Civic Life Reexamined: How Do Organizations Influence Participation?


Qian Wei, Wilfrid Laurier University

This paper examines participatory styles – how civic organizations engage both internal staff and external constituents in decision-making processes – based on a sample from the San Francisco Bay Area. Utilizing hierarchical cluster analysis, the research identifies four unique participatory styles: self-directed, participatory bureaucracy, entrepreneurial, and distributed, each with its own distinct involvement patterns in organizational tasks and decision-making. The study further applies regression and filtration analysis to delve into the organizational practices that form the building blocks of each participatory style. Findings indicate that participatory bureaucracy organizations exhibit a blend of bureaucracy, participation, and community embeddedness. Distributed organizations are seen to integrate professionalism and volunteerism. Furthermore, in self-directed organizations, internal democracy does not necessarily translate into community integration. These insights help us better understand how associational life contributes to larger social and political outcomes. Participation is a muscle memory of democracy atrophying without regular exercise and civic virtue is not a by-product of civic organizations, but rather arises out of the opportunities for such exercise. These exercise opportunities, which encompass the extent to which participation is permitted and the specific forms participation takes, are consistently orchestrated by the organizations.

Non-presenting author: Yi Zhao, Stanford University; Woody Powell, Stanford University

This paper will be presented at the following session: