Multidisciplinary group studies citizenship and community

By Debra Bradley Ruder

Gazette Staff

America's civic life has declined, in part, because the country's most powerful leaders have withdrawn from broad civic groups that give citizens of different backgrounds a chance to discuss national concerns.

That is one conclusion drawn by Theda Skocpol, professor of government and sociology in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) and coordinator of the "Civic Engagement Project" at Harvard.

Skocpol testified recently before the National Commission on Civic Renewal, a new body formed to study and promote civic participation in the United States. It is co-chaired by former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn and former Education Secretary William Bennett.

She is one of several Harvard faculty members who have been studying the topic of citizenship and community. Others include Michael Sandel, whose recent book is Democracy's Discontent: America in Search of a Public Philosophy, and Robert Putnam, author of the often-cited essay "Bowling Alone." (Both are FAS Government professors.) Also involved is Constance Buchanan, associate dean at the Divinity School and author of the well-regarded book, Choosing to Lead: Women and the Crisis of American Values.

In addition, some 25 faculty members from across the University have joined an interfaculty seminar on "Public Life and the Renewal of Democracy," sponsored by the Divinity School's Center for the Study of Values in Public Life and led by Dean Ronald Thiemann. Participants discuss the interaction of religion, democratic values, civic involvement, and public institutions.

The Civic Engagement Project is assembling data on the emergence and growth throughout U.S. history of large voluntary associations, such as the American Legion, the United Automobile Workers, and the Parents' and Teachers' Association,

In her testimony in Washington, D.C., Skocpol argued that many voluntary associations in America have expanded in tandem with government social policies, such as the GI Bill of 1944.

"Those who say that America's modern national systems of social provision have choked off -- or crowded out -- voluntary activity in civil society could not be more wrong," she contended.

She described several changes that have weakened voluntary associations during the past two decades.

For example, better educated Americans have pulled out of fraternal and sororal groups in record numbers since the mid-1970s. These organizations once brought people together across regional and class lines.

Also, the growth of staff-led advocacy and lobbying groups has taken away much of the action from larger voluntary associations. And there are fewer links between national groups and their state and local counterparts, she said.

Skocpol concluded, "Too much money in politics, too great a reliance on staff-led groups, too much top-down manipulation, and far too few incentives for leaders to organize or engage in dialogue with actual groups of fellow citizens across the nation -- these are major sources of Americans' sense of disconnection from shared civic life."