Civic Engagement in American Democracy

(Paperback)

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An analysis of civic engagement in American democracy. It opens with a look at the roots of America's patterns of civic engagement, examining the ways in which social groups and government and electoral politics have influenced each other. Other chapters examine the impact of advocacy groups and socioeconomic inequalities on democratic processes and probe the influence of long-term social and cultural changes on voluntary associations and civic participation. The book concludes by asking why social liberation has been accompanied by new inequalities and the erosion of many important forms of citizen leverage and participation. Coming together from different disciplines, the contributors include Jeffrey M. Berry, Henry E. Brady, John Brehm, Steven Brint, Elisabeth S. Clemens, Peter Dobkin Hall, Wendy M. Rahn, Kay Lehman Schlozman, Sidney Verba and Robert Wuthnow.

Reviews

"This book belongs on the short list of works produced in the last decade or so about civic life in the United States from which one can actually learn something. The numerous strong articles repay careful attention for anyone interested both in current debates and in figuring out what the next round of debates should address." David Plotke, New School University, American Journal of Sociology, vol. 106, no. 4

"The consistently high quality of the contributions to this volume make it absolutely essential for students of civic participation, and highly recommended for all who are concerned with the health of American democracy.
" H.L. Reiter, University of Connecticut

Author Bio

Theda Skocpol is Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology at Harvard University and author of Boomerang: Health Reform and the Turn Against Politics (Norton, 1996), and Protecting Soldiers and Mothers: The Political Origins of Social Policy in the United States (Harvard, 1992) which won five scholarly awards. Morris P. Fiorina is professor of political science and senior fellow of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and author of Congress --Keystone of the Washington Establishment (Yale, 1977, 1989), Retrospective Voting in American National Elections (Yale, 1981), and Divided Government (Macmillan, 1992, Allyn & Bacon, 1995).