Citizenship Norms and the Expansion of Political Participation
| Author | Russell J. Dalton |
| Published date | 01 March 2008 |
| Date | 01 March 2008 |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1467-9248.2007.00718.x |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Citizenship Norms and the Expansion of
Political Participation
Russell J. Dalton
University of California
A growing chorus of scholars laments the apparent decline of political participation in America, and the
negative implications of this trend forAmerican democracy. This article questions this position – arguing
that previous studies misdiagnosed the sources of political change and the consequences of changing
norms of citizenship for Americans’ political engagement.Citizenship nor ms are shifting from a pattern
of duty-based citizenship to engaged citizenship. Using data from the 2005 ‘Citizenship, Involvement,
Democracy’ survey of the Center for Democracy and Civil Society (CDACS) I describe these two faces
of citizenship,and trace their impact on political par ticipation.Rather than the erosion of participation,
this norm shift is altering and expanding the patterns of political par ticipation in America.
A participatory public has been a defining feature of American politics and
historically a strength of the political system. Alexis deTocqueville’s classic treatise
on Democracy in America (1966) stressed the participatory tendencies of Americans
in contrast to European publics. Thomas Jefferson believed that a well-informed
electorate is the most important constraint on government. Social scientists
maintain that political participation ‘is at the heart of democratic theory and at the
heart of the democratic political formula in the United States’ (Verba and Nie,
1972, p. 3).Without public involvement in the process, democracy lacks both its
legitimacy and its guiding force. Moreover,studies of political par ticipation in the
1960s and 1970s stressed the public’s high activity levels (Almond and Verba,
1963; Barnes et al., 1979;Verba and Nie, 1972). The political culture encouraged
people to participate:Amer icans were active in voluntary associations, engaged in
political discussion and involved in political affairs. Tocqueville’s description of
America apparently still applied in the mid-twentieth century.
Despite this heritage, there is an apparent consensus among contemporary politi-
cal scientists that the foundations of citizenship and democracy in America are
crumbling. For example, a recent study co-sponsored by the American Political
Science Association and the Brookings Institution begins:
American democracy is at risk. The r isk comes not from some external threat but
from disturbing internal trends: an erosion of the activities and capacities of
citizenship. Americans have turned away from politics and the public sphere in
large numbers, leaving our civic life impoverished. Citizens participate in public
affairs less frequently,with less knowledge and enthusiasm, in fewer venues,and less
equally than is healthy for a vibrant democratic polity (Macedo et al., 2005, p. 1).
doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9248.2007.00718.x
POLITICAL STUDIES: 2008 VOL 56, 76–98
© 2008The Author.Jour nal compilation © 2008 Political StudiesAssociation
There is no shortage of pundits and political analysts who proclaim that too few
of us are voting, we are disconnected from our fellow citizens, we lack social
capital and we are losing faith in our government (e.g. Craig,1996; Dionne,1991;
Hibbing and Theiss-Morse, 2002; Wattenberg, 2002). In his influential book,
Bowling Alone, Robert Putnam concludes:
declining electoral participation is merely the most visible symptom of a broader
disengagement from community life.Like a fever,electoral abstention is even more
important as a sign of deeper trouble in the body politic than as a malady itself. It
is not just from the voting booth thatAmer icans are increasingly AWOL (Putnam,
2000, p. 35).
Indeed, I agree that theAmer ican public has undergone profound changes in the
past half-century,and this has altered participation patter ns and citizens’ relation-
ship with government. However, this study argues that prior research has mis-
diagnosed the process by focusing on only a portion of the political activity, and
by mistaking the sources of these changes.
This article first maintains that the norms of citizenship are vital to understanding
the political behavior of the American public. There has been a general call for
the revival of citizenship to address the problems facing contemporary democ-
racies (e.g. Macedo et al.,2005; Milner, 2002; Putnam, 2000). However, I maintain
that there are multiple norms of citizenship; and I present evidence that suggests
some norms have weakened,while others have strengthened. My central premise
is that the social and political modernization of the United States – and other
advanced industrial democracies – over the past several decades has systematically
altered the distribution of citizenship norms in significant ways.
Second, I show that previous research has typically focused on the change in what
I call duty-based citizenship and its consequences, looking backward to the
politics of the past. Alternative norms of engaged citizenship have very different
implications for the political attitudes and behavior of the public, and many of
these may represent positive developments for American democracy. This article
shows how the changing norms of citizenship are affecting one aspect of con-
temporary politics: the patterns of participation. I draw upon data from the
‘Citizenship, Involvement, Democracy’ survey of the Center for Democracy and
Civil Society (CDACS) that is used by other articles in this symposium.
The evidence of changing citizenship norms and their consequences does not
mean that American democracy does not face challenges. Indeed, the vitality of
democracy is that it normally responds to such challenges, and the response
ideally expands and strengthens the democratic process.By accurately recognizing
the current challenges, and responding to them rather than dire claims about
political decay, American democracy can continue to evolve and develop. We
cannot return to the politics of the 1950s, and we probably should not want to,
but we can improve the democratic process if we understand how citizens and
their world are really changing.
CITIZENSHIP NORMS AND PARTICIPATION 77
© 2008The Author.Jour nal compilation © 2008 Political StudiesAssociation
POLITICAL STUDIES: 2008, 56(1)
To continue reading
Request your trial