Practice Passage Test - 14 | Practice Passages for MCAT PDF Download

The role of citizen participation in democratic societies has been a subject of study for sociologists throughout history. They have developed different approaches to understand why some societies exhibit more active participation in civic affairs, leading to variations in the effectiveness of democracies. One approach, known as the psycho-cultural approach, emphasizes the influence of individual values and beliefs on the creation of associations and the functioning of democracies. Sociologist Robert Putnam, for example, examined the governance of Italian regional and local governments and found that regions in Northern Italy were better governed due to a longer tradition of civic associations compared to the regions in Southern Italy. Putnam attributed the positive institutional performance of regions with strong networks of citizen participation to the concept of "social capital," which refers to informal networks, norms of reciprocity, and trust among members of associations.

While the psycho-cultural approach emphasizes values and beliefs, more recent studies have adopted a structural perspective to explain the significance of associations. Social networks have emerged as a crucial factor in understanding modern associations. Within the literature on associations as networks, two approaches have gained prominence. One approach highlights the role of social networks, particularly friendship, in explaining why individuals participate in associations. The other approach emphasizes the importance of identity processes in promoting association growth. Individuals join associations to acquire a new identity and form new circles of friends with shared interests. These approaches draw heavily from research on social movements, such as the work of sociologist Doug McAdam, who found that activists participating in a summer camp were more likely to have pre-existing friendships with other camp participants.

Contrasting with the significance of pre-existing friendships, sociologist Eugene Weber argued that the French state facilitated the development of a national identity by enabling contact among individuals from different parts of the country. Institutions such as national universities, military service, corporations, and administrative bodies promoted social relations and the formation of new identities, which influenced participation. Another group of social movement scholars, including sociologist Deborah Minkoff, focused on processes of identity formation and collective action among disadvantaged categories such as gays and lesbians, the elderly, and women. These groups lacked access to infrastructure that fosters ties between members, but through mobilization, they formed identities that led to the creation of social ties. Some sociologists have also used data from online communities to demonstrate a non-network growth model for associations, where individuals join based on shared interests with the community and subsequently develop new relationships that promote a new identity.