The strength of civic ties: connecting civic engagement and professional attainment among educated immigrants in the United States

In general, the founders of the National Conference of Black Political Scientists were “movement people.” Powerful agents of socialization such as the uprisings of the 1960s molded them into scholars with tremendous resolve to tackle systemic inequalities in the political science discipline. In forming NCOBPS as an independent organization, many sought to develop a Black perspective in political science to push the boundaries of knowledge and to use that scholarship to ameliorate the adverse conditions confronting Black people in the United States and around the globe. This paper utilizes historical documents, speeches, interviews, and other scholarly works to detail the lasting contributions of the founders and Black political scientists to the discipline, paying particular attention to their scholarship, teaching, mentoring, and civic engagement. It finds that while political science is much improved as a result of their efforts, there is still work to do if their goals are to be achieved.

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A Nation of Organizers: The Institutional Origins of Civic Voluntarism in the United States

American Political Science Review ◽

10.2307/2585829 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 94 (3) ◽

pp. 527-546 ◽

Cited By ~ 180

Author(s):

Theda Skocpol ◽

Marshall Ganz ◽

Ziad Munson

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Civil Society ◽

Civic Engagement ◽

The United States ◽

Institutional Form ◽

Current Discussion ◽

Institutional Origins ◽

Membership Associations

We challenge the widely held view that classic American voluntary groups were tiny, local, and disconnected from government. Using newly collected data to develop a theoretically framed account, we show that membership associations emerged early in U.S. history and converged toward the institutional form of the representatively governed federation. This form enabled leaders and members to spread interconnected groups across an expanding nation. At the height of local proliferation, most voluntary groups were part of regional or national federations that mirrored the structure of U.S. government. Institutionalist theories suggest reasons for this parallelism, which belies the rigid dichotomy between state and civil society that informs much current discussion of civic engagement in the United States and elsewhere.

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Nonprofits and the Promotion of Civic Engagement: A Conceptual Framework for Understanding the "Civic Footprint" of Nonprofits within Local Communities

Canadian journal of nonprofit and social economy research ◽

10.22230/cjnser.2014v5n1a158 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Micheal L. Shier ◽

Lindsey McDougle ◽

Femida Handy

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Civic Engagement ◽

Nonprofit Organizations ◽

Rural Community ◽

Community Education ◽

The United States ◽

Local Communities ◽

Future Research ◽

Community Members ◽

Education And Awareness

ABSTRACT The literature suggests that nonprofit organizations provide civic benefits by promoting engagement within local communities. However, there exists minimal empirical evidence describing the ways in which nonprofits actually undertake this role. In order to address this omission, we conducted interviews with personnel of nonprofit organizations in one rural community in the United States. Our preliminary findings indicate that nonprofit organizations promote civic engagement through programs and activities that: 1) engage volunteers and donors; 2) bring community members together; 3) collaborate with organizations within and beyond the community; and 4) promote community education and awareness. Together, these findings help to develop a working model to understand the civic footprint of nonprofit organizations with methodological implications for future research that would seek to measure the extent to which nonprofits promote civic engagement. Il est normal de supposer que les associations à but non lucratif favorisent l’engagement du citoyen dans les communautés locales. Cependant, il existe peu de données empiriques sur la manière dont ces associations assument véritablement ce rôle. Pour combler ce manque, nous avons mené des entretiens semi-directifs approfondis auprès du personnel d’associations à but non lucratif dans une petite communauté rurale aux États-Unis. Nos résultats préliminaires indiquent que ces associations motivent les citoyens à s’impliquer quand elles offrent des programmes et des activités qui : 1) intéressent les bénévoles et les donateurs; 2) rassemblent directement ou indirectement les membres de la communauté; 3) collaborent avec d’autres associations tant au sein de la communauté qu’au-delà de celle-ci; et 4) encouragent l’éducation et la conscientisation communautaires. Ces constats aident à établir un modèle pour mieux comprendre la présence civique des associations à but non lucratif dans les communautés et indiquent une piste à suivre pour des recherches futures qui examineraient l’influence de ces associations sur le niveau de participation civique.

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Parades, Picketing, and Demonstrations

The Oxford Handbook of Freedom of Speech ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198827580.013.21 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 368-388

Author(s):

Timothy Zick

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Collective Action ◽

Civic Engagement ◽

First Amendment ◽

Freedom Of Speech ◽

The United States ◽

Collective Modes ◽

Individual Autonomy ◽

The Government

This chapter focuses on parades, pickets, and demonstrations, which are forms of civic engagement that communicate aspirations, ideas, and, quite often, dissenting opinions to fellow citizens, governments, and broader audiences. For many, gathering together in public, in these and similar forms, is a cathartic act of self-fulfilment and a demonstration of solidarity. Collective action in the form of public gatherings is an integral part of any system of communicative freedom. In the United States, in addition to the freedom of speech, rights to ‘peaceably assemble’ and to ‘petition the Government for a redress of grievances’ are explicitly provided for in the First Amendment to the Constitution. Ultimately, parades, pickets, and demonstrations all further basic expressive values relating to self-governance, the search for truth, and individual autonomy. Nevertheless, Americans seeking to engage in collective modes of expression face a variety of doctrinal, legal, social, and political challenges. The chapter then details how digital connectivity has facilitated expressive opportunities by connecting individuals and supporting new forms of associational activity.

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Religion, Social Incorporation, and Civic Engagement among Generations

Ethnic Church Meets Megachurch ◽

10.18574/nyu/9781479804757.003.0006 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Prema A. Kurien

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Racial Identity ◽

Civic Engagement ◽

Second Generation ◽

Civic Participation ◽

The United States ◽

Religious Institutions ◽

Immigrant Generation ◽

Intergenerational Differences ◽

First And Second Generation

Chapter 5 shows how negotiations and disagreements between generations shape the civic engagement of Mar Thoma American congregations in the United States and India. Recent studies have demonstrated that participation in religious institutions facilitates the civic incorporation of contemporary immigrants. These studies have focused on either the immigrant generation or on the second generation. In one way or another, these studies indicate that concepts of identity and of religious obligation play an important role in motivating civic participation. Not surprisingly, given the different models of religion of immigrants and their children, definitions of community and their perceived Christian obligations toward this community varied between first- and second-generation Mar Thomites. There are no academic studies that examine how intergenerational differences in the understanding of religious and racial identity affect the civic engagement of multigenerational congregations. This is important to understand, however, as most religious institutions of contemporary immigrants are multigenerational.

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I Want Everybody to Have the Same Chance to Find Happiness

None of the Above ◽

10.18574/nyu/9781479817399.003.0005 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 119-140

Author(s):

Joel Thiessen ◽

Sarah Wilkins-Laflamme

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Civic Engagement ◽

Charitable Giving ◽

Political Engagement ◽

The United States ◽

The Many ◽

Politically Active ◽

As If

This chapter deals with political and civic engagement, once more comparing the actively religious, marginally religious, and unaffiliated. In terms of political engagement, the focus is on the many ways individuals are or are not politically active, including who they vote for. Discussion is similarly given to volunteering and charitable giving habits, such as if people volunteer or donate money (or not), how frequently and where they volunteer or give, and motivations for volunteering and giving. The chapter concludes with some possible social and civic implications on the horizon for those in the United States and Canada, should religious nones continue to hold a sizeable proportion of the population.

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God in the Barrio?: The Determinants of Religiosity and Civic Engagement among Latinos in the United States

Politics and Religion ◽

10.1017/s175504831600002x ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 84-110 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Sarah Allen Gershon ◽

Adrian D. Pantoja ◽

J. Benjamin Taylor

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Civic Engagement ◽

Religious Identity ◽

First Generation ◽

Church Attendance ◽

The United States ◽

Generational Status ◽

Social Forces ◽

The Social ◽

Church Participation

AbstractIt is often assumed that Latinos in the United States are deeply religious, and that this religious identity plays an important role in shaping their political beliefs and behaviors. A more controversial though unexplored proposition is that Latinos may not be as religious as is commonly believed and that forces beyond their religiosity play more prominent roles in shaping their political engagement. Relying on data from the 2006 Latino National Survey, we examine secularism — measured by church attendance — and civic engagement among Latinos. Our efforts are to analyze the social forces that shape levels of religiosity and find that generational status plays a significant role. Additionally, we further find that while church attendance declines among later generations, second and third generation Latinos have higher levels of civic engagement than their first generation peers, indicating that a decline in church participation does not depress political participation among later generations of Latinos.

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