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Decline and Renewal of Civic Engagement
- 1. The Decline and Renewal of Civic Engagement Natalie Conte PPG 2001 October 30, 2008
- 31. The End.
Hinweis der Redaktion
- Robert D. Putnam is a professor of Public Policy at Harvard where he has served as Dean of the Kennedy School of Government. He consults with national leaders, including US Presidents Bush and Clinton, British Prime Ministers Blair and Brown, Ireland's Bertie Ahern, and Lybia's Muammar el-Qaddafi. He founded the Saguaro Seminar, a 30-person initiative with participants from academia, the arts, clergy, business as well as top policymakers of both major U.S. political parties. Its purpose is to bring together leading thinkers and practitioners to develop ideas for civic renewal. Brief Overview: Putnam shows how we have become increasingly disconnected from family, friends, our community, and our democratic institutions. Putnam asserts that our stock of social capital has dramatically declined, resulting in a general feeling of malaise and weak communities. Putnam draws on evidence obtained over the last 50 years to analyze regression data and show that today, belong to fewer organizations that meet, know our neighbours less, meet with friends less frequently, and even socialize with our families less often. We're even bowling alone. Putnam shows how changes in work, family structure, age, suburban life, television, computers, women's roles and other factors have contributed to this decline. In its closing chapter, he attempts to provoke ideas for ways we can reconnect and reinvent civic engagement.
- Social capital refers to the social networks and the norms of reciprocity and trust that arise from social connections. Just as physical capital and human capital can enhance individual productivity, so too can social capital. But social capital has the ability to affect the wider community as well. Thus, the concept of social capital is premised on the idea that social connections have a real value beyond our sentimental value for them. High social capital in a society makes everyday business and social transactions less costly due to increased trust with fellow citizens. More trust translates into less time and money spent on surveillance, enforcement, and punishment mechanisms. Social connections force us to test the veracity of our own views through direct dialogue with others Networks of social capital advocate the sharing of information and thus can help us to achieve opportunities (e.g. find employment) or resist threats. Social capital even operates through psychological and biological processes…people with high stocks of social capital can cope with traumas and illnesses more effectively
- We remain interested and critical spectators of the public scene We maintain a façade of formal affiliations, but we rarely show up We are less likely to turn out for collective deliberation We are less generous with our money and time We are less likely to give strangers the benefit of the doubt Civic disengagement has afflicted all population groups (albeit to various degrees) regardless of education, income, occupation, race, gender, and religion o WHY? o Putnam explores what he believes to be the 4 key contributors of this phenomenon…
- Our “free time” is the accumulation of scattered moments amid a stressful schedule or, for older men forced to take early retirement, it is large involuntary chunks of time There has been a redistribution of free time from people who would have invested it in community engagement toward people more likely to consume free time privately Economic distress and pressures associated with two-career families have targeted the sort or people who, in the past, bore a disproportionate share of the responsibility for community involvement, causing the rest of society to gradually disengage as well Coordination of free time is increasingly difficult o Consistent with findings that collective forms of engagement have declined more rapidly than individual forms Pressures of time and money, however, are but a modest explanation for disengagement – social connectedness has diminished for both the financially stressed and financially comfortable
- Mobility undermines civic engagement and community-based social capital, but mobility has not increased over the last 50 years Metropolitan sprawl contributes to civic disengagement because: i) Sprawl takes time – we spend more time commuting alone and less time with our community, family, and friends o Each additional 10 minutes spent commuting daily cuts involvement in community interaction by 10% ii) Sprawl/suburbanization can increase social segregation and promote social homogeneity , reducing incentives for civic involvement and for social networks that cut across race/class lines. Toxic for bridging social capital Sprawl disrupts community boundedness as a result of the growing separation between home, work, and shops. Ill-defined, unbounded communities are less involved in local affairs
- News and entertainment have become increasingly individualized. No longer need to coordinate our tastes and timing with others Electronic technology encourages us to consume entertainment alone (e.g. iPods, Nintendo Wii, computers, etc.) Electronic media is devoted to entertainment as opposed to informational programs that could serve to promote and inform civic engagement Watching takes up more of our time than doing . Watching TV, videos, and cyberspace is more common than partaking in communal activities. People watch TV today more habitually, more pervasively, more often alone, and watching programs conducive to civic disengagement
- A civic generation has been replaced by several generations that are less embedded in community life o these intergenerational differences are extraordinary o Compared to the generation born in 1960s, the generation born in the 1920s belongs to almost twice as many civic associations, votes at double the rate, is twice as interested in politics, is three times as likely to read a daily newspaper, despite the fact that it received far less formal education Possible Explanations: Civic generation was shaped by World Wars I and II, an era that encouraged cohesion, civic engagement, spirit of camaraderie and mutual sacrifice, and solidarity among strangers Civic generation the last to grow up without TV Boomers distrusting of institutions, alienated from politics, highly individualistic, materialistic, and distinctively less involved in civic life Generation X’ers individualistic view of politics (emphasize the private over the public and collective), more materialist than Boomers, even more foreign to politics than Boomers Boomers and Gen X’ers tend to experience more depression and general malaise, which may be attributable to social isolation and unbridled individualism
- Child development is powerfully shaped by social capital – the correlation between high social capital and positive child development is close to perfect. Social capital is second only to poverty in the depth and breadth of its effects on children’s lives Children of families that possess social capital within themselves and with strong informal social networks powerfully affects youth development for the better High social capital is strongly and positively correlated to academic performance (even after accounting for other factors such as race composition, affluence, economic inequality, adult education levels, poverty rates, educational spending, teachers’ salaries, class size, family structure, and religious affiliation.) Higher levels of parental support means lower levels of student misbehaviour Less time watching TV, leisure time is more productive Social capital is educationally more important than financial capital
- Neighbourhoods with high levels of social capital are good places to raise children – people are friendlier, streets are safer Cities configured to encourage informal contact between neighbours have safer streets, children are better taken care of, and people are happier with their surroundings Social capital in a poor neighbourhood can break the link between economic disadvantage and teenage troublemaking o The urban underclass is often marked by a vicious cyclle in which low levels of trust and cohesion lead to higher levels of crime, which lead to even lower levels of trust and cohesion
- Social connections affect one’s life chances. Valuable social ties = success economic market At the individual level, social ties influence who gets a job, a bonus, a promotion, and other benefits At the local/regional level, social capital can produce aggregate economic growth o Sometimes, cooperation among economic actors might be a better engine of growth than free-market competition o At the national level, Francis Fukuyama asserts that economies whose citizens have high levels of social trust will dominate the 21 st century. When we can’t trust employees or market players, we end up squandering wealth on surveillance, compliance structures, insurance, legal services, and enforcement of government regulations o It is still premature to describe in depth exactly when and how social networks enhance aggregate productivity of an economy, but this is currently a lively field of research.
- o Public health researchers have established beyond a reasonable doubt that o social connectedness is one of the most powerful determinants of well-being o the more integrated we are with our community, the less likely we are to catch colds, have a heart attack, stroke, cancer, depression, and all sorts of premature deaths. o Social networks can mean tangible assistance such as money, care, transportation, working to reduce psychological and physical stress o Social networks can reinforce healthy norms – socially isolated people are more likely to smoke, drink, overeat, or engage in other unhealthy behaviours o People with close friends, friendly neighbours, and supportive coworkers are less likely to experience sadness, loneliness, low self-esteem, and sleeping and eating problems o The single most common finding from 50 years of research worldwide is that happiness is best predicted by the breadth and depth of one’s social connections o During the same years that social connectedness has been declining, depression and suicide have been increasing. Life satisfaction has declined steadily o 10% of Americans today suffer from major depression o Some psychologists argue that o our unhappiness may be a result of modern society’s encouragement of the belief in personal control and autonomy rather than a commitment to duty and common enterprise
- Voluntary associations and the social networks of civil society contribute to democracy in two ways: i) Externally allow citizens to express their interests on government and to protect themselves from abuses of power by political authorities An association unites the energies of divergent minds and vigorously directs them toward a clearly indicated goal – Tocqueville. When people associate in groups, their individual and otherwise quiet voices multiply and are amplified. ii) Internally they instil in their members habits of cooperation and public-spiritedness, and the practical skills necessary to participate in public life Community bonds keep individuals from becoming vulnerable to extremist groups that target isolated individuals
- “ Politics without social capital is politics at a distance” (p. 341). “ Anonymity is fundamentally anathema to deliberation” (p. 342) Without face-to-face interaction, without immediate feedback, without being forced to examine our opinions under the scrutiny of others, it is too easy to advocate quick solutions to social problems as opposed to engaging in meaningful and thorough deliberation. Social capital allows political information to spread In reality, m ost of our political discussions take place informally, on lunch breaks with our classmates or coworkers, or around the dinner table with our families through casual conversation Civically engaged communities expect better government and often get it. Without social capital manifested as civic engagement, governments can get away with satisficing because there is the absence of a unified voice of citizens demanding better. The performance of our democratic institutions depends upon social capital. When community involvement is lacking, the burden on government is greater and success is more challenging The performance of representative government is facilitated by the social infrastructure of civic communities and the democratic values of citizens and officials. When community involvement is lacking, the burden on government is greater and success is more challenging
- Repairing Civic Engagement We need to increase both the supply of opportunities for civic engagement and the demand for those opportunities o How? 1. Educating our Youth o Improved civics education in school o Service learning programs o Participation in extracurricular activities o Activities that encourage civic values and fun Putnam argues that a movement toward increased civic engagement requires the education of our youth. This argument is reinforced by the observation that America has experienced a generational decline in almost all forms of civic engagement. Curriculum must be improved in the area of civics education by teaching our students not only the formal functions of government, but also how they can effectively participate in public life in their own communities. Classes could engage in a community project in their neighbourhood, or teachers could assign service-learning projects. Our youth must also partake in extracurricular activities, whether they are within the school or not. This can include sports teams, dance class, art class, Girl Guides or Boy Scouts etc. According to Putnam, such extracurricular participation is one of the strongest predictors of adult participation. Therefore, we should not limit efforts to increase civic engagement to the school system. Extracurricular activities also serve to keep children away from the TV set and video games.
- If the constraints of time and work pose a threat to social capital, then something must be done to reform the workplace to make it more family-friendly and community-congenial. There is evidence that community- and family-oriented workplaces benefit the employer as well as the employee. Such practices can be a key ingredient in recruiting and retaining a high-quality, loyal workforce. Also to be considered is the rise of non-standard employment and contingent work, employment structures that exacerbate the challenges of a workplace conducive to social capital. Employers, unions, and employees themselves need to be more creative in encouraging the production of social capital of temp workers, part-timers, and independent contractors. Putnam, however, fails to give any recommendations how.
- Urban designers need to create communities that encourage the production of social networks that bridge the racial, social, and geographical cleavages that currently divide our metropolitan areas. Communities must be more integrated, perhaps through more density and more mixture in terms of the types of homes and commercial structures that are placed near each other. Communities need to be more pedestrian-friendly, and residential areas should be closer to the workplace and shopping centres. Public spaces should be created to encourage casual socializing among community members.
- Putnam blames our obsession with electronic entertainment as possibly the worst threat to civic engagement. Therefore, to rebuild social capital it is necessary that we spend less of our leisure time watching TV alone and spend more time connecting with other real live people! There must be a move to foster new forms of electronic entertainment and communication that reinforce community engagement as opposed to inhibiting it, such as civic journalism, which seeks to hear citizens frame their problems and what they see as solutions to those problems and then to use that information to enrich news stories. Many News shows do this, such as City News and CNN. The Internet must also be made more conducive to social capital. Putnam uses the example of a Community Information Corps to encourage young computer professionals to help rebuild community in America.
- Increase the importance of social capital and decrease importance of financial capital in local, state, and federal elections Decentralized authority – this would promote the creation of structures of self-government and give more decision-making power to citizens in matters within their community Policy-makers must consider the impact of their policies on social capital Putnam advocates something like a social capital impact statement similar in purpose to environmental impact statements. In conclusion, in order to restore trust and community bonds, and to improve the state of social capital, there must be both individual and institutional change.
- Carmen Sirianni is Professor of Sociology and Public Policy, with a joint appointment at the Heller Graduate School for Social Policy and Management and the Center for Youth and Communities. His recent work has focused on civic capacity building, community problem solving, and “public policy for democracy” in the contemporary U.S. Lewis Friedland is a professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and the Department of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he is director of the Center for Communication and Democracy. Overview: Carmen Sirianni and Lewis Friedland were asked to write this book for a new series for sociologist Lewis Coser, and throughout the process, they unexpectedly discovered participatory innovations in America. By means of formal interviews, they came to the conclusion that America at this time has the potential for a civic renewal movement. They attempt to prove this by illustrating three distinct arenas of civic renewal: community development, civic environmentalism, community health, and public journalism. Innovation in each of these spheres has been valuable for the emergence of a broader civic renewal movement.
- But the question we find ourselves asking is… what role can civic innovation play if trends show dramatic declines in social capital over the past several decades? Sirianni and Friedland proceed to describe Putnam’s portrayal of the tragedy of civic engagement in America, agreeing that the data is worrisome. But they go on to assert that over the past several decades, American society has displayed a significant capacity for civic innovation. According to Sirianni and Friedland, the environmental sphere has generated new forms of social capital, while old forms have been mobilized in new and innovative ways, and it is such kinds of civic innovation that could potentially revitalize civic engagement for the future.
- Embodies a variety of emphases and methods while serving as a complement to environmental regulation Includes community problem-solving, state and local government projects, and a variety of federal programs Aside from the partaking in environmental groups and associations, other examples include: o Watershed alliances o Land trusts o Community dispute settlement o Volunteer monitoring Sustainable community initiatives and projects
- In 1970, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was established and the National Environmental Policy Act went into effect. But the 1970s were a time when environmental groups in the U.S. faced industry opposition to regulation and conflicting messages from the Nixon and Ford administrations that meant regulatory stalemate in the early years of the movement. Citizen participation programs had weak support from the Nixon and Ford administrations, so this caused the movement to focus most of its resources on lobbying and litigation rather than build a build a grassroots network that could effect change at the local level. Over time, the limits of command-and-control types of regulation became apparent. In the 1980s, corporate managers were politicized in ways that led to their acceptance of the legitimacy of social regulation. Today, Sirianni and Friedland say it is clear that effective environmental programs require partnerships among diverse government, civic, and business actors at the local, state, and national levels, and that states and local communities can be innovative in this regard.
- In the 1980s , the EPA funded the Chesapeake Bay Program, an initiative with the purpose of educating the broader public, building political support for the EPA’s efforts, and developing voluntary monitoring and pollution control capacities. There was a notion that such citizen programs could cultivate a protective ethic and sense of ownership among the public, which could work to foster consensus on pollution control measures.
- The emergence of civic engagement in monitoring water and watersheds and the values it has diffused on the public has provoked mainline civic and sporting associations to also take up the cause. For example, boating, fishing, hunting, and surfing clubs and associations provide volunteers, funds, and host public events to support water protection projects. Even religious organizations seeking to “protect God’s Creation” have become engaged in the environmental work. The environmental movement, Sirianni and Friedland argue, has helped to generate new civic models. A message that the authors draw from the Chesapeake Bay example is that civic approaches are especially prevalent where project models emphasize concrete work with visible results, such as the plantation of trees and vegetation, or garbage removed from a stream. Also to be stressed is the fact that the building of social trust and consensus with agency officials who are connected to political and bureaucratic officials is more critical to long-term success than simply making deals.