P. Dekker

Civil Society in Comparative Perspective: Involvement in Voluntary Associations in North America and Western Europe

Involvement in voluntary associations is analyzed from the perspective of questions raised in the debate about civil society. After demarcating the concept of civil society in relation to the community, the market, and the state, expectations are formulated about the negative effects of modernization and individualization on volunteering and the positive effects of volunteering on social capital and public discourse. World Values 1990 data are used for inter- and intranational analyses. Neither rankings of thirteen Western nations nor in-depth analyses of the U.S., the Netherlands, and Italy support worried reflections about the effects of modernization. The Idea that involvement in voluntary associations is conducive to social cohesion and political democracy finds empirical support. Both mere membership of an association and actual volunteering within such an association appear to be important in this respect.

Changes in the determinants of volunteering: Participation and time investment between 1975 and 2005 in the Netherlands

Researchers have examined whether societal developments such as educational expansion, secularization, and changes on the job market affect levels of volunteering. We extend this research by studying the distribution of volunteering or possible changes in the way volunteering is determined. We found that volunteering has become more common among the economically inactive (pensioners and homemakers) at the expense of the employed. Furthermore, the relationship between church attendance and volunteering has become stronger; although volunteering has gone down in general, churchgoers increase their volunteering for religious organizations on average. The role of education has also changed: the differences between the lower and higher educated in their participation in volunteer work have virtually disappeared. The determinants of the time invested in volunteering have changed less and turn out to be entirely different from the determinants of participation. Explanations for these changes as well as their implications for research are discussed.

Volunteering and values

Volunteering has gained widespread public and political interest in recent years. Policy debates have taken place in many countries focusing on how to preserve and encourage volunteering, and various parliamentary and government commissions have studied ways to stimulate voluntary activities among diverse groups such as the young and the elderly, working parents and immigrants. 2001 was the United Nations Year of Volunteers, and this gave rise to all kinds of national and local manifestations, discussions and policy initiatives, often with a lot of media exposure. In the burgeoning social sciences literature on the (assumed) decline of civic community, the crumbling of civil society, and the erosion of social capital, volunteering is an indicator of the negative trends as well as a possible instrument for recovery. Volunteering is not just an expression of individual engagement and a spontaneous result of community life; it is often consciously organized and managed and it can be made an object of policymaking. This mixture of voluntariness and organization in the establishment of prosocial behavior makes volunteering a very interesting phenomenon.

Civicness in the governance and delivery of social services

In Civicness in the Governance and Delivery of Social Services, the editors show that the state, the market and the third sector have all been heralded as breeding grounds for civicness and civility, as well as decried as sources of vice. Thus, this book focuses on the processes and institutions that promote the virtues of civicness and the challenges thereof, covering both the levels of service delivery and governance. The editors have compiled case studies from Europe, organised into five thematic sections. The cases highlight different dimensions and mixes of civicness, civility and governance influenced by marketisation and Europeanisation ideals. While the cases are largely unique, readers will recognise the influence of neo-liberalism, globalisation, statism and social movement theories in shaping the arguments. Section one explores the concept of civicness. In Chapter one, the editors introduce the concept of civicness, discuss its basic dimensions, and apply it to the area of social services. The remaining two chapters explore the concepts of civicness in detail. Section two analyses the concept of civicness in more specific contexts. Taco Brandsen explores the meaning of civicness within organisations, focusing on the relationship between professionals and managers who deliver services in increasingly complex networks that lead to clashes in values. The author concludes that the civil quality of an organisation is important in dealing with the tensions that arise between its members and in achieving a high level of integration. Evelien Tonkens analyses the relationship between civicness and citizen participation in social services, by creatively looking at the reverse—how citizen participation contributes to civicness. The author emphasises that structured participation and training enhance civicness as citizens are equipped with the capacity to exert influence. Victor Pestoff looks at civicness and the co-production of social services in Sweden. He argues that the greater citizen and third-sector participation in the provision and

Dissolution of Associational Life? Testing the Individualization and Informalization Hypotheses on Leisure Activities in the Netherlands between 1975 and 2005.

In this paper we examine whether individualization and informalization processes have occurred in the field of leisure in The Netherlands, by analyzing the social context of a wide range of activities between 1975 and 2005. We find that the choice of a particular leisure context is dependent on education, gender, year of birth, age and time pressure. We find evidence for informalization, but—contrary to popular belief—not for individualization. The informalization trend follows a pattern of cohort replacement, and is also caused by a rise in the average education level in the population. Our findings imply that research on civil society, community and social capital should not only be concerned with membership rates, but also with participation in alternative social contexts.

A Tale of Two Cities: Local Patterns of Social Capital

An outsider entering the village of Asten in the south of the Netherlands has a good chance of not being treated with suspicion. The majority of the local population believe that “in general, most people can be trusted.” By contrast, a visitor traveling to the districts of Wielwijk or Crabbehof in the town of Dordrecht (to the south of Rotterdam) will have to overcome more in the way of social barriers. Two-thirds of the inhabitants of these districts have formed the opinion that “you can’t be too careful in dealing with other people.” And there are other differences between Asten and these Dordrecht districts. In Asten, for example, people seek contact with other local residents easily and generally regard them as helpful. In Dordrecht this is true for only a minority of the inhabitants. Two-thirds of the inhabitants of Asten are members of an association, compared with just one-third of Dordrecht inhabitants. Attitudes to politics differ as well: In Asten the government is regarded as a reliable source of information on important social and political issues by half of the population, compared with a quarter of the population of Dordrecht. According to the survey from which we take these data, 16 percent of the citizens of Asten and 38 percent of those of Dordrecht think that whatever decisions the government makes, they are of no use for everyday life.

‘Democracy always comes first’: adolescents’ views on decision-making in everyday life and political democracy

ABSTRACT Research shows adolescents to be positively oriented towards democracy, but little is known about what it actually means to them and what their views are on decision-making in both everyday situations and political democracy. To gain insight into these aspects of adolescents’ democratic views, we have interviewed 40 Dutch adolescents from second grade of different types of high school. Potential conflict between various democratic principles prevalent in everyday life situations was discussed and compared to how they view decision-making in political democracy. The results of our qualitative study showed that adolescents’ views on issues concerning collective decision-making in everyday situations are quite rich and reflect different models of democracy (majoritarian, consensual, and deliberative). Moreover, how adolescents deal with tensions between democratic principles in everyday life situations varies. While some adolescents combine several principles (for instance, majority rule as a last resort after trying to find broader consensus), other adolescents tend to strictly focus on only one of these principles. Adolescents’ views on political democracy, however, are rather limited and one-dimensional. Those adolescents who seemed to have a more explicit picture of political democracy often preferred a strict focus on majority rule, neglecting minority interests.

Religion and civil society in Europe

Acknowledgements.- Note on the European Values Study as Main Data Source.- Preface.- Chapter 1. Introduction: European Diversity and Divergences Joep de Hart, Paul Dekker and Loek Halman.- Chapter 2. Religion and Civil Society: Theoretical Reflections David Herbert.- Chapter 3. Religion, State and Civil Society in Europe: Triangular Entanglements John Madeley.- Chapter 4. The Dynamics of Civil Society: Density, Age, Fertility and Completeness in the Religious Voluntary Sector Sigrid Rossteutscher.- Chapter 5. Secularization and Shifting Sources of Morality: Religion and Morality in Contemporary Europe Loek Halman and Erik van Ingen.- Chapter 6. Social Trust and Religion in Sweden: Theological Belief vs. Social Organization Susanne Wallman Lundasen and Lars Tragard..- Chapter 7. Religion and Civil Society in Italy and Other Latin Countries Franco Garelli.- Chapter 8. Secular Values, Religious Beliefs and Civil Life: A Comparative Analysis of Helping Values and Behaviour Kingsley Purdam and Ingrid Storm.- Chapter 9. Religion, Spirituality and Civic Participation Joep de Hart and Paul Dekker.- Chapter 10. The Spiritual Revolution and Social Capital in Denmark Peter Lunchau.- Chapter 11. Religion and Social Participation in Postcommunist Europe Malina Voicu and Claudiu Tufis.- Chapter 12. Religion and Civil Society in the Post-Soviet Space Olga Balakireva and Yuliya Sereda.- Chapter 13. The Impact of Religion on the Political Participation of Muslims: The Case of Switzerland Marco Giugni, Matteo Gianni and Noemi Michel.- Chapter 14. Democracy, Civil Society and Islam Yilmaz Esmer.- Chapter 15. Does Praying Together Means Staying Together?: Religion and Civic Engagement in Europe and the United States Pippa Norris.- Index.

Adolescent citizenship and educational track: a qualitative study on the development of views on the common good

Abstract Studies show adults’ attitudes towards citizenship to be related to their educational level. It has been claimed that higher educated people more often possess ‘good’ citizenship values. However, only limited insight exists into how differences in citizenship attitudes between adolescents from various educational tracks develop over time. In this qualitative longitudinal study, we investigate the perspectives of adolescents from different educational tracks on aspects of citizenship. The results show that adolescents in higher tracks develop stronger political orientations with age and learn to focus more strictly on competition between perspectives and on formal procedures of decision-making. Those in the lower track remained rather uninterested in politics but stick to their emphasis on consensus and inclusiveness. Overall, our study shows that ‘good’ vs. ‘bad’ citizenship values do not simply coincide with educational level and provides a more nuanced insight into adolescent developmental trajectories towards citizenship.

Tocqueville Did Not Write About Soccer Clubs: Participation in Voluntary Associations and Political Involvement

Inspired by Robert Putnam and referring to Alexis de Tocqueville, many political sociologists have in recent decades focused on expectations of positive effects of participation in voluntary associations on political involvement. However, the literature and analyses of new data sources suggest a very fragile empirical basis for these expectations: Statistical relationships are weak and the causality is disputable. Present-day leisure clubs might not be the civic organisations that Tocqueville wrote about, and present-day citizens might have other sources of drivers for political involvement.