Theda Skocpol
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780195150896
- eISBN:
- 9780199834938
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195150899.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This chapter examines why voluntary associations in the United States were special, and how these fostered a special degree and kind of popular democratic engagement. Voluntary associations involved ...
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This chapter examines why voluntary associations in the United States were special, and how these fostered a special degree and kind of popular democratic engagement. Voluntary associations involved popular participation and mobilized people of different occupational and class backgrounds into the same or parallel groups. These served as schools of democratic citizenship by providing a large number of citizens with opportunities for active participation and democratic leverage.Less
This chapter examines why voluntary associations in the United States were special, and how these fostered a special degree and kind of popular democratic engagement. Voluntary associations involved popular participation and mobilized people of different occupational and class backgrounds into the same or parallel groups. These served as schools of democratic citizenship by providing a large number of citizens with opportunities for active participation and democratic leverage.
René Bekkers, Beate Völker, Martin van der Gaag, and Henk Flap
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199234387
- eISBN:
- 9780191740619
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199234387.003.0087
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Stratification, Inequality, and Mobility
This chapter reveals aspects of networks that are connected to voluntary association membership. It studies the effects of two groups of network characteristics. The first group is composed of ...
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This chapter reveals aspects of networks that are connected to voluntary association membership. It studies the effects of two groups of network characteristics. The first group is composed of characteristics of resources that one can access through their ties with other people. The second group is composed of network characteristics that represent different aspects of social cohesion.Less
This chapter reveals aspects of networks that are connected to voluntary association membership. It studies the effects of two groups of network characteristics. The first group is composed of characteristics of resources that one can access through their ties with other people. The second group is composed of network characteristics that represent different aspects of social cohesion.
Paolo Bellucci, Marco Maraffi, and Paolo Segatti
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199202836
- eISBN:
- 9780191695452
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199202836.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This chapter examines the associational context of political participation. It discusses the extent to which non-political voluntary associations serve as channels through which the citizens are ...
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This chapter examines the associational context of political participation. It discusses the extent to which non-political voluntary associations serve as channels through which the citizens are involved in mass politics. It describes the patterns of secondary association membership across the CNEP countries, and present an analysis of the patterns of membership in voluntary associations and an explanatory model of social participation. The chapter points out how countries differ to the degree of politicization of their secondary associations. It also enumerates the factors that affect the respondents' perceptions of stands taken by their respective associations, and the influence of these associations on electoral turnout and partisan choice. The last section analyzes the extent of electoral encapsulation cross-nationally and across different types of secondary associations.Less
This chapter examines the associational context of political participation. It discusses the extent to which non-political voluntary associations serve as channels through which the citizens are involved in mass politics. It describes the patterns of secondary association membership across the CNEP countries, and present an analysis of the patterns of membership in voluntary associations and an explanatory model of social participation. The chapter points out how countries differ to the degree of politicization of their secondary associations. It also enumerates the factors that affect the respondents' perceptions of stands taken by their respective associations, and the influence of these associations on electoral turnout and partisan choice. The last section analyzes the extent of electoral encapsulation cross-nationally and across different types of secondary associations.
Ray-May Hsung and Yi-Jr Lin
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199234387
- eISBN:
- 9780191740619
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199234387.003.0107
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Stratification, Inequality, and Mobility
This chapter takes a look at the causes and return of social capital for 126 personnel managers in the export processing zones (EPZs) and one science park (SP) in Taiwan. It uses the data gathered ...
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This chapter takes a look at the causes and return of social capital for 126 personnel managers in the export processing zones (EPZs) and one science park (SP) in Taiwan. It uses the data gathered from position-generated networks and participation in voluntary associations. This chapter is able to identify some new issues relating to social capital, such as the lack of connections between human capital and the extensity of accessed positions in the field of personnel managers.Less
This chapter takes a look at the causes and return of social capital for 126 personnel managers in the export processing zones (EPZs) and one science park (SP) in Taiwan. It uses the data gathered from position-generated networks and participation in voluntary associations. This chapter is able to identify some new issues relating to social capital, such as the lack of connections between human capital and the extensity of accessed positions in the field of personnel managers.
Jose Harris (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199260201
- eISBN:
- 9780191717352
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199260201.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, Economic History
This book explores the many different strands in the language of civil society from the 16th to the 20th centuries. Through a series of case-studies it investigates the applicability of the term to a ...
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This book explores the many different strands in the language of civil society from the 16th to the 20th centuries. Through a series of case-studies it investigates the applicability of the term to a wide range of historical settings. These include ‘state interference’, voluntary associations, economic decision-making, social and economic planning, the ‘bourgeois public sphere’, civil society in wartime, the ‘inclusion’ and ‘exclusion’ of women, and relations between the state, the voluntary sector, and individual citizens. The contributions suggest that the sharp distinction between civil society and the state, common in much continental thought, was of only limited application in a British context. They show how past understandings of the term were often very different from (even in some respects the exact opposite of) those held today, arguing that it makes more sense to understand civil society as a phenomenon that varies between different cultures and periods, rather than a universally applicable set of principles and procedures.Less
This book explores the many different strands in the language of civil society from the 16th to the 20th centuries. Through a series of case-studies it investigates the applicability of the term to a wide range of historical settings. These include ‘state interference’, voluntary associations, economic decision-making, social and economic planning, the ‘bourgeois public sphere’, civil society in wartime, the ‘inclusion’ and ‘exclusion’ of women, and relations between the state, the voluntary sector, and individual citizens. The contributions suggest that the sharp distinction between civil society and the state, common in much continental thought, was of only limited application in a British context. They show how past understandings of the term were often very different from (even in some respects the exact opposite of) those held today, arguing that it makes more sense to understand civil society as a phenomenon that varies between different cultures and periods, rather than a universally applicable set of principles and procedures.
Lynn M. Sargeant
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199735266
- eISBN:
- 9780199894505
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199735266.001.0001
- Subject:
- Music, Ethnomusicology, World Music, History, Western
This book explores the complex development of Russian musical life during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It focuses on the Russian Musical Society, which was both unique as a driving ...
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This book explores the complex development of Russian musical life during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It focuses on the Russian Musical Society, which was both unique as a driving force behind the institutionalization of musical life and representative of the growing importance of voluntary associations in public life. Sustained by both private initiative and cooperative relationships with the state, the Russian Musical Society played a key role in the creation of Russia's infrastructure for music and music education. The book's exploration of the broad scope of musical life, including not only the “leading lights” of the era but also rank‐and‐file musicians, teachers, and students, prompts a consideration of the fluid nature of Russian social identity. Although Russian musicians longed for a secure place within the new hierarchy of professions, their social status remained ambiguous throughout the nineteenth century; the traditional reliance on serf musicians and foreigners left lasting scars that drove musicians' efforts to secure both legal rights and social respectability. The increasing visibility of women in musical life provoked acrimonious debates that were, at heart, efforts by male musicians to strengthen their claims to professional status by denying the legitimacy of female participation. At the same time, the successful development of a Russian musical infrastructure salved persistent anxieties about Russia's place vis‐à‐vis its European cultural competitors. Remarkably, the institutions developed by the Russian Musical Society survived the upheavals of war and revolution to become the foundation for the Soviet musical system.Less
This book explores the complex development of Russian musical life during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It focuses on the Russian Musical Society, which was both unique as a driving force behind the institutionalization of musical life and representative of the growing importance of voluntary associations in public life. Sustained by both private initiative and cooperative relationships with the state, the Russian Musical Society played a key role in the creation of Russia's infrastructure for music and music education. The book's exploration of the broad scope of musical life, including not only the “leading lights” of the era but also rank‐and‐file musicians, teachers, and students, prompts a consideration of the fluid nature of Russian social identity. Although Russian musicians longed for a secure place within the new hierarchy of professions, their social status remained ambiguous throughout the nineteenth century; the traditional reliance on serf musicians and foreigners left lasting scars that drove musicians' efforts to secure both legal rights and social respectability. The increasing visibility of women in musical life provoked acrimonious debates that were, at heart, efforts by male musicians to strengthen their claims to professional status by denying the legitimacy of female participation. At the same time, the successful development of a Russian musical infrastructure salved persistent anxieties about Russia's place vis‐à‐vis its European cultural competitors. Remarkably, the institutions developed by the Russian Musical Society survived the upheavals of war and revolution to become the foundation for the Soviet musical system.
Carol E. Harrison
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198207771
- eISBN:
- 9780191677793
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198207771.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This chapter examines the efforts to maintain a bourgeois associative sphere in the face of state efforts to repress private association. The first part ...
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This chapter examines the efforts to maintain a bourgeois associative sphere in the face of state efforts to repress private association. The first part of the chapter offers a brief history of French association law and explains the unusual degree of suspicion French governments reserved for voluntary associations. Laws, however, were only half of the story of the relationship between associations and the French state. In practice, laws were subject to negotiation, and bureaucrats recognised that some forms of association were more acceptable than others. The second half of the chapter examines interactions between specific associations and local and national authorities. Although restrictive laws were crucial in shaping voluntary associations, they did not determine the forms of bourgeois participation in the public sphere.Less
This chapter examines the efforts to maintain a bourgeois associative sphere in the face of state efforts to repress private association. The first part of the chapter offers a brief history of French association law and explains the unusual degree of suspicion French governments reserved for voluntary associations. Laws, however, were only half of the story of the relationship between associations and the French state. In practice, laws were subject to negotiation, and bureaucrats recognised that some forms of association were more acceptable than others. The second half of the chapter examines interactions between specific associations and local and national authorities. Although restrictive laws were crucial in shaping voluntary associations, they did not determine the forms of bourgeois participation in the public sphere.
Michael Hechter
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199247516
- eISBN:
- 9780191599460
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019924751X.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
The members of any nation would prefer to be sovereign rather than to be ruled by non‐nationals because this maximizes the chance that the government will provide them with an optimal mix of public ...
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The members of any nation would prefer to be sovereign rather than to be ruled by non‐nationals because this maximizes the chance that the government will provide them with an optimal mix of public goods. This general preference is affected by the net benefit of continued affiliation with the central authority. To the degree that the centre provides minority nationals with protection, and economic and social welfare, the demand for sovereignty will be attenuated. Hence, nationalist secession is most likely to occur in multinational states whose centres are subject to military and economic setbacks. However, the demand for sovereignty also depends on the nation's capacity to engage in collective action, which is affected by state institutions.Less
The members of any nation would prefer to be sovereign rather than to be ruled by non‐nationals because this maximizes the chance that the government will provide them with an optimal mix of public goods. This general preference is affected by the net benefit of continued affiliation with the central authority. To the degree that the centre provides minority nationals with protection, and economic and social welfare, the demand for sovereignty will be attenuated. Hence, nationalist secession is most likely to occur in multinational states whose centres are subject to military and economic setbacks. However, the demand for sovereignty also depends on the nation's capacity to engage in collective action, which is affected by state institutions.
Kenneth Lipartito
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199251902
- eISBN:
- 9780191719059
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199251902.003.0004
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Business History
This chapter argues for historians to explore the ‘elective affinity’ between communal and utopian societies of 19th-century America and the managerial corporation. It explores the ways that American ...
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This chapter argues for historians to explore the ‘elective affinity’ between communal and utopian societies of 19th-century America and the managerial corporation. It explores the ways that American society sought to reconcile freedom with the growth of market culture through new disciplinary institutions designed to foster self control and to deal with the travails of laissez faire competition. These methods, practiced in famous utopian communities such as Oneida, used systems of management and control, and embraced early corporate forms of organization at a time when such methods and forms were uncommon in private business. Many utopian experiments in fact evolved into profit-making enterprises after the Civil War, while many of the architects of business corporations were often connected — by ties of blood or by their ideas — to the antebellum reform tradition. The chapter argues for historians to explore these cultural connections and to recognize the deeper cultural sources of the modern corporate organization.Less
This chapter argues for historians to explore the ‘elective affinity’ between communal and utopian societies of 19th-century America and the managerial corporation. It explores the ways that American society sought to reconcile freedom with the growth of market culture through new disciplinary institutions designed to foster self control and to deal with the travails of laissez faire competition. These methods, practiced in famous utopian communities such as Oneida, used systems of management and control, and embraced early corporate forms of organization at a time when such methods and forms were uncommon in private business. Many utopian experiments in fact evolved into profit-making enterprises after the Civil War, while many of the architects of business corporations were often connected — by ties of blood or by their ideas — to the antebellum reform tradition. The chapter argues for historians to explore these cultural connections and to recognize the deeper cultural sources of the modern corporate organization.
Judith N. McArthur and Harold L. Smith
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195304862
- eISBN:
- 9780199871537
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195304862.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter situates Minnie Fisher Cunningham in the voluntary association culture of the Progressive Era, and traces her emergence as an activist and social reformer in Galveston in the 1910s. ...
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This chapter situates Minnie Fisher Cunningham in the voluntary association culture of the Progressive Era, and traces her emergence as an activist and social reformer in Galveston in the 1910s. Through voluntary associations such as women's clubs and civic organizations, Cunningham and other urban middle-class women invented new roles for themselves as child welfare advocates and municipal housekeepers. Defining the city as an extension of the home and using maternalist rhetoric to deflect male criticism, they shaped a female public culture that was the precondition for the emergence of a broad-based woman suffrage movement. Cunningham followed the path from clubwoman and civic activist to suffragist, serving as president of the Galveston Equal Suffrage Association, and as a travelling organizer for the state suffrage association, which elected her as president in 1915.Less
This chapter situates Minnie Fisher Cunningham in the voluntary association culture of the Progressive Era, and traces her emergence as an activist and social reformer in Galveston in the 1910s. Through voluntary associations such as women's clubs and civic organizations, Cunningham and other urban middle-class women invented new roles for themselves as child welfare advocates and municipal housekeepers. Defining the city as an extension of the home and using maternalist rhetoric to deflect male criticism, they shaped a female public culture that was the precondition for the emergence of a broad-based woman suffrage movement. Cunningham followed the path from clubwoman and civic activist to suffragist, serving as president of the Galveston Equal Suffrage Association, and as a travelling organizer for the state suffrage association, which elected her as president in 1915.
Stanley Elkins and Eric McKitrick
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195093810
- eISBN:
- 9780199854127
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195093810.003.0011
- Subject:
- History, American History: early to 18th Century
“Democracy” was not to emerge as a fully legitimate cultural value in America, commanding more or less universal approval, until the 1830s, with the appearance of a national system of mass political ...
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“Democracy” was not to emerge as a fully legitimate cultural value in America, commanding more or less universal approval, until the 1830s, with the appearance of a national system of mass political parties. However as early as the mid-1790s with the agitation stirred by the French Revolution and the Jay Treaty, a clear turn in the direction of popular politics could be seen. Beyond any doubt popular attitudes and popular participation took on qualities and proportions—a “populist impulse” became discernible—which had not quite been there before. However, a “populist impulse” is not the same thing as functional democracy. Due account must be taken of the limits and inhibitions within which popular politics in the 1790s still operated. The fate of the Democratic Societies, between the first enthusiastic emergence of so many of these groups in 1793–4 and their utter disappearance within the following year or so, invites questions about the whole subject of voluntary associations in America.Less
“Democracy” was not to emerge as a fully legitimate cultural value in America, commanding more or less universal approval, until the 1830s, with the appearance of a national system of mass political parties. However as early as the mid-1790s with the agitation stirred by the French Revolution and the Jay Treaty, a clear turn in the direction of popular politics could be seen. Beyond any doubt popular attitudes and popular participation took on qualities and proportions—a “populist impulse” became discernible—which had not quite been there before. However, a “populist impulse” is not the same thing as functional democracy. Due account must be taken of the limits and inhibitions within which popular politics in the 1790s still operated. The fate of the Democratic Societies, between the first enthusiastic emergence of so many of these groups in 1793–4 and their utter disappearance within the following year or so, invites questions about the whole subject of voluntary associations in America.
Michael Otsuka
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199243952
- eISBN:
- 9780191598142
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199243956.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
The aim of this book is to vindicate left‐libertarianism, a political philosophy which combines stringent rights of control over one's own mind, body, and life with egalitarian rights of ownership of ...
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The aim of this book is to vindicate left‐libertarianism, a political philosophy which combines stringent rights of control over one's own mind, body, and life with egalitarian rights of ownership of the world. The book shows how John Locke's Second Treatise of Government provides the theoretical foundations for a left‐libertarianism that is both more libertarian and more egalitarian than the Kantian liberal theories of John Rawls and Thomas Nagel. The author's libertarianism is founded on a right of self‐ownership. Unlike ‘right‐wing’ libertarians such as Robert Nozick who also endorse such a right, the author argues that self‐ownership is compatible with a fully egalitarian principle of equal opportunity for welfare. In embracing this principle, his version of left‐libertarianism is more strongly egalitarian than others which are well known. The author argues that an account of legitimate political authority based upon the free consent of each is strengthened by the adoption of such an egalitarian principle. He defends a pluralistic, decentralized ideal of political society as a confederation of voluntary associations.Less
The aim of this book is to vindicate left‐libertarianism, a political philosophy which combines stringent rights of control over one's own mind, body, and life with egalitarian rights of ownership of the world. The book shows how John Locke's Second Treatise of Government provides the theoretical foundations for a left‐libertarianism that is both more libertarian and more egalitarian than the Kantian liberal theories of John Rawls and Thomas Nagel. The author's libertarianism is founded on a right of self‐ownership. Unlike ‘right‐wing’ libertarians such as Robert Nozick who also endorse such a right, the author argues that self‐ownership is compatible with a fully egalitarian principle of equal opportunity for welfare. In embracing this principle, his version of left‐libertarianism is more strongly egalitarian than others which are well known. The author argues that an account of legitimate political authority based upon the free consent of each is strengthened by the adoption of such an egalitarian principle. He defends a pluralistic, decentralized ideal of political society as a confederation of voluntary associations.
Kevin Butterfield
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780226297088
- eISBN:
- 9780226297118
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226297118.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century
This chapter will examine the ordinary experiences of membership and association over the first three decades of the nineteenth century. This chapter will emphasize some of the ways that many ...
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This chapter will examine the ordinary experiences of membership and association over the first three decades of the nineteenth century. This chapter will emphasize some of the ways that many American men and women came to agree on how best to join together. They did so in ways that reveal an early-nineteenth-century American society that had come to embrace rules, formal procedure, and well-defined benefits and obligations in virtually every collective enterprise. How joiners and organizers chose to structure their collective endeavors was, essentially, the everyday experience of constitutional self-government, albeit in private, voluntary associations.Less
This chapter will examine the ordinary experiences of membership and association over the first three decades of the nineteenth century. This chapter will emphasize some of the ways that many American men and women came to agree on how best to join together. They did so in ways that reveal an early-nineteenth-century American society that had come to embrace rules, formal procedure, and well-defined benefits and obligations in virtually every collective enterprise. How joiners and organizers chose to structure their collective endeavors was, essentially, the everyday experience of constitutional self-government, albeit in private, voluntary associations.
LAWRENCE GOLDMAN
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199260201
- eISBN:
- 9780191717352
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199260201.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, Economic History
This chapter considers two ways in which the term ‘civil society’ is used. The first, largely confined to academic discourse, denotes a distinct sphere of social relations in all societies. Civil ...
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This chapter considers two ways in which the term ‘civil society’ is used. The first, largely confined to academic discourse, denotes a distinct sphere of social relations in all societies. Civil society is understood as a web of relationships, institutions, and organizations generated in some way or another by all communities. The second use of ‘civil society’ is largely identified with voluntary, community, and private organizations and with a consequent project to re-establish certain sanctioned types of social interaction and association. When recent commentators have referred to Britain as a classic example of a historic civil society, it is very often the Victorian culture of voluntary association, and progressive integration of previously excluded classes. The chapter focuses on the test-case of such integration: the relatively smooth passage of the institutions of the working class into civil society in Britain during the third quarter of the 19th century.Less
This chapter considers two ways in which the term ‘civil society’ is used. The first, largely confined to academic discourse, denotes a distinct sphere of social relations in all societies. Civil society is understood as a web of relationships, institutions, and organizations generated in some way or another by all communities. The second use of ‘civil society’ is largely identified with voluntary, community, and private organizations and with a consequent project to re-establish certain sanctioned types of social interaction and association. When recent commentators have referred to Britain as a classic example of a historic civil society, it is very often the Victorian culture of voluntary association, and progressive integration of previously excluded classes. The chapter focuses on the test-case of such integration: the relatively smooth passage of the institutions of the working class into civil society in Britain during the third quarter of the 19th century.
Kevin Butterfield
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780226297088
- eISBN:
- 9780226297118
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226297118.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century
In this chapter, three important cultural developments will be examined. First, by looking at the travails of the embattled Society of the Cincinnati the chapter will examine the growing belief that ...
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In this chapter, three important cultural developments will be examined. First, by looking at the travails of the embattled Society of the Cincinnati the chapter will examine the growing belief that effective voluntary association requires formalities and procedural regularity. No group can rely on mere affection or friendship. Second, we will begin a theme that will be continued in part II: the increasingly sophisticated ways in which Americans embraced these kinds of formal practices within their own associations, by means of constitutions, bylaws, and resolute attention to procedure and predictability. Third, we will show just how pervasive these cultural practices were becoming by tracing the ways that they came to characterize practices in what was, for many American men and women, the most important of all associational connections: their own churches.Less
In this chapter, three important cultural developments will be examined. First, by looking at the travails of the embattled Society of the Cincinnati the chapter will examine the growing belief that effective voluntary association requires formalities and procedural regularity. No group can rely on mere affection or friendship. Second, we will begin a theme that will be continued in part II: the increasingly sophisticated ways in which Americans embraced these kinds of formal practices within their own associations, by means of constitutions, bylaws, and resolute attention to procedure and predictability. Third, we will show just how pervasive these cultural practices were becoming by tracing the ways that they came to characterize practices in what was, for many American men and women, the most important of all associational connections: their own churches.
Kevin Butterfield
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780226297088
- eISBN:
- 9780226297118
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226297118.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century
The first generations of American citizens learned a great deal about how to join together in ways voluntary, effective, and safe for both the republic and the individual citizen. Something new did ...
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The first generations of American citizens learned a great deal about how to join together in ways voluntary, effective, and safe for both the republic and the individual citizen. Something new did appear in the 1830s, however, when temperance and antislavery societies that were organized around a pledge—a public confession of faith in the cause and an internalized commitment to both personal and societal transformation—brought a novel and powerful kind of voluntary membership to the United States. And thus the post-Revolutionary emphasis on procedure and law-minded practices in American civil society sowed the seeds of its own historical obscurity, for the associational diversity that it nurtured had produced new ways of thinking about the meanings of voluntary membership, new ways of joining together. The pluralism of antebellum American civil society had opened the door to something new and radically transformative.Less
The first generations of American citizens learned a great deal about how to join together in ways voluntary, effective, and safe for both the republic and the individual citizen. Something new did appear in the 1830s, however, when temperance and antislavery societies that were organized around a pledge—a public confession of faith in the cause and an internalized commitment to both personal and societal transformation—brought a novel and powerful kind of voluntary membership to the United States. And thus the post-Revolutionary emphasis on procedure and law-minded practices in American civil society sowed the seeds of its own historical obscurity, for the associational diversity that it nurtured had produced new ways of thinking about the meanings of voluntary membership, new ways of joining together. The pluralism of antebellum American civil society had opened the door to something new and radically transformative.
Frank Hendriks
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199572786
- eISBN:
- 9780191722370
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199572786.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics, Political Theory
In voter democracy the citizens are king, particularly as preference indicators in directly aggregative procedures – as citizens who raise hands on matters in town meetings, make choices between ...
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In voter democracy the citizens are king, particularly as preference indicators in directly aggregative procedures – as citizens who raise hands on matters in town meetings, make choices between options in referendums, tick preference boxes in user questionnaires, etc. The distinction between citizenship and leadership is smaller in voter democracy than in pendulum or consensus democracy; public leaders are often private persons who take the initiative, literally, and mobilize support behind a proposal. In today's world, voter democracy is most clearly exhibited in the USA and Switzerland, places where ‘fend for yourself’ – an emphasis on self‐rule combined with self‐protection – is crucial. The core quality of voter democracy is the mobilization of private responsibility, initiative, and trust in the voluntary association of citizens. But ‘tragedies of the commons’ loom large; for each individual separately, voter democracy may seem like a good idea, but for all individuals together it may have tragic – irrational, illiberal – effects.Less
In voter democracy the citizens are king, particularly as preference indicators in directly aggregative procedures – as citizens who raise hands on matters in town meetings, make choices between options in referendums, tick preference boxes in user questionnaires, etc. The distinction between citizenship and leadership is smaller in voter democracy than in pendulum or consensus democracy; public leaders are often private persons who take the initiative, literally, and mobilize support behind a proposal. In today's world, voter democracy is most clearly exhibited in the USA and Switzerland, places where ‘fend for yourself’ – an emphasis on self‐rule combined with self‐protection – is crucial. The core quality of voter democracy is the mobilization of private responsibility, initiative, and trust in the voluntary association of citizens. But ‘tragedies of the commons’ loom large; for each individual separately, voter democracy may seem like a good idea, but for all individuals together it may have tragic – irrational, illiberal – effects.
Carol E. Harrison
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198207771
- eISBN:
- 9780191677793
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198207771.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This chapter considers leisure and argues that emulation and association reconciled the bourgeois work ethic with the conspicuous consumption of spare ...
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This chapter considers leisure and argues that emulation and association reconciled the bourgeois work ethic with the conspicuous consumption of spare time. Indulgence in leisure was crucial to bourgeois status, and not only because it denoted economic success. Leisure signified disposable income, but, equally important, it represented bourgeois emancipation from the demands corporate society placed on an individual's time. The issue of leisure revolved around the poles of gender and class. Emulation and association provided the solution to the bourgeois leisure dilemma. The rhetoric of emulation and the practice of association clarified the class and gender ambiguities of free time. When practised by men in association, a wide variety of leisure pastimes could be defined as masculine, as respectable, and as socially responsible. As a set of activities that could make or unmake class and gender identities, leisure was a serious business and bourgeois Frenchmen treated it as such.Less
This chapter considers leisure and argues that emulation and association reconciled the bourgeois work ethic with the conspicuous consumption of spare time. Indulgence in leisure was crucial to bourgeois status, and not only because it denoted economic success. Leisure signified disposable income, but, equally important, it represented bourgeois emancipation from the demands corporate society placed on an individual's time. The issue of leisure revolved around the poles of gender and class. Emulation and association provided the solution to the bourgeois leisure dilemma. The rhetoric of emulation and the practice of association clarified the class and gender ambiguities of free time. When practised by men in association, a wide variety of leisure pastimes could be defined as masculine, as respectable, and as socially responsible. As a set of activities that could make or unmake class and gender identities, leisure was a serious business and bourgeois Frenchmen treated it as such.
Kay Lehman Schlozman, Sidney Verba, and Henry E. Brady
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691154848
- eISBN:
- 9781400841912
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691154848.003.0013
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
This chapter considers several kinds of data that might show evidence of reinforcing or ameliorating tendencies in the paucity of organized representation for the resource deprived. It investigates ...
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This chapter considers several kinds of data that might show evidence of reinforcing or ameliorating tendencies in the paucity of organized representation for the resource deprived. It investigates whether, within any category, the organizations that have Washington representation are stratified by organizational size or budget. The chapter uses survey data about individual members of voluntary associations to query whether those who are active or are mobilized to political action in organizations and those who consider that the organization represents them are representative of all organization members. Finally, this chapter scrutinizes evidence gathered from organizations' websites to inquire whether the resource disadvantaged are gaining representation from other, perhaps more privileged, organizations in the pressure system.Less
This chapter considers several kinds of data that might show evidence of reinforcing or ameliorating tendencies in the paucity of organized representation for the resource deprived. It investigates whether, within any category, the organizations that have Washington representation are stratified by organizational size or budget. The chapter uses survey data about individual members of voluntary associations to query whether those who are active or are mobilized to political action in organizations and those who consider that the organization represents them are representative of all organization members. Finally, this chapter scrutinizes evidence gathered from organizations' websites to inquire whether the resource disadvantaged are gaining representation from other, perhaps more privileged, organizations in the pressure system.
Kevin Butterfield
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780226297088
- eISBN:
- 9780226297118
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226297118.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century
This book is an exploration of the cultural meanings and legal consequences ascribed to the concept of individual, voluntary membership by the first generations of American citizens, between 1783 and ...
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This book is an exploration of the cultural meanings and legal consequences ascribed to the concept of individual, voluntary membership by the first generations of American citizens, between 1783 and 17840. It attempts to explain post-Revolutionary Americans’ propensity to form and join voluntary associations by looking at how they described and defended their ideas about what voluntary membership should look like. Within their own groups, joiners and organizers of American private associations found in law and in an emphasis on procedural fairness a way to cohere. And yet their legalistic framing of their own efforts to act collectively had another consequence: as more joiners in early national associations came to conceive of their participation as one of well-defined rights and obligations, legal institutions (chiefly, courts of law) occupied an increasingly important position in the monitoring of those internal relationships. Examining the contests over the meanings and consequences of voluntary membership reveals that, in the young United States, law provided the substructure for American civil society. Post-Revolutionary Americans, consciously and deliberately, sought to balance their need for effective, concerted action with their concerns for individual autonomy and personal rights. The answers that they settled upon then helped to shape their attitudes toward public and private law, toward constitutionalism, and toward individualism and cooperation in ways that transformed American society.Less
This book is an exploration of the cultural meanings and legal consequences ascribed to the concept of individual, voluntary membership by the first generations of American citizens, between 1783 and 17840. It attempts to explain post-Revolutionary Americans’ propensity to form and join voluntary associations by looking at how they described and defended their ideas about what voluntary membership should look like. Within their own groups, joiners and organizers of American private associations found in law and in an emphasis on procedural fairness a way to cohere. And yet their legalistic framing of their own efforts to act collectively had another consequence: as more joiners in early national associations came to conceive of their participation as one of well-defined rights and obligations, legal institutions (chiefly, courts of law) occupied an increasingly important position in the monitoring of those internal relationships. Examining the contests over the meanings and consequences of voluntary membership reveals that, in the young United States, law provided the substructure for American civil society. Post-Revolutionary Americans, consciously and deliberately, sought to balance their need for effective, concerted action with their concerns for individual autonomy and personal rights. The answers that they settled upon then helped to shape their attitudes toward public and private law, toward constitutionalism, and toward individualism and cooperation in ways that transformed American society.
