much a switch from active to passive, but rather, from offline to online. Has anybody considered that possibility? Many of the voluntary association groups I participate in have very active Facebook pages, websites, and/or email discussion lists on places such as Google Groups, we participate and vote quite actively on those pages or groups as to what we will do offline. This was clearly not a well-thought out study if that possibility was not even considered. Facebook alone has some 700+ million members. Many if not most U.S. communities provide access to the Internet as well, especially through their public libraries. Also many folks have smartphones which also provide direct access to the Internet and email as well.
“When we connect with one another in associations we learn that our self interest is actually connected to the interests of others. That gives us a conception of the public good, common identity and sense of common responsibility as a nation and as citizens. Any decline in that scholars see as potentially detrimental to democracy.” I couldn’t agree more!
That is indeed a sound statement!
The civil groups would definite see a drop after what all they have done till now..
The decline is most likely due to women working outside the home. All work related to running a household must now be done during evenings and weekends, which used to be free for recreation and other interests. As a single mother I can attest to the fact that making it to town meetings, political meetings, school board meetings, etc., takes a heroic effort that is often beyond me. I go when there is an issue I can’t ignore, but pass up many of the meetings when there is nothing controversial happening. Everyone I know is in the same position.