Social scientist Seymour Martin Lipset says that Americans remain more active in voluntary associations and more willing to contribute to nongovernmental organizations than citizens of any other country. Lipset, whose scholarship has shaped the study of the conditions, values, and institutions of democracy in the United States and throughout the world, asserts that Americans are still the strongest exponents of the independent sector, despite notable signs of political disengagement. The following has been excerpted from an article of the same title that appeared in the July 1995 issue of the Journal of Democracy.

Reprinted by permission of the Johns Hopkins University Press. Copyright (c) 1995. From the Journal of Democracy, July 1995.




Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam contends that the traditional networks that have brought together Americans with common views and interests, helping to sustain political parties and political participation, have lost strength over the past few decades.

While the positing of a relationship between declining levels of associational membership and the fall-off in political participation is logical, a close look at the evidence suggests that civil society remains relatively healthy in the United States. Comparative survey data, for example, still confirm Tocqueville's conclusion that Americans are more civically engaged than most other people in the world. According to the World Values Survey of 1990, the United States has considerably higher rates of membership in voluntary organizations than any other nation. Eighty-two percent of Americans belong to at least one of 16 types of voluntary organizations, as compared to 53 percent of Germans, 39 percent of the French, 36 percent of Italians, and 36 percent of the Japanese. Moreover, Americans have the highest rates of membership in almost all of the 16 types of organizations, with trade unions being the main exception. With regard to charitable or social-service activities, 49 percent of Americans reported volunteering in 1990-1991, as compared to 13 percent of Germans and 19 percent of the French. A higher percentage of Americans -- 73 percent -- contributed money to such causes, as compared to 43 to 44 percent of the French and Germans; American contributors also gave much more per capita. The proportion of the adult population in the United States that volunteers for community-service activities climbed in Gallup polls from 27 percent in 1977 to 54 percent in 1989, before falling to 46 percent in 1994.


Religious and Informal Groups

Americans are clearly the most religiously committed people in Christendom, with the exception of a few countries like Ireland and Poland, where religion and nationalism are intertwined. But there is conflicting information about trends. With regard to membership in church-affiliated groups, the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) reports a drop from 42 percent in 1974 to 35 percent in 1993, with the greatest part of the decline occurring in the late 1970s. Gallup, on the other hand, reports that membership in churches and synagogues has remained steady at about two-thirds, and that the rate of weekly church attendance has fluctuated only slightly, with the figures for 1994 (38 percent) almost identical to those for 1950 (39 percent) and 1987 (40 percent).

Between 1974 and 1993, NORC regularly inquired about the interpersonal relations of Americans using three different questions concerning frequency of visits with relatives, neighbors, and friends. The percentage of Americans reporting that they visited with neighbors "daily to several times a month" decreased from 44 percent in 1974 to 33.5 percent in 1993. During the same interval, the percentage "spending time regularly with relatives" fell much less, from 57 to 52 percent; the percentage "seeing friends regularly" actually increased, from 40 to 45 percent.

Data on participation in informal groups are obviously relevant here. Robert Wuthnow's 1990 study of the informal small-groups movement, based on a Gallup poll, personal interviews, and in-depth case studies, found that 40 percent of Americans over the age of 18 participate regularly in a small group in which they find mutual caring and support. The main reasons given for joining these groups are "to gain a feeling of community" and "to find spirituality." In accordance with these groups' pragmatic focus, entry and exit requirements are minimal and few demands are made of members. Despite the flexibility of these "rules," three-fourths of the groups have existed for more than five years, and most have lasted longer. Wuthnow's conclusion is that, although these groups make participants feel good, they do not challenge members to make significant commitments to others or to the large community.

The thesis that the vitality of civil society, as reflected by the level of participation in voluntary organizations, is linked to the strength of democracy is nearly two centuries old. It implies, as Putnam suggests, that the two should move in tandem. Much of the available evidence on trends supports Putnam's conclusion that Americans' involvement in voluntary organizations has declined. Yet there are enough data to the contrary to warrant the Scottish verdict of "not proven" -- to which one would add "but probable." Clearly, more research in this area is needed.


The Survival of the American Dream

Given the bad news about attitudes toward governance in the United States, what accounts for the continued stability of the American political system? Why are we not witnessing mass unrest or grievous forms of opposition? Why is the major protest movement -- led by Ross Perot -- basically centrist, even conservative with respect to economic and social policy? Part of the answer lies in the continued, though perhaps somewhat diminished, strength of American civic culture. As detailed above, volunteering for charitable causes, some types of organizational membership, and religious activities have increased or remained constant, and the United States remains ahead of other nations in its level of citizen participation in voluntary institutions. Perhaps even more important is the evidence that most Americans are not unhappy about their personal lives or prospects; in fact, they show considerable optimism about the future. They still view the United States as a country that rewards personal integrity and hard work, as a nation that -- government and politics aside -- still "works."

The American Dream is still alive, even if the government and other institutions are seen as corrupt and inefficient. A 1994 survey-based study conducted for the Hudson Institute found that over four-fifths of Americans, or 81 percent, agree with the statement "I am optimistic about my personal future." Three-quarters, or 74 percent, agreed with the statement "In America, if you work hard, you can be anything you want to be." Not surprisingly, when asked to choose between "having the opportunity to succeed" and "having security from failing," over three-quarters, or 76 percent, opted for the former, with only one-fifth preferring security.

A 1994 Gallup poll for Times Mirror yielded similar results. Over two-thirds of respondents, or 67 percent, said that they expected their financial situation to improve "a lot" or "some;" only 14 percent said it would get worse. Large majorities rejected the statement "Success in life is pretty much determined by forces outside our control." Most affirmed the traditional American laissez-faire ideology, with 88 percent agreeing with the statement "I admire people who get rich by working hard," and 85 percent agreeing that "poor people have become too dependent on government assistance programs." Perhaps more significant, 78 percent endorsed the view "The strength of this country today is mostly based on the success of American business."


Income Inequality

Such views persist despite the hard evidence that income inequality is increasing and is greater in the United States than in most European nations and Japan. The explanation for this pattern may lie in America's cultural emphasis on meritocracy and upward mobility. And greater proportions, in fact, do rise into the more privileged sectors in the United States than elsewhere. Given the strength of the aspiration to do so, it is not surprising that Americans are more disposed to approve of high salaries for "stars" in entertainment, athletics, and the market in general -- that is, for achievers at every level. Comparative survey research indicates that Americans are much more approving of sizeable income differences than both Europeans and the Japanese. Support for the overall system is also reinforced by a relatively low unemployment rate -- currently between five and six percent. There is certainly some unhappiness about the economy and income distribution in the United States, which reinforces other sources of political malaise, but is much less pronounced than elsewhere.

Clearly, the American political system -- though distrusted and ineffective in dealing with major social problems -- is in no real danger. Most Americans remain highly patriotic and religious, believe that they are living in the best society in the world, and think that their country, in spite of its problems, still offers them opportunity and good prospects for economic security. Although the effects of the Great Depression of the 1930s were worse in the United States than in most of Europe, America came out of it with its party system, state institutions, and material values intact. The polity will no doubt survive the current wave of political malaise as well.

Issues of Democracy, USIA Electronic Journals, Vol. 1, No. 8, July 1996