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Nations of Joiners: Explaining Voluntary Association Membership in Democratic Societies
Abstract
Levels of voluntary association membership for 33 democratic countries are compared using data from surveys of nationally representative samples of adults from the 1990s. Four explanations of national differences in association involvement are identified and tested: economic development, religious composition, type of polity, and years of continuous democracy. The analyses consider total and working association memberships, both including and excluding unions and religious associations. Americans volunteer at rates above the average for all nations on each measure, but they are often matched and surpassed by those of several other countries, notably the Netherlands, Canada, and a number of Nordic nations, including Iceland, Sweden, and Norway. Hierarchical linear models show that voluntarism tends to be particularly high in nations that have: (1) multidenominational Christian or predominantly Protestant religious compositions, (2) prolonged and continuous experience with democratic institutions, (3) social democratic or liberal democratic political systems, and (4) high levels of economic development. With some exceptions for working memberships, these factors, both separately and in combination, are clearly important predictors of cross-national variation in voluntary association membership.
... Sverige är ett av de länder som brukar hamna längst upp i internationella jämförelser över antalet föreningsmedlemskap per invånare (Inglehart, 1997;Curtis, Baer & Grabb, 2001). Samtidigt har föreningslivets roll i Sverige varit något annorlunda särskilt jämfört med de anglosaxiska länderna på flertalet olika punkter (Rothstein & Stolle, 2003, s. 9). ...
... I komparativa studier över föreningslivets karaktär är Sverige, tillsammans med de andra nordiska länderna placerat i topp när det gäller föreningsaktivitet (jfr Curtis, Baer & Grabb, 2001;Schofer & Fourcade-Gourinchas, 2001). I World Value undersökningen från 1991 rankas Sverige tvåa av alla de länder som ingår i studien, endast efter Island (Schofer & Fourcade-Gourinchas, 2001, s. 808). ...
... En stor andel protestanter i befolkningen samvarierar positivt med medlemskap i föreningar, likaså en mixad befolkning av protestanter och katoliker (Curtis, Baer & Grabb, 2001, s. 796). Några författare menar att protestantismen skulle gynna bildandet av föreningar, genom sin mindre hierarkiska kultur och med mer av egalitarianism än inom exempelvis den romersk katolska kyrkan (jfr Curtis, Baer & Grabb, 2001). Empiriskt tycks detta stämma till viss del. ...
... Several country-level characteristics that may be responsible for this huge variation have been proposed and tested [12,67]. The most important of them include the level of democracy [69] or political rights and liberties [67], economic development (producing a sizable middle class, who are most likely to get engaged [69]), income inequality (presumably undermining interpersonal trust, exacerbating differences, magnifying political power of the affluent, and dampening collective efficacy of disadvantaged groups [67,70]), state welfare spending ("crowding out" service activities of voluntary organizations while supporting participation of disadvantaged groups [68,71]), institutional regime (influencing the size of the nonprofit sector and its dominant activities [68]), and religious tradition [67,68] (higher religiosity but especially non-conservative religions, such as Protestantism, and multiconfessionalism promote voluntary participation [69]). By contrast, cross-national comparative research on the outcomes of voluntary participation has been scarce and usually focused on SWB and self-reported physical or mental health as outcomes. ...
... Several country-level characteristics that may be responsible for this huge variation have been proposed and tested [12,67]. The most important of them include the level of democracy [69] or political rights and liberties [67], economic development (producing a sizable middle class, who are most likely to get engaged [69]), income inequality (presumably undermining interpersonal trust, exacerbating differences, magnifying political power of the affluent, and dampening collective efficacy of disadvantaged groups [67,70]), state welfare spending ("crowding out" service activities of voluntary organizations while supporting participation of disadvantaged groups [68,71]), institutional regime (influencing the size of the nonprofit sector and its dominant activities [68]), and religious tradition [67,68] (higher religiosity but especially non-conservative religions, such as Protestantism, and multiconfessionalism promote voluntary participation [69]). By contrast, cross-national comparative research on the outcomes of voluntary participation has been scarce and usually focused on SWB and self-reported physical or mental health as outcomes. ...
... Several country-level characteristics that may be responsible for this huge variation have been proposed and tested [12,67]. The most important of them include the level of democracy [69] or political rights and liberties [67], economic development (producing a sizable middle class, who are most likely to get engaged [69]), income inequality (presumably undermining interpersonal trust, exacerbating differences, magnifying political power of the affluent, and dampening collective efficacy of disadvantaged groups [67,70]), state welfare spending ("crowding out" service activities of voluntary organizations while supporting participation of disadvantaged groups [68,71]), institutional regime (influencing the size of the nonprofit sector and its dominant activities [68]), and religious tradition [67,68] (higher religiosity but especially non-conservative religions, such as Protestantism, and multiconfessionalism promote voluntary participation [69]). By contrast, cross-national comparative research on the outcomes of voluntary participation has been scarce and usually focused on SWB and self-reported physical or mental health as outcomes. ...
Voluntary participation is thought to promote the well-being of engaged individuals, especially in old age, but prior evidence on this link is mixed. In the present studies, we used the cross-sectional data from Round 6 (2012) of the European Social Survey (ESS) to investigate the variation in the associations between voluntary participation and eudaimonic (e.g., sense of direction) and social (e.g., perceived social support) well-being across types of participation (nonpolitical volunteering vs. political participation), age groups, and European countries. Study 1 addressed individual-level associations and age differences therein (preregistered at https://osf.io/2p9sz and https://osf.io/6twqe). Two-level multiple regression with an extensive set of control variables showed that at the within-country level, the associations between voluntary participation and well-being indicators were small on average. Nonpolitical volunteering had significantly more positive effects than did political participation, whereas few significant age differences emerged. Study 2 focused on the country-level variables that might explain the substantial cross-national variation in the main effects of voluntary participation (preregistered at https://osf.io/mq3dx). Only GDP per capita was a significant moderator at the country level: The associations of nonpolitical volunteering with eudaimonic well-being were more positive in the European countries with lower GDP. Other country-level variables (Gini coefficient, social welfare spending, and democracy indices) yielded no consistent moderation effects. Study 3 considered potential country-level explanations for the substantial cross-national variation in whether younger or older adults appeared to benefit more (preregistered at https://osf.io/7ks45). None of the country-level variables considered (effective retirement age in men, life expectancy at 65, average age of members of the national parliament and cabinet, and youth unemployment rate) could account for this variation. We conclude that, given the large cross-national variation in the effects of voluntary participation on well-being and in age differences therein, more attention to national specifics is warranted.
... Social participation is the group encompassing the rest of the activities studied although physical activity or volunteering do not necessarily have the social dimension. The social participation is usually supported by civic norms in society (Curtis et al., 2001;Hank, 2011;Wiertz and Lim, 2019), which stem from the cultural, political and religious tradition of a given society (Hank, 2011), and is higher in more-developed countries and more-stable democratic regimes (Curtis et al., 2001;Hooghe et al., 2016;Nikolova et al., 2017). The concept of structured ambivalence applied to social participation would mean that the activities of social participation have a more-positive effect in more-developed civic societies, in which they are more appreciated. ...
... Social participation is the group encompassing the rest of the activities studied although physical activity or volunteering do not necessarily have the social dimension. The social participation is usually supported by civic norms in society (Curtis et al., 2001;Hank, 2011;Wiertz and Lim, 2019), which stem from the cultural, political and religious tradition of a given society (Hank, 2011), and is higher in more-developed countries and more-stable democratic regimes (Curtis et al., 2001;Hooghe et al., 2016;Nikolova et al., 2017). The concept of structured ambivalence applied to social participation would mean that the activities of social participation have a more-positive effect in more-developed civic societies, in which they are more appreciated. ...
... In contrast, the care-giving within the household is expected to be more beneficial in the conditions of more-accessible formal care (Hypothesis 7), with the responsibilities for a dependent older relative shared by the family (Daatland and Lowenstein, 2005;Brandt et al., 2009;Lakomý, 2020). Finally, Hypothesis 8 also uses the argument of structured ambivalence, but this time for social participation and its higher appreciation in the conditions of stronger civic norms (Curtis et al., 2001;Hank, 2011;Wiertz and Lim, 2019). ...
The active ageing approach supports a set of roles or activities that are supposed to be beneficial for older adults. This paper reassesses the benefits of activities for the quality of life by (a) analysing many activities at the same time to control each other, (b) using panel data to detect the effects of activities over time, and (c) performing separate analyses for four European regions to test the context-specificity of the effects. The effects of roles in later life are tested on panel data from three waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) project. The results of fixed-effects regression show that only some activities – volunteering, participating in a club and physical activity – increase the quality of life, and that care-giving within the household has the opposite effect. Moreover, the beneficial effects are much weaker and less stable than the other types of regression suggest; they are beneficial only in some regions, and their effect is much weaker than the effects of age, health and economic situation. Therefore, the active ageing approach and activity theory should reflect the diverse conditions and needs of older adults to formulate more-context-sensitive and less-normative policy recommendations.
... Los países nórdicos destacan por contar con los niveles de voluntariado más altos de Europa, mientras que los países Mediterráneos y de Europa del Este se encuentran en el otro extremo (Plagnol y Huppert, 2010;Sardinha, 2011). Entre los elementos clave que pueden servir para explicar estas diferencias se encuentra el desarrollo económico, grado de consolidación de las instituciones democráticas, estructura del Estado de Bienestar o las tradiciones religiosas (Curtis et al., 2001). Según Curtis et al. (2001), la participación en actividades de voluntariado es especialmente alta en los países desarrollados económicamente, donde las estructuras democráticas cuentan con un elevado y continuado arraigo, cuyos sistemas políticos son de carácter socialdemócrata o liberal y en los que predominan las iglesias protestantes o existe una multiplicidad de organizaciones cristianas. ...
... Entre los elementos clave que pueden servir para explicar estas diferencias se encuentra el desarrollo económico, grado de consolidación de las instituciones democráticas, estructura del Estado de Bienestar o las tradiciones religiosas (Curtis et al., 2001). Según Curtis et al. (2001), la participación en actividades de voluntariado es especialmente alta en los países desarrollados económicamente, donde las estructuras democráticas cuentan con un elevado y continuado arraigo, cuyos sistemas políticos son de carácter socialdemócrata o liberal y en los que predominan las iglesias protestantes o existe una multiplicidad de organizaciones cristianas. ...
El presente artículo analiza la relación entre la edad y la participación política, centrándose en la población joven de Europa. El estudio, fundamentado en la Encuesta Social Europa (2018), apunta a que la juventud se caracteriza por niveles de participación más altos que los otros grupos etarios en las actividades que, de manera directa, permiten visibilizar sus preocupaciones e intereses po-líticos. Se han detectado, además, varias formas de activismo de las personas jóvenes que convergen con las pautas de participación política presentes en el resto de la sociedad. Finalmente, se plantea la relación entre la diversidad de los perfiles de la juventud y sus formas de implicarse políticamente.
... Woodberry (2004) did an extensive literature review on research on this topic and concluded that in all societies, there is strong evidence that Protestant groups are more active than other religious groups in forming and supporting non-profit organisations. Curtis et al (2001) found this for the USA, Lam (2002) for Canada, Anheier (1989) for Africa, James (1986) for Japan, Pongsapich (1998) for Thailand. When (Anheier and Salamon 1998) and Curtis et al. (2001) found for other countries. ...
... Curtis et al (2001) found this for the USA, Lam (2002) for Canada, Anheier (1989) for Africa, James (1986) for Japan, Pongsapich (1998) for Thailand. When (Anheier and Salamon 1998) and Curtis et al. (2001) found for other countries. According to Woodberry (2004) Protestant missionaries -203played an important role in encouraging the growth of organisational civil society, as they reformed what they saw as malfunctioning systems (Deol 2000;van der Veer 2001). ...
... Woodberry (2004) did an extensive literature review on research on this topic and concluded that in all societies, there is strong evidence that Protestant groups are more active than other religious groups in forming and supporting non-profit organisations. Curtis et al (2001) found this for the USA, Lam (2002) for Canada, Anheier (1989) for Africa, James (1986) for Japan, Pongsapich (1998) for Thailand. When (Anheier and Salamon 1998) and Curtis et al. (2001) found for other countries. ...
... Curtis et al (2001) found this for the USA, Lam (2002) for Canada, Anheier (1989) for Africa, James (1986) for Japan, Pongsapich (1998) for Thailand. When (Anheier and Salamon 1998) and Curtis et al. (2001) found for other countries. According to Woodberry (2004) Protestant missionaries -203played an important role in encouraging the growth of organisational civil society, as they reformed what they saw as malfunctioning systems (Deol 2000;van der Veer 2001). ...
... Woodberry (2004) did an extensive literature review on research on this topic and concluded that in all societies, there is strong evidence that Protestant groups are more active than other religious groups in forming and supporting non-profit organisations. Curtis et al (2001) found this for the USA, Lam (2002) for Canada, Anheier (1989) for Africa, James (1986) for Japan, Pongsapich (1998) for Thailand. When (Anheier and Salamon 1998) and Curtis et al. (2001) found for other countries. ...
... Curtis et al (2001) found this for the USA, Lam (2002) for Canada, Anheier (1989) for Africa, James (1986) for Japan, Pongsapich (1998) for Thailand. When (Anheier and Salamon 1998) and Curtis et al. (2001) found for other countries. According to Woodberry (2004) Protestant missionaries -203played an important role in encouraging the growth of organisational civil society, as they reformed what they saw as malfunctioning systems (Deol 2000;van der Veer 2001). ...
This book contains 11 research papers (chapters) on Haugean and Puritan influence on entrepreneurship, economic growth and development, and development of the society
... Woodberry (2004) did an extensive literature review on research on this topic and concluded that in all societies, there is strong evidence that Protestant groups are more active than other religious groups in forming and supporting non-profit organisations. Curtis et al (2001) found this for the USA, Lam (2002) for Canada, Anheier (1989) for Africa, James (1986) for Japan, Pongsapich (1998) for Thailand. When (Anheier and Salamon 1998) and Curtis et al. (2001) found for other countries. ...
... Curtis et al (2001) found this for the USA, Lam (2002) for Canada, Anheier (1989) for Africa, James (1986) for Japan, Pongsapich (1998) for Thailand. When (Anheier and Salamon 1998) and Curtis et al. (2001) found for other countries. According to Woodberry (2004) Protestant missionaries -203played an important role in encouraging the growth of organisational civil society, as they reformed what they saw as malfunctioning systems (Deol 2000;van der Veer 2001). ...
... Woodberry (2004) did an extensive literature review on research on this topic and concluded that in all societies, there is strong evidence that Protestant groups are more active than other religious groups in forming and supporting non-profit organisations. Curtis et al (2001) found this for the USA, Lam (2002) for Canada, Anheier (1989) for Africa, James (1986) for Japan, Pongsapich (1998) for Thailand. When (Anheier and Salamon 1998) and Curtis et al. (2001) found for other countries. ...
... Curtis et al (2001) found this for the USA, Lam (2002) for Canada, Anheier (1989) for Africa, James (1986) for Japan, Pongsapich (1998) for Thailand. When (Anheier and Salamon 1998) and Curtis et al. (2001) found for other countries. According to Woodberry (2004) Protestant missionaries -203played an important role in encouraging the growth of organisational civil society, as they reformed what they saw as malfunctioning systems (Deol 2000;van der Veer 2001). ...
... Woodberry (2004) did an extensive literature review on research on this topic and concluded that in all societies, there is strong evidence that Protestant groups are more active than other religious groups in forming and supporting non-profit organisations. Curtis et al (2001) found this for the USA, Lam (2002) for Canada, Anheier (1989) for Africa, James (1986) for Japan, Pongsapich (1998) for Thailand. When (Anheier and Salamon 1998) and Curtis et al. (2001) found for other countries. ...
... Curtis et al (2001) found this for the USA, Lam (2002) for Canada, Anheier (1989) for Africa, James (1986) for Japan, Pongsapich (1998) for Thailand. When (Anheier and Salamon 1998) and Curtis et al. (2001) found for other countries. According to Woodberry (2004) Protestant missionaries -203played an important role in encouraging the growth of organisational civil society, as they reformed what they saw as malfunctioning systems (Deol 2000;van der Veer 2001). ...
Research on Haugean and Puritan impact on the economy and society of Norway
... Aufgrund geteilter Normen und des Willens der Bewahrung innerer Homogenität wirken sie stark identitätsstiftend und bindend ("bonding") (Pickel 2011: 300, 304;Finke et al. 2006: 624); mit ihrem potenziell exklusiven Charakter können sie auch für innergesellschaftliches Konflikte sorgen (Smidt 2003b Analyse verschiedener Konfessionen -die Bedeutung verschiedener Religionen für die Ausbildung von Sozialkapital thematisiert und sind diesbezüglich zu teilweise kontradiktorischen Einschätzungen gekommen. Polarisiert gegenübergestellt werden zumeist der vertrauens-und demokratieförderliche Protestantismus, der aufgrund seiner flachen, dezentralen Strukturen Selbstbestimmung, Selbstverantwortung und freiwillige Selbstorganisationen ermögliche, während die hierarchischen Strukturen des als Weltkirche organisierten Katholizismus persönliche Selbstständigkeit, Verantwortungsübernahme und Partizipation unterdrücke und damit die Bildung von Sozialkapital behindere (Roßteutscher 2009(Roßteutscher , 2011Lam 2006;Putnam et al. 1993: 173 f., 244;Fukuyama 1995Fukuyama , 2000Curtis et al. 2001;Weber /[1920). ...
... Diese altüberkommene organisationssoziologische These wird flankiert von entsprechenden Hypothesen, dass der Protestantismus mit der Präferenz für Individualismus und für frei gewählte soziale Beziehungen auch außerhalb von Familienstrukturen seine Wirkung entfalte, während der Katholizismus mit einem streng strukturierten Kollektivismus verbunden sei, der traditionell der Pflege familiärer, verwandtschaftlicher Beziehungen den Vorrang gibt (Weber /[1920Lenski 1961: 224;Curtis et al. 2001). Diese dichotomischen Verschiedenheiten würden in unterschiedlichem Ausmaß das Interesse der Individuen animieren, sich zivilgesellschaftlich einzubringen. ...
This open access book contributes – theoretically and empirically – to a better understanding of the characteristics and civil society positioning of religious and secular migrant self-organizations (MSOs). MSOs are examined from the perspectives of sociology of migration, sociology of religion as well as organizational sociology. Moreover, they are classified in political fields and discourses, and the respective positions are put into relation with the results of a (non-representative) survey of MSOs in nine large cities in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany). The survey focused on organization-specific characteristics, resource endowments and civic attributes, which in turn encompass activities, goals, self-conceptions, the spectrum of cooperation as well as the MSOs' environmental relationships. Overall, the results for the two differentiated types of organizations (religious vs. secular) underscore many commonalities, but at the same time also specific internal and external relationships. A reduction exclusively to religious or secular characteristics does not do justice to their characterization – rather, a mixture of logics of action must be assumed.
— KEYWORDS/CONTENTS: civil society — civic engagement — determining factors / political opportunity structures / societal framework conditions — migrant organizations — (religious) social capital — bonding and bridging social capital — sociology of migration — sociology of religion — organizational sociology — Sociological Neoinstitutionalism —
https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2F978-3-658-34298-2.pdf
... Tą padaryti kaip tik ir leidžia EVS duomenys, kurie rodo, kad Lietuvos gyventojų įsitraukimo į savanorišką veiklą aktyvumas perpus mažesnis nei Skandinavijos regione ir neprilygsta kitų Vakarų Europos šalių (išskyrus Italijos) lygiui, tačiau lenkia daugelio posocialistinio bloko šalių lygį (žr. 2 paveikslą). Tai atitinka kitų savanorystės tyrimų išvadas, kad į vi-suomeninių organizacijų veiklą žmonės dažniau įsitraukia pasiturinčiose ilgų demokratinių tradicijų visuomenėse, ir tai aiškinama pirmiausia tuo, jog ekonominė plėtra stiprina altruizmą ir silpnina paskatas maksimaliai investuoti (Curtis et al., 2001;Parboteeah, Cullen, Lim, 2004;Ziemek, 2006 Norint geriau suprasti savanoriškos veiklos dinamiką Lietuvoje, verta paanalizuoti, kaip keitėsi šalies gyventojų narystės skirtingose visuomeninėse organizacijose lygis 3 . ...
... Tarptautiniuose savanorystės tyrimuose vyrauja bendras sutarimas, kad savanoriškas darbas teigiamai koreliuoja su žmonių išsimokslinimu ir pajamomis (Curtis, Baer, Grabb, 2001;Wilson, 2012). Lietuvoje surinkti EVS duomenys taip pat atskleidžia, kad išsimokslinimas reikšmingai diferencijuoja įsitraukimą į savanorišką veiklą: iš žemesnio išsimokslinimo žmonių per paskutinius 6 mėnesius nemokamą savanorišką darbą teigė dirbę bemaž 15 proc. ...
Although volunteering is not a new topic in social research, many questions about people’s motivation to engage in voluntary activities still remain open. The article analyzes the changing attitudes towards volunteering in contemporary society, the demographic profile of volunteers, their intrinsic motivation and the cultural value orientation that supports it. The main purpose of this article is to identify the impact of main sociodemographic and personal characteristics in people’s decision to volunteer. Data from European Values Surveys (1990, 1999, 2008, 2017) are used for this purpose. The presented research data provide valuable insights into long-term trends in the development of volunteering in Lithuania, important socio-demographic determinants of volunteering and changing individual motivation to engage in volunteering. As the analysis reveales, although demographic factors – gender, age, education, occupational employment – are important, they only become meaningful when analyzed along with personal characteristics of respondents (such as life satisfaction, trust in people, belief that one is in control of own life) and their value orientations (such as caring, creativity, stimulation, and the pursuit of social justice). In other words, volunteers cannot be treated as a demographically homogeneous group. This means that in order to effectively mobilize people for a specific volunteering activity, it is necessary to take into account not only which socio-demographic groups are generally more likely to be involved, but also the values that are most important to them when planning volunteering strategies and communication. Understanding the determinants of volunteering can serve as a guideline for the development of volunteer-friendly public policies and for properly motivating people to become involved in volunteering, both at the level of the state and specific public organizations.
... The second country-level factor under consideration is the GDP, an indicator that assesses the wealth and affluence of a society and its connection to civic engagement and active participation in the community (Almond & Verba, 1963;Brehm & Rahn, 1997;Curtis, Baer, & Grabb, 2001;Gundelach, 2016). ...
Despite the increasing prevalence of Internet connectivity, a significant portion of the population in developing and underdeveloped countries still lacks access to the web. This raises questions about whether there are distinct national disparities in the relationship between Internet access and civic engagement. To address this question, this study employs a multilevel research approach and utilizes extensive crosscountry longitudinal survey data. It aims to reexamine the connection between Internet access and civic engagement, while also exploring potential variations across countries. Findings indicate that individual Internet access, as well as factors such as community action context and life satisfaction, are positively associated with civic engagement when accounting for economic and political factors at the national level. Additionally, this study underscores the significant role of country-level indicators in civic engagement and delves into further detail about the interaction effects among the variables at different levels.
... Despite the lack of direct evidence, some empirical evidence indirectly implies higher openness to weak-tie interaction in the U.S. context, which can ultimately lead to more opportunities to experience positivity resonance with weak ties. For instance, Americans showed various types of adaptive strategies such as maintaining a larger number of acquaintances (Tsuji, 2002), relocating residences more frequently (Long, 1991), and exhibiting a higher propensity to participate in voluntary organizations (Curtis et al., 2001). ...
Positivity resonance, defined as a co-experienced kind-hearted positive emotion, is commonly observed to strengthen relationships in the United States. However, it is unclear whether levels of positivity resonance differ across cultures. Prior research suggests that in cultures that are perceived as offering more freedom and choice in social ties (defined as high relational mobility cultures), individuals more frequently engage in adaptive strategies to build relationships. We hypothesized that positivity resonance, achieved via such adaptive strategies, might be similarly linked to cultural variation in relational mobility. Across two studies ( N = 5,711) we found supportive evidence for our prediction that, compared with European American participants, East Asian participants showed lower levels of positivity resonance with strong social ties. Such differences were in part explained by lower levels of perceived relational mobility among East Asian participants. Comparable effects were not present for weak social ties. Implications for theories of culture and emotion are discussed.
... Moreover, no corresponding studies at all could be found from German-speaking countries. Prior literature has however shown national differences in motives (Handy et al., 2010), not least depending on the political system, religious traditions, and socioeconomic development (Curtis et al., 2001). ...
Motivational factors in young volunteers are a long-standing research issue, but evidence on Generation Z, and particularly minor volunteers, is thin. Furthermore, most studies have been conducted in the Anglo-American context, even though motives have been shown to differ across countries. The present article explores motivational factors of young (underage) philanthropists belonging to Generation Z in a European country—Austria. The study tests widely researched motivational factors in a yet underrepresented population, but also captures further factors that motivate minors to volunteer for a specific nonprofit organization. We follow a two-tiered mixed-method approach: first, qualitative data yielded from 12 expert interviews are used to amend, adapt, and further inform a quantitative survey. Second, seven focus groups with 48 young volunteers were conducted to compare and contrast motivational factors with quantitative results, but also to capture further motivational factors. The results show that the widely applied Volunteer Functions Inventory and factors rooted in Self-Determination Theory capture some, but not all motivational factors in the specific group of Generation Z minor volunteers in central Europe. This research highlights factors that may be specific to the study group: the role of the supervisory team, the types of activities, and the aspect of voluntariness.
... In Habits of the Heart (1985), Robert Bellah writes about America as a society caught between two values. On the one hand, it is a "nation of joiners", where people belong to clubs, societies, and associations (also see Curtis et al. 2001), something recognised very early on by Tocqueville in his travels to America (Damrosch 2010). On the other hand, America is a highly individualistic society. ...
While scholars commonly see nation-building as a modernist project or a cultural assertion, we suggest that a “third way” is equally important. Analysing data from a representative survey of 2,001 Singaporean residents collected in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, we demonstrate that everyday social networks have been key to creating and maintaining Singaporean nationalism. We make the point that despite ambitious plans at transforming society, modernist projects must rely upon organic, routinised, and quotidian mechanisms such as friendship-making within and between ethnic groups for national cohesion to materialise.
... Nevertheless, there are still cases of authoritarian resilience and revival (Levitsky & Way, 2010). With democracy typically comes an improvement in the provision of basic healthcare, education and living standards for individuals in general, as well as greater participation in voluntary associations (e.g., Curtis, Baer, & Grabb, 2001). As such, when authoritarian regimes are replaced by a democracy, life shifts from a struggle to survive to a source of opportunities to thrive, often including the chance to participate in all sorts of social activities and form networks of relations. ...
The present thesis focuses on how people establish relationships along lines of class and what this implies for their lives, in particular with regard to their status attainment and feelings of attachment to society. We begin by identifying a set of hierarchical class positions, examining differences in social capital, and exploring the extent to which social networks are homogeneous in terms of class (Chapter 2). We then enquire as to how social capital is distributed across the spatial structure, i.e., different urban residential configurations such as affluent and poorer areas (Chapter 3). Next, we examine how specific macro-social conditions at the country level (welfare state generosity, societal individualism, citizen rights and income inequality) are associated with individuals’ access to social capital (Chapter 4). We then focus on two main consequences of social capital. First, we address how social class and network homogeneity simultaneously produce differences in individuals’ attachment to society, e.g., the extent to which they trust in their fellow citizens and political institutions and participate in public affairs (Chapter 5). Second, we further explore the extent to which social capital is related to status attainment, especially job prestige and employment income. In particular, we examine whether social capital flows through stratified networks that favour individuals from privileged socio-economic origins (Chapter 6). All of these chapters are focused on Chile, with the exception of Chapter 4, which is the result of comparative research on cross-society differences in access to social capital covering Chile and another 32 countries.
The results show that social resources flow through fairly homogeneous networks in terms of social class, predominantly at the ‘edges’ of the class structure (Chapter 2). This is complemented by assessing conditions that go beyond the individual level in Chapters 3 and 4. First, the strengthening of class divisions by means of residential segregation is of central relevance for social capital, especially because it constrains people’s opportunities to establish inter-class relationships, encourages class homogeneity in networks, and thus reduces access to potentially valuable social contacts (Chapter 3). Second, country-level conditions are fundamental to pondering the strength of the class divide in access to social capital. We highlight the significant role of the political economy of welfare regimes and cultural orientations as key macro-conditions for individual access to social resources (Chapter 4).
In Chapter 5, it is specifically highlighted that homogeneity in networks clearly makes societies weaker: it reduces social and institutional trust, hinders social and political participation, clouds attitudes towards the common good, and compromises other common components of societal social cohesion. Finally, the last examination serves to demonstrate that the network structure of social capital has also significant consequences regarding status attainment. Specifically, greater social capital in terms of network size and average contact prestige helps individuals to attain better jobs overall. Interestingly, results also show that individuals from high socio-economic origins obtain relatively greater benefits from their connections. As such, social capital may be an enhancer of class inequality (Chapter 6).
... Bu açıdan bakıldığında bir ülkede sivil toplumun gelişebilmesi için eğitim seviyesinin toplumsal duyarlılığın ve dayanışma anlayışının gelişmiş olması gerekmektedir. Sivil toplum kuruluşu üyeliğinin, kişilerin bireysel özellikleri ile yakından ilgili olmasının yanında yaşanılan ülkenin özellikleri ile de ilgili olduğunu gösteren pek çok araştırma vardır (Grillo et al., 2010;Smith, 1972;Curtis et al., 2001;Janoski, 1998). Söz edilen araştırmalarda genel olarak STK üyesi bireylerin empati yeteneği yüksek, sorumluluk alabilen, farkındalığı ve eğitim düzeyi yüksek bireyler olduğu belirtilmektedir. ...
... Bu açıdan bakıldığında bir ülkede sivil toplumun gelişebilmesi için eğitim seviyesinin toplumsal duyarlılığın ve dayanışma anlayışının gelişmiş olması gerekmektedir. Sivil toplum kuruluşu üyeliğinin, kişilerin bireysel özellikleri ile yakından ilgili olmasının yanında yaşanılan ülkenin özellikleri ile de ilgili olduğunu gösteren pek çok araştırma vardır (Grillo et al., 2010;Smith, 1972;Curtis et al., 2001;Janoski, 1998). Söz edilen araştırmalarda genel olarak STK üyesi bireylerin empati yeteneği yüksek, sorumluluk alabilen, farkındalığı ve eğitim düzeyi yüksek bireyler olduğu belirtilmektedir. ...
Bu çalışma, organik tarım ve gıda ürünlerine karşı Genetiği Değiştirilmiş Organizmalı (GDO) ürünler ile ilgili öğrencilerinin bilgi seviyelerinin, tutum ve tüketim davranışlarının karşı- laştırılması amacıyla yapılmıştır. Araştırmanın temel varsayımı GDO’lu ürünlere göre öğrencilerin organik tarım ve gıda ürünlerine karşı daha olumlu tutumları bulunmaktadır. Araştırmanın temel materyalini Samsun Ondokuz Mayıs Üniversitesi’nde okumakta olan ve gayeli olarak seçilmiş ko- nuyla ilgili olabilecek farklı fakültelerin 15 farklı bölümünden 655 son sınıf öğrencilerinden 2018 yılında anket yoluyla elde edilen veriler oluşturmaktadır. Öğrencilerin sosyo-ekonomik özellikle- ri tanımlayıcı istatistikler ile sunulduktan sonra organik ve GDO’lu ürünlere ilişkin bilgi seviyeleri tutum ve tüketim alışkanlıkları Bilgi, Tutum ve Uygulama (BTU) analizi ile incelenerek karşılaş- tırılmıştır. Araştırma sonuçlarına göre öğrencilerin, organik ürün tanımı ve özellikleri konusunda yeterince bilgi sahibi olmadıkları belirlenmiştir. Benzer şekilde öğrencilerin çoğunluğu GDO’lu ürünleri çevre dostu olmayan, hormonlu, kimyasal ve katkı maddeler içeren ürünler olarak nitelen- dirmişlerdir. Öğrencilerin büyük bölümü organik ürün (özellikle yaş sebze ve meyve) tükettiklerini belirtmişlerdir. GDO’lu ürünler öğrencilere sorulduğunda ise mısır cipsi, domates, hazır çorbalar, patates ve bitkisel yağlar şeklinde cevaplar alınmıştır. Öğrencilerin organik gıdalara yönelik bilgi seviyesinin artması ile beraber organik ürün satın alma niyetleri olumlu olarak artarken; GDO’lu gıdalara yönelik satın alma niyetleri azalmaktadır. Öğrencilerin gıda güvenilirliği konusundaki bilgi seviyesi organik ürünlere yönelik tutumları olumlu yönde etkilenmekte iken GDO’lu ürünlere yö- nelik tutumları olumsuz etkilemektedir. Bu durum bilgi seviyesinin önemini ortaya koymaktadır. Dolayısıyla öğrencilerin ve bireylerin bu ürünler ve özellikleri konusunda bilinçlendirilmeleri son derece önemlidir.
Anahtar Kelimeler: Organik tarım ve gıda ürünü, GDO, Bilgi, Tutum ve Uygulama (BTU) analizi
Behaviors of Students Against Organic and Genetically Modified
Organisms: The Case of Ondokuz Mayıs University
Abstract: This study was conducted to compare the knowledge levels, attitudes and consumption behaviors of the students about organic agriculture and food products versus Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO). The basic assumption of the research is that students have more positive attitudes towards organic agriculture and food products compared to GMO products. The main mate- rial of the research consists of the data obtained through a survey with scale in 2018 from 655 final students from the purposefully selected 15 different departments of different faculties who were studying at Samsun Ondokuz Mayıs University. After the socio-economic characteristics of the stu- dents were presented with descriptive statistics, their knowledge levels, attitudes and consumption habits regarding organic and GMO products were examined and compared with Knowledge, Atti- tude and Practice (KAP) analysis. According to the results of the research, it was determined that the students limited knowledge about the concept and characteristics of organic products. Similarly, the majority of students described GMO products as non-environmentally friendly products con- taining hormones, chemicals and additives. Most of the students stated that they consume organic products (especially fresh vegetables and fruits). When students were asked about GMO products, answers were given as corn chips, tomatoes, instant soups, potatoes and vegetable oils. With the in- crease in the knowledge level of the students about organic foods, their intention to buy organic products increased positively; while purchasing intentions for GMO foods were decreasing. The level of knowledge of the students on food safety affects their attitudes towards organic products positively, on the other hand their attitudes towards GMO products negatively affect them. This sit- uation reveals the importance of knowledge level. Therefore, it is extremely important for students and individuals to be made aware of these products and their features.
Keywords: Organic agriculture and food product, GMO, Knowledge, Attitudes and Practice (KAP) Anlaysis
... In newer democracies such as those in Eastern Europe, citizens need to (re)learn democratic political attitudes and behaviors after several decades under the communistic rule, when all forms of autonomous non-state activity were prohibited (Coffé & van der Lippe, 2010). As a result, the level of political participation in Eastern Europe is lower compared with that in Western Europe (Curtis et al., 2001). ...
This study incorporates the examination of citizenship norms in testing the Citizen Communication Mediation Model (CCMM) in China, exploring to what extent online political expression mediates the impact of informational use of social media on offline civic engagement and how beliefs in citizenship norms moderate the CCMM. Results based on a two-wave panel survey among a national sample of 1,199 Chinese adults provide strong support for the CCMM in the Chinese context. In addition, embracing the democratic citizenship norm significantly enhances the CCMM effect, whereas embracing the pro-government citizenship norm that encourages pro-government speech does not show the same effect.
... Volunteering is unpaid work undertaken for an organization (original emphasis) (Wilson, 2000, p. 13). 2 Yet, courts in the United States rely more on the expectations of individuals than organizational characteristics when determining the legal status of workers. That might seem odd to an international audience and those who associate volunteering only with voluntary organizations, nonprofit organizations (Boje, Fridberg, & Ibsen, 2006;Curtis, Baer, & Grabb, 2001;Oppenheimer, 2000;Salamon & Sokolowski, 2003). We will, therefore, briefly outline how U.S. courts limit the use of organizational characteristics in their reasoning and draw on the wider literature on modern organizations to show why organizational context has only a little bearing on the question of whether a person can legally be defined a volunteer. ...
This article presents a definition of volunteering that will help organizations and workers, especially those engaged in commercial activity for a social purpose, determine when U.S. organizations can legally draw on volunteer labor. By drawing on recent U.S. court cases, the intentions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to protect vulnerable workers and the wider framing literature on organizational logics, work, and volunteering, we outline under which circumstances workers are considered employees rather than volunteers and therefore covered by the FLSA and entitled to minimum pay. We show that in order to determine the legalities of work under current law, it is necessary, but not sufficient, to consider whether activities are carried out for commercial purposes. What matters most for a legally-informed definition is the role performed within organizations and the promises made to individual workers in terms of compensation.
... Using a national survey conducted in 2013 across Taiwanese cities and counties, this study examined the role of social capital in enhancing individuals' hazard preparedness behaviors. Among various cognitive and behavioral indicators of social capital, it focused on people's involvement in volun-tary organizations, which has been an important indicator of social capital in previous studies (Curtis, Baer, and Grabb 2001;Delhey and Newton 2003;Lee and Fraser 2019;Liu and Stolle 2017;Putnam 2001). The study examined the factors associated with individuals' hazard preparedness behaviors using a two-step process: it first examined how individuals' past experiences of three main types of natural hazards in Taiwan -floods, landslides, and earthquakes -and their perceptions of the risk of natural hazards and selfrated controllability, were associated with their social behavior, as evidenced by their membership in voluntary organizations. ...
This study examined how individuals’ past experiences and perceptions of natural hazards, as well as their participation in voluntary organizations, were associated with their hazard preparedness. The study first explored how individuals’ past experiences of three types of natural hazards (floods, landslides, and earthquakes), and their perceptions of hazard risk and controllability, were associated with their participation in voluntary organizations – an important indicator of social capital. This study also investigated how individuals’ experiences and perceptions of natural hazards, and their participation in voluntary organizations, were associated with their adoption of preparedness behaviors for future hazards. The results of this study indicated that residents who experienced a natural hazard in the past generally reported better preparedness behaviors although the results differed according to the type of natural hazard. Both perceived risk and perceived controllability were positively associated with preparedness behavior, but perceived controllability was more strongly associated with participation in voluntary organizations.
... His argument is that in wanting to spread their faith and thus for people to read the Bible in their own language, these missionary Protestants inadvertently catalysed mass education, mass printing and the development of civil society, and hampered elites from monopolising these resources. Other research confirms his findings -Christians are active initiators of organisational civil society, and Protestant or Protestant/Catholic countries and regions have the highest levels of voluntary association involvement (Anheier 1989;Bediako 1995;Boli, Loya, and Loftin 1999;Curtis, Baer, and Grabb 2001;Salamon and Anheier 1997;Tusalem 2009). Woodberry (2012, 253) goes on to argue that '[e]ven after controls, Christians (particularly Protestants) are the most likely to volunteer and give both formally and informally …. ...
In the context of the global recession of democracy, this article engages with sub-Saharan Africa’s so-called ‘democratic’ deficit. Three arguments are presented. First, sub-Saharan Africa’s challenge is less a democratic deficit than it is a liberal deficit. The political elite are content to use the electoral mechanism to gain access to power but are thereafter resistant to restraints on that power. Second, organised civil society can contribute to addressing this deficit by contending for civil liberties and holding political authority accountable. Third, sub-Saharan Africa’s deeply religious society can contribute towards the development of such a civil society. The study engages with secondary data analysis using survey data from Afrobarometer to determine sub-Saharan Africa’s ‘deficit’ and whether religion can contribute to the development of civil society in the region. From the survey data it was found that citizens of sub-Saharan African countries understand democracy in its liberal form – ensuring civil liberties and personal freedoms. Furthermore, it was noted that those who are religious are more likely to be civically engaged than those who are unaffiliated, and in time, this can contribute to addressing the liberal deficit.
... The Nordic and Anglo-Saxon countries are characterized by high levels of social welfare spending and high levels of formal volunteering. Continental countries combine higher levels of social welfare spending with medium levels of volunteering, whereas Mediterranean countries display lower levels of social welfare spending with lower 3 See more at hiips://ccss.jhu.edu/research-projects/vmp/evmp/ 3 Varieties and Changes of Volunteering: Challenges for an International Standard… In addition to differences in welfare state regimes across Europe, there is evidence (Curtis et al., 2001;Salamon et al., 2017) that economic, religious, and political factors -such as levels of economic development, religious traditions (Protestant or mixed Christian societies display higher levels of volunteering), and number of years of continuous democracy -explain variations in levels of volunteering. ...
The chapter illustrates the traditional varieties and recent transformations of volunteering in five different cultural areas of the world (Anglo-Saxon, European, Latin American, East Asian, sub-Saharan African) and connects the peculiarities of domestic voluntary action to the different cultural and socioeconomic local patterns. It identifies in the intricate heterogeneity of local manifestations of volunteering one of the problematic challenges for the global research and policy-making agenda on the topic. Problematic aspects and cultural specificities with regard to the core elements of the common definition of volunteering – free will, unpaid, general interest – are put in focus. Opportunities and challenges of the future work with the ILO Manual are assessed.
... Participation in social actions differs (Morrissey & Werner-Wilson, 2005) by regions, depending on the ideology of countries (Allik & Realo, 2004) and their institutions. Citizens' assistance supports the tradition of their participation in public organizations and voluntary associations (Curtis et al., 2001;Flanagan et al., 1998;Omoto et al., 2010). ...
... Researchers have emphasized that the social and institutional contexts in which people live are significantly associated with volunteering (Curtis et al., 2001;Ruiter & De Graaf, 2006). However, a multidimensional theoretical explanation for how contextual factors of volunteering affect individual volunteering behaviours is lacking. ...
Volunteer rates vary greatly across Europe despite the voluntary sector's common history and tradition. This contribution advances a theoretical explanation for the variation in volunteering across Europe-the capability approach-and tests this approach by adopting a two-step strategy for modeling contextual effects. This approach, referring to the concept of capability introduced by Sen (Choice, welfare and measurement, Oxford University Press, 1980/1982), is based on the claim that the demand and supply sides of the voluntary sector can be expected to vary according to collective and individual capabilities to engage in volunteering. To empirically test the approach, the study relied on two data sources-the 2015 European Union (EU) Survey on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC), including an ad hoc module on volunteering at the individual level, and the Quality of Government Institute and PEW Research Center macro-level data sets-to operationalize economic, human, political, social, and religious contextual factors and assess their effects on individuals' capability to volunteer. The results support the capability hypothesis at both levels. At the individual level, indicators of human, economic, and social resources have a positive effect on the likelihood of volunteering. At the contextual level, macro-structural indicators of economic, political, social, and religious contexts affect individuals' ability to transform resources into functioning-that is, volunteering.
In den letzten Jahrzehnten ist in vielen Länder einer allgemeine Rückgang des Engagements in Vereinen und Verbänden zu beobachten. In diesem Beitrag stehen sowohl die Unterschiede in den Niveaus des zivilgesellschaftlichen Engagements als auch die ähnlichen Abwärtstrends desselbigen in Deutschland und den vier großen südeuropäischen Ländern im Mittelpunkt. Die Untersuchung findet aus zwei Perspektiven statt. Zunächst werden die Hauptmerkmale und Charakteristika der Zivilgesellschaften auf der Makro- und Mesoebene betrachtet. Die zweite Perspektive umfasst einer empirischen Analyse der Determinanten des zivilgesellschaftlichen Engagements in Vereinen und Verbänden auf der Mikroebene. Die Ergebnisse dieser Untersuchungen deuten auf komplexe Entwicklungen hin wobei eine allgemeine Rückgang des Engagements in Vereinen und Verbänden sichtbar wird. Allerdings ist die Zivilgesellschaft in vielen Ländern recht robust und gesamtgesellschaftliche Determinanten verlieren auch in Zeiten starker Spannungen wie der Weltwirtschaftskrise 2008 nicht ihre Wirkung. Ganz offensichtlich widersprechen die Ergebnisse die landläufigen Erwartungen über die Auswirkungen schwerer Krisen auf die Zivilgesellschaft und das ehrenamtliche Engagement in Europa. Darüber hinaus ist klar, dass neuer Formen des Engagements die herkömmliche Kluft zwischen formellem und informellem Engagement teilweise überbrücken können. Trotzdem werden die wahrscheinlichen positiven Auswirkungen der Zivilgesellschaft auf die Demokratie sich im Zukunft abschwächen, wenn die allgemeine Rückgang des Engagements in Vereinen und Verbänden sich weiter durchsetzt.
This chapter analyzes citizens’ involvement in civil society associations and political participation in Portugal, both longitudinally and within the broader European framework. The study examines the scope, type, and intensity of associational involvement and political participation, as well as the determinants of variation in associational involvement. The results show that civil society involvement is more widespread than previously believed, with citizens mostly affiliated with sports clubs and labor unions.Among those who are members, the majority tend to participate in some capacity in the meetings or activities organized by these organizations. The study also finds an overall increase in all forms of participation between 1999 and 2020. The study contributes to the growing body of literature on interest groups from a demand-side perspective and tests the influence of socioeconomic and attitudinal variables on associational involvement. Results indicate that individuals with higher cognitive resources, social integration, and political interest tend to exhibit higher levels of involvement.KeywordsAssociational involvementMembershipPolitical participationCivil society associationsSurvey data
This study aims to understand how community material deprivation is related to associational membership amongst neighbourhood residents. We posit that aside from personal characteristics and willingness to engage, experiences of neighbourhood deprivation are strongly correlated with how much people devote themselves to associational membership. We identify three mechanisms through which community deprivation can determine individual participation in political, civic, and work voluntary associations: social cohering, norms of obligation, and activated dissatisfaction. We link individual panel data from Understanding Society from 2010 to 2019 with the English Index of Multiple Deprivation at the neighbourhood level. This study finds that neighbourhood deprivation is associated with lower norms of civic obligation which, in turn, lowers a person's propensity for engagement. Individuals with low income and education are less likely to participate in voluntary associations in the first place, therefore the contextual role of neighbourhood deprivation exerts a further external negative pressure on civic participation. We find that membership in political organizations is an exception whereby it is positively associated with neighbourhood deprivation. The results imply that given the many economic and social capital benefits of associational involvement (Putnam, 2000), collective deprivation can produce an additive pattern of economic disadvantage which is reinforced through a lack of social participation.
Social participation of citizens in the form of volunteering is an important part of the normative idea of civil society. With the development of volunteering and its systematic support from the government, as well from European institutions, we can observe an increasing number of trainings for volunteers. The purpose of most of these trainings, in addition to the promotion of volunteering, is to reduce the cost of participation by increasing the resources of the course participants needed to implement projects. However, from a theoretical point of view, we can assume that there is social selectivity in such trainings which results from inequalities in the social system. In particular, in the educational systems and unequal access to the structures of mobilization. Based on the data gathered during the evaluation (pre- and post-test) of training for young volunteers in Switzerland (treib.stoff Academy), we tested the hypotheses about unequal access to trainings, egoistic motivation to participate, and social selectivity of gains in skills and knowledge. The results showed i.e. that informal recruitment has a positive impact on access of trainees with a migrant background. In addition, we discussed the practical implications of the issues outlined in the normative idea of volunteering.
Political Consumerism captures the creative ways in which citizens, consumers and political activists use the market as their arena for politics. This book theorizes, describes, analyzes, compares and evaluates the phenomenon of political consumerism and how it attempts to use market choice to solve complex globalized problems. It investigates theoretically and empirically how and why consumers practice citizenship and have become important political actors. Dietlind Stolle and Michele Micheletti describe consumers' engagement as an example of individualized responsibility taking, examining how political consumerism nudges and pressures corporations to change their production practices, and how consumers emerge as a force in global affairs. Unlike other studies, it also evaluates if and how consumer actions become effective mechanisms of global change. Stolle and Micheletti offer a candid discussion of the limitations of political consumerism as a form of participation and as a problem-solving mechanism.
Political Consumerism captures the creative ways in which citizens, consumers and political activists use the market as their arena for politics. This book theorizes, describes, analyzes, compares and evaluates the phenomenon of political consumerism and how it attempts to use market choice to solve complex globalized problems. It investigates theoretically and empirically how and why consumers practice citizenship and have become important political actors. Dietlind Stolle and Michele Micheletti describe consumers' engagement as an example of individualized responsibility taking, examining how political consumerism nudges and pressures corporations to change their production practices, and how consumers emerge as a force in global affairs. Unlike other studies, it also evaluates if and how consumer actions become effective mechanisms of global change. Stolle and Micheletti offer a candid discussion of the limitations of political consumerism as a form of participation and as a problem-solving mechanism.
Numerous past studies explore factors that drive prosocial behaviors. Most studies focus on individual and organizational factors; there is less research exploring cross-national variations in prosocial behaviors. This study addresses this gap and analyzes cross-national variations in prosocial behaviors utilizing a 117-country dataset from the Charities Aid Foundation World Giving Index to estimate Tobit models explaining cross-national variations in donating money, volunteering time, and helping a stranger. We find evidence that economic, political, and to a lesser extent, cultural theories play a role in explaining cross-national variations in prosocial behaviors.
We explore the impact of volunteering on civic attitudes in Romania by using a double comparative perspective. Firstly, volunteering in Romania is compared across time, between 2000 and 2018, based on a series of national and international surveys, such as WVS and EVS. Secondly, volunteering in Romania in 2018 is compared to other 9 Southeast European cases: Albania, Bulgaria, the six republics of the former Yugoslavia, and Kosovo. These surveys, based on representative samples of youth (ages 14-29), allow us to evaluate the impact that engagement in different types of associations has on democratic support, tolerance, generalized trust, political interest and participation.
Our analyses indicate a growing level of volunteering among the Romanian youth, both in relative and absolute terms, between 2000 and 2018. At the same time, we found no significant effects of volunteering on generalized trust, tolerance and two measures of support for democratic regimes across three age categories (14-17, 18-24, 25-29), with two notable exceptions: there is a positive effect on generalized trust among the 25-29 years old, and positive effects on tolerance among 14-17 years old. Moreover, volunteering has a positive impact on political participation and political interest. Taken together, these results suggest that youth civic engagement plays a positive role in democratic development in Romania.
The rise of far-right movements has accelerated in the last decade as the effects of financial crisis, intersectional social injustice and the COVID pandemics which has led to a disillusionment with politics and fostered the rise of populist actors and claims. Post-communist Central and Eastern Europe has seen radical movements and populist parties gain considerable ground by drawing on nativist and ethnic claims to call for a return to an imagined past, free present and utopian future. In Romania, populist parties have been able to capitalize on a sense of social injustice, national conservative discourse, while also playing on historically negative feelings towards ethnic minorities. These patterns have been observed through the rise of AUR (The Alliance for the Union of Romanians) party which has established a foothold over the past two years. The aims of the article are to examine the evolution of AUR and the reaction of the Roma community towards it, and to analyse the ways in which the representatives of the Roma community are polarized towards the discourse of AUR. The findings of the article show that pre-existing prejudices, long-lasting injustice and newly build conspiracies can be a powerful force that not only targets marginalized communities, but also challenges the mainstream representatives of the party. The reaction of the Roma community is trifold, partly being absorbed by the populist movement, partly reacting against the divisive message expressed by AUR, partly approving the violent discourse of AUR. The second part of article consists in the organization and the interpretation of the main results of a qualitative inquiry we conducted in October-November 2021. During the inquiry, we interviewed online 20 leaders of “Roma NGOs” (non-governmental organizations specialized in the defence of the human, social, economic, political and/ or cultural rights of the Romanian Roma ethnics). The selection of the respondents was based on the principle of reasonable balance in terms of gender, age, location and education as reported to the average Roma civically and politically active citizens. To each participant, we applied a semi-structured interview. For the analysis of the responses, we used the inductive thematic analysis described by Warren and Karner (2014). As a result of this inquiry, we synthesized three main arguments of the Roma NGO militants with regard to the AUR’s emergence’s consequences over the future of the Roma communities.
Zusammenfassung
In Anschluss an die Theoretisierung sozialer Netzwerke als zentraler Erklärungsfaktor politischer Beteiligung wird im vorliegenden Kapitel das Untersuchungskonzept dieser Arbeit entwickelt. Dies beinhaltet zunächst die Herleitung und Formulierung der grundlegenden Forschungsfrage. Daran anschließend werden die zentralen Begriffe dieser Arbeit präzisiert und der empirische Forschungsstand zur sozialen Netzwerkeinbettung dargelegt. Dessen Diskussion soll Stärken und Schwächen der aktuellen Auseinandersetzung aufzeigen und damit Anknüpfungspunkte für die weitere Konzeptualisierung liefern. Auf dieser Grundlage werden schließlich theoretische Erklärungsstrategien, das empirische Forschungsmodell und statistisch überprüfbare Hypothesen generiert.
Zusammenfassung
Das demokratische Ideal der politischen Gleichheit setzt normativ eine gleichmäßige Repräsentation aller Bürgerinnen und Bürger voraus. „Allerdings klafft (…) zwischen dem Ziel politischer Gleichheit und ihrer tatsächlichen Realisierung eine große Lücke“ (Dahl 2006: 11). Diese manifestiert sich in Form eines sozialen Ungleichgewichtes der politisch Beteiligten, das sich zuungunsten ressourcenschwächerer Personengruppen ausformt. Empirisch unbestreitbar, ist die theoretische Verbindung von sozialen und politischen Merkmalen längst nicht derart eindeutig. Vor diesem Hintergrund hat sich diese Arbeit der Ergründung von Faktoren gewidmet, die ursächlich für eine sozial verzerrte Inanspruchnahme politischer Teilhaberechte verantwortlich sind. Im Forschungsfokus steht das soziale Kapital, das aus einer Netzwerkperspektive heraus theoretisiert und mit sozialstrukturellen sowie rationalen Handlungstheorien verknüpft wurde.
Zusammenfassung
Basierend auf der Konzeptualisierung sozialer Netzwerke als Bindeglied einer statusabhängigen Partizipation wurden im vorherigen Kapitel Hypothesen um die soziale und politische Einbindung abgeleitet. Zur statistischen Überprüfung dieser Annahmen werden nun Daten benötigt, die die zentralen Konstrukte angemessen abbilden. Bislang existieren jedoch kaum kleinräumige Erhebungen, die sämtliche spezifizierten Forschungsbestandteile einbinden, wobei insbesondere informelle Netzwerkstrukturen häufig nur unzureichend behandelt werden. Da bereits vorhandene Daten insgesamt als unvollständig oder zu ungenau für eine sekundärstatistische Untersuchung bewertet werden, wird im Folgenden eine Primärerhebung angestrebt. Infolgedessen widmet sich dieses Kapitel der Darlegung des empirischen Forschungsdesigns, welches die Auswahl der Untersuchungseinheiten sowie deren Begründung, die Methode der Datenerhebung und die Entwicklung des Messinstrumentes umfasst. Geschlossen wird dieser Teil mit praktischen Informationen, der Feldphase und einem Überblick über zentrale datenanalytische Aspekte.
Zusammenfassung
Den Ausgangspunkt der nachfolgenden theoretischen Eingrenzung bildet der zentrale Gegenstand dieser Untersuchung – die politische Partizipation. Nach einer definitorischen Präzisierung werden Strukturierungsmerkmale politischer Beteiligung dargelegt, die Verbreitung verschiedener Partizipationsformen in der Bundesrepublik skizziert und mögliche Probleme einer sozial verzerrten Teilhabe identifiziert. Im zweiten Teil werden die zentralen Erklärungsansätze politischer Beteiligung erörtert und deren Vorzüge sowie Schwierigkeiten diskutiert.
Zusammenfassung
In Anschluss an die theoretische und empirische Auseinandersetzung wurde in den vorherigen Kapiteln der Wert politisch relevanter Netzwerke konzeptualisiert, Daten zu deren Messung erhoben und diese für die statistische Analyse aufbereitet. Auf dieser Grundlage werden nun die zentralen Annahmen dieser Untersuchung getestet, wobei bezugnehmend auf das einleitende Zitat von einem erweiterten Matthäus-Effekt ausgegangen wird. Wesentlich wird erwartet, dass die unterschiedliche Netzwerkeinbindung differenzieller Statusgruppen politische Beteiligungsunterschiede bedingt und sonach soziale Verzerrungen im politischen Sektor erklärt. Zur statistischen Überprüfung dieser Grundannahmen werden zunächst deskriptive Ergebnisse erörtert, die unter anderem als Ausgangspunkt für die nachfolgende hypothesentestende Untersuchung fungieren.
Is a low level of civic engagement a problem for the development of the Romanian democracy? The review of a diverse array of perspectives and research in this book shows that civil society is not, indeed, “an infallible democratic miracle worker”. Social and political context matter, as well as attributes of organizations and volunteering. An even stronger Nashi in Russia would probably do little to advance democratic development in this country. However, Romania’s institutional arrangements and level of socio-economic development place it closer to the categories of countries that were found to have benefited from a strong associational sector. Coupled with the fact that the Romanian association members have a slight yet significant tendency to carry attributes that are generally associated with the ideal type of democratic citizen, chances are that a higher quantity and quality of volunteering would help its democratic development.
Most studies of the effect of religiosity on volunteering overlook or fail to deal adequately with the possibility that there is reverse causal relation, from volunteering to religiosity, which should be taken into account. Using four waves of the Americans’ Changing Lives study, we estimate a reciprocal relationship between church attendance and religious and secular volunteering, using dynamic panel models with fixed effects using structural equation modeling and measuring both lagged and proximate effects. Religious service attendance increases future religious volunteering via its proximate effect on religious volunteering while religious volunteering has cross‐lagged and proximate effects on both religious service attendance and secular volunteering. On the other hand, there are neither cross‐lagged nor proximate effects between church going and secular volunteering. Religious and secular types of volunteering are reciprocally related, suggesting religious people are drawn into secular work not only directly, but also via their volunteer work for religious organizations.
Macrosocial theories of democratization point to the pluralism attendant on industrialization, class conflicts and alliances, the state and its social environment, and transnational linkages as influential in the growth of political and civil rights. Unfortunately, these theories neglect the ecological and technological histories of many contemporary states. Proto-modernity, defined as a rich demographic and institutional inheritance rooted in the preindustrial past, is theorized to lay the foundations of pluralism and class structure, in essence allowing some states to democratize more easily than others. In this longitudinal, cross-national analysis using data from a maximum of 83 countries, the author finds robust support for the importance of modernity and proto-modernity to the growth of democracy. By contrast, results are inconclusive on whether stratification affects democratization. -Author
This article examines the crisis of the social democratic model in the four countries (Austria, Norway, Finland, and Sweden) in which social democracy was most successful in maintaining and even extending its two central achievements—full employment and the institutional welfare state—through the end of the 1980s. Four major conclusions emerge from the analysis. First, supply side measures, more so than demand management, were central to the employment and growth models pursued by social democracy prior to the early 1970s. Second, the increasing trade openness contributed little to the recent problems of social democracy. By contrast, financial internationalization and deregulation and the multinationalization of capital undermined important features of the supply and demand sides of the models. Third, changes in the international and domestic economies have weakened centralized bargaining. Fourth, governments in the three Nordic countries made serious mistakes in economic policy, which greatly aggravated their difficulties.
Modernization theorists from Karl Marx to Daniel Bell have argued that economic development brings pervasive cultural changes. But others, from Max Weber to Samuel Huntington, have claimed that cultural values are an enduring and autonomous influence on society. We test the thesis that economic development is linked with systematic changes in basic values. Using data from the three waves of the World Values Surveys, which include 65 societies and 75 percent of the world's population, we find evidence of both massive cultural change and the persistence of distinctive cultural traditions. Economic development is associated with shifts away from absolute norms and values toward values that are increasingly rational, tolerant, trusting, and participatory. Cultural change, however, is path dependent. The broad cultural heritage of a society-Protestant, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Confucian, or Communist-leaves an imprint on values that endures despite modernization. Moreover, the differences between the values held by members of different religions within given societies are much smaller than are cross-national differences. Once established, such cross-cultural differences become part of a national culture transmitted by educational institutions and mass media. We conclude with some proposed revisions of modernization theory.
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We propose a theory of religious mobilization that accounts for variations in religious participation on the basis of variations in the degree of regulation of religious economies and consequent variations in their levels of religious competition. To account for the apparent "secularization" of many European nations, we stress supply-side weaknesses -- inefficient religious organizations within highly regulated religious economies -- rather than a lack of individual religious demand. We test the theory with both quantitative and historical data and, based on the results, suggest that the concept of secularization be dropped for lack of cases to which it could apply.
The traditional paradigm in the sociology of religion sees strength in religious monopolies, attributing to them the ability to sustain an unchallenged, taken-for-granted sacred canopy. The newer paradigm regards religious monopolies as weak, locating religious vitality in pluralism and competition. A crucial test of these competing paradigms arises in the hypothesis that rank-and-file Catholic commitment varies inversely to the proportion nominally Catholic within any appropriate set of units of analysis. Results based on the 102 Roman Catholic dioceses of the United States show that ordination rates, the ratio of priests to nominal Catholics, and Catholic school enrollment are proportionately highest where Catholics are few. Results based on the 50 states show the same inverse relationship between the percent Catholic and the ratio of priests to Catholics. These data also show that the smaller a state's Catholic minority, the higher the circulation rate of the Catholic Digest.
We test the hypothesis, dating from the work of Weber and Tocqueville, that Americans are more likely to become involved in voluntary associations than people of other nations. Compared to previous work, we employ more recent data and consider more countries. We also examine several different measures of membership levels: all memberships versus working memberships as well as membership including and excluding church or union memberships. Cross-national differences are examined before and after controls for education, employment status, size of community, gender, marital status, and age. Results show Americans at or near the top on most measures of membership, although this ranking drops significantly when church membership is excluded and drops even further when only working memberships are examined. In these instances, people from several countries, including Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway, and Sweden, equal or surpass the membership levels of Americans, especially when controls are introduced. Some alternative interpretations of the cross-national differences in voluntary association activity are considered.
This article explores the application of neoinstitutional theory to religious organizations, focusing on how institutionalized
myths and rituals of ecclesiastical authority influence members' behavior and attitudes toward organizational policy. Research
done on hierarchical and decentralized religious polities (which are structures of church government) reveal differential
processes of informing parishioners about church policy. Hierarchical (or “tightly structured”) religious institutions foster
knowledge of organizational policy because of the myths and rituals of recognized ecclesiastical authority, while decentralized
(or “loosely structured”) religious institutions, whose myths and rituals focus on local autonomy, rely upon members' external
motivation for awareness of organizational policy. In part, this article argues for the theoretical usefulness of the application
of neoinstitutional theory to various organizational fields, such as religious organizations.
In contrast to the diverse trends that prevailed for most of the postwar period, unionization rates in the advanced capitalist countries generally declined in the 1980s. I propose a discrete-time hazard-rate model to explain this novel pattern of labor disorganization. Model estimates indicate that union decline is related to growing economic openness, unemployment, pre-existing levels of unionization, the decentralization of collective bargaining institutions, and the electoral failure of social democratic parties through the 1980s.
Secondary analysis of data from national surveys of Americans, Canadians and adults in four other countries are offered in order to provide perspective on the "Americans as a nation of joiners" observation and related propositions in the literature. The broad hypotheses considered are that: (1) the uniqueness and scope of the American pattern of association joining have been overemphasized; and (2) previous American findings on correlates of association membership should obtain in other democracies as well. For each nation, findings on the relationship of membership to social class, sex, age level and marital status are in essential agreement with earlier American findings. Results on affiliation by community size indicate no consistent direct relationships. Subgroups of Canadians and Americans have similar, comparatively high, proportions of memberships. Analysis of membership by sex shows that the uniqueness of the affiliation patterns in these two countries may be, in large part, a result of national differences in the participatory roles of women.
In this paper I discuss the factors and processes affecting the prospects for the institutionalization of democracy throughout the world. I survey cultural and economic variables, religious traditions, various electoral systems, the importance of a participatory civil society, and the methods through which political parties should be structured to maintain stability. I conclude that, because new democracies have low levels of legitimacy, there is a need for considerable caution about the long-term prospects for their stability. In many countries during the 1980s and early 1990s, political democratization occurred at the same time as a profound economic crises. Such conditions have already caused the breakdown of democratization in a number of countries. To attain legitimacy, what new democracies need above all is efficacy, particularly in the economic arena, but also in the polity. If they can take the high road to economic development, they can keep their political houses in order. The opposite is true as well: Governments that defy the elementary laws of supply and demand will fail to develop and will not institutionalize genuinely democratic systems.
Despite a great deal of interest in a possible decline of social capital in the United States, scholars have not reached a consensus on the trend. This article improves upon previous research by providing a model of social capital that has explicit links to theories of social capital and that analyzes multiple indicators of social capital over a 20-year period. The results do not consistently support Putnam's claim of a decline in social capital, showing instead some decline in a general measure of social capital, a decline in trust in individuals, no general decline in trust in institutions, and no decline in associations.
Through analyses of national surveys of 21 European countries and Israel, the authors test the conventional wisdom in Europe that modernists are to the left of the religiously orthodox on economic justice concerns. Modernists are more individualistic than the orthodox in seeing individuals, not a deity, as responsible for their fates and as the ultimate moral arbiters. The authors hypothesize that modernists are also economically individualistic in believing that the poor or jobless, not the community or state, should solve their own problems. The authors find that on economic concerns, modernists are far more likely to be to the right of the orthodox than to the left.
We construct an integrated theory of formal and informal volunteer work based on the premises that volunteer work is (1) productive work that requires human capital, (2) collective behavior that requires social capital, and (3) ethically guided work that requires cultural capital. Using education, income, and functional health to measure human capital, number of children in the household and informal social interaction to measure social capital, and religiosity to measure cultural capital, we estimate a model in which formal volunteering and informal helping are reciprocally related but connected in different ways to different forms of capital. Using two-wave data from the Americans' Changing Lives panel study, we find that formal volunteering is positively related to human capital, number of children in the household, informal social interaction, and religiosity. Informal helping, such as helping a neighbor, is primarily determined by gender, age, and health. Estimation of reciprocal effects reveals that formal volunteering has a positive effect on helping, but helping does not affect formal volunteering.
Movement-countermovement interaction is an ongoing feature of contemporary social movements and, indeed, of contemporary politics. Yet the interplay of contending movements is understudied and undertheorized. This article begins to remedy this deficit by arguing that new work on political opportunity structure provides important insights and significant theoretical leverage for this study. Through a review of the literatures on countermovements and political opportunity, this article argues that this interaction increases when states enable but do not satisfy challengers. This article presents a general framework of theoretical propositions for understanding the interplay of movements and their opponents to animate and guide subsequent research.
At the macro level, the economics of religion implies that religion will be more vibrant where it is less regulated and hence more competitive. Recent attempts to support this hypothesis are weakened by the use of religious pluralism as a proxy measure for the extent to which the religious market is subsidized or regulated. This article extends the analysis of religious market structure by measuring directly the regulation of religious markets in 18 Western democracies. The analysis provides strong support for the hypothesized connection between religious competitiveness and vitality. The results show that (a) the relationship between subsidized religion and religious participation holds in both Protestant and Catholic countries and (b) its explanatory power is far superior to that of religious pluralism alone. However, certain features of the results suggest that the "economics of religion" should be supplemented with noneconomic variables to achieve adequate sociological explanation.
in the Western world it is nor difficult to identify areas where families and family ties are relatively "strong" and others where they are relatively "weak." There are regions where traditionally the family group has had priority over the individual, and others where the opposite has tended to happen, with the individual and individual values having priority over everything else. The geography of these family systems suggests that the center and northern part of Europe, together with North American society, has been characterized by relatively weak family links, and the Mediterranean region by strong family ties. There are indications that these differences have deep historical roots and may well have characterized the European family for centuries. There is little to suggest that they are diminishing today in any fundamental manner. The way in which the relationship between the family group and its members manifests itself has implications for the way society itself functions. Politicians and public planners would do well to consider the nature of existing family systems when designing certain social policies.
Researchers have claimed that trends in voluntary association participation provide the starting point for examinations of social capital - a reflection of the quality of social ties at the individual or community level of analysis. This research addresses the link between participation in voluntary associations and social capital by examining trends in U.S. participation levels over a 21-year period. Using data from the General Social Survey (1974-1994), the findings demonstrate that, although aggregate voluntary association participation decreased between 1974 and 1984, participation increased in the later half of the time period. Further analyses disaggregating participation by the type of voluntary association demonstrate that participation in all but four types of association either increased or remained stable over the period. The article concludes with implications for future research exploring the relationship between voluntary association participation and social capital.