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FROM MEMBERSHIP TO MANAGEMENT AFTER THE 1960s

FROM MEMBERSHIP TO MANAGEMENT AFTER THE 1960s. Theda Skocpol USW 31 October 17, 2012. How was U.S. civic life reorganized between the 1960s and the 1990s? Why did civic changes happen? (brief overview) How have civic reorganizations interacted with new societal inequalities?

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FROM MEMBERSHIP TO MANAGEMENT AFTER THE 1960s

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  1. FROM MEMBERSHIP TO MANAGEMENT AFTER THE 1960s Theda Skocpol USW 31 October 17, 2012

  2. How was U.S. civic life reorganized between the 1960s and the 1990s? • Why did civic changes happen? (brief overview) • How have civic reorganizations interacted with new societal inequalities? • Civil Rights and other “rights” revolutions • Expansion of the ranks of the higher-educated • Rising inequalities of income and wealth • What difference do civic changes make for U.S. democracy?

  3. CIVIC AMERICA circa 1960 • Business organizations most numerous nationally • Civic and fellowship-oriented membership federations involved unusually high proportions of Americans.

  4. CIVIC CHANGES, 1960s to 1990s • 15 of 20 largest membership associations of the mid-1950s experienced sharp decline, usually starting in the 1970s. Cross-class male and female groups, and the AFL-CIO, experienced greatest declines. • Chapter federations of all sizes declined sharply – except a few mostly conservative federations (NRA, NRLC, Christian Coalition).

  5. Source: Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone (2000): 54.

  6. Even as Americans after 1960 were withdrawing from old-line chapter membership associations, they were organizing thousands of new nonprofit associations. Source: Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone (2000): 50.

  7. A-11 Figure 9.2 RATIO OF U.S. PROFIT TO CITIZENS’ GROUPS OVER TIME Source: Frank Baumgartner and Bryan Jones, AGENDAS AND INSTABILITY IN AMERICAN POLITICS, p. 181. Based on 1985 data from Jack L. Walker, Jr.

  8. Many newly formed groups have no members at all:

  9. -- Jeff Berry, Lobbying for the People (1977): Of 83 public interest associations, most recently founded, two-thirds had no chapters. -- Jack Walker, Mobilizing Interest Groups in America (1985): Survey of 205 citizens groups found that less than one-third had chapters for individual, dues-paying members. -- A 1962 study of groups listed in the Encyclopedia of Associations found a median membership size of about 10,000. A 1988 study of groups listed in the Encyclopedia found a median membership size of 1000, with about half of groups reporting no members. As Putnam (2000; 49) concludes, “over this quarter century the number of voluntary associations roughly tripled, but the average membership seems to be roughly one-tenth as large -- more groups, but most of them much smaller. The organizational eruption between the 1960s and the 1990s represented a proliferation of letterheads, not a boom of grassroots participation.”

  10. Source: Shaiko 1999: 12, Table 1.5.

  11. WHY DID CIVIC TRANSFORMATION HAPPEN? Social, technological, and political shifts converged to suddenly change the behavior of civic organizers and leaders between the mid-1960s and the 1980s. • NEW COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES: • Traditional associations used social networks to recruit dues-paying members to chapters that were typically vital to successful national association-building. • By the 1970s, television and computerized mailing lists made it possible for civic organizers sitting in national offices to forego chapters, even if they wanted to attract individual adherents. • NEW POLITICAL CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES: The U.S. national state became more active and added staff, spurring more group activity and providing many more points of access -- especially for nationally focused and professionally run groups.

  12. Perceived political opportunities and challenges were not the same for conservative versus liberal groups in the critical period of civic reorganization. Perceiving themselves excluded from the establishment, groups like the National Right to Life Committee, the National Rifle Association, and the Christian Coalition organized from below as well as above, and used pre-existing institutions and networks to create chapters and attract millions of members. Conservative federations aimed to build influence in localities, states, and Congressional districts. Liberal groups, by contrast, saw greater possibilities in creating professional advocacy groups to lobby and conduct lawsuits.

  13. In addition to technological and political factors, late-twentieth-century shifts in U.S. social equalities and inequalities also help us to make sense of contemporary civic reorganizations.

  14. “Rights” revolutions and civic change: • Rapid changes in social attitudes about race and gender roles undercut the appeal of segregated old-line membership federations. • Rights movements (and the War in Vietnam) helped to discredit the authority and organizational features of old-line federations, opening the way for new, more agile civic endeavors led by youthful professionals. • New federal government activism on “rights” issues encouraged the formation of professionally run groups speaking for virtual constituencies.

  15. Civil Right Act and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission designate official “minorities” 1964-66 Sources: Debra C. Minkoff, Organizing for Equality (1995): 62; and John D. Skrentny, The Minority Rights Revolution (2002): ch. 4.

  16. New opportunities for “rights”advocacy, 1964-70: -- Equal Employment Opportunity Commission -- Office of Federal Contract Compliance -- Office for Civil Rights and bilingual education Sources: Debra C. Minkoff, Organizing for Equality (1995): 62; and John D. Skrentny, The Minority Rights Revolution (2002): ch. 4.

  17. Higher Education and Civic Reorganization: The ranks of higher-educated Americans accumulated rapidly, from 7.7% college grads in 1960 to 25.2% in 1999. “Professionals” especially proliferated. • College grads (and other elites) stopped affiliating with traditionally predominant types of cross-class membership federations. • College-trained professionals found expanded employment opportunities in advocacy and nonprofit associations. • College grads became the prime constituents for newly formed or (newly active) advocacy groups.

  18. Rising Economic Inequalities and Civic Changes: • Economic inequalities probably did not initially spur civic reorganizations, which were well under way before inequalities burgeoned in the late 1970s and 1980s. • But burgeoning patronage from foundations and wealthy donors may have facilitated the proliferation of staff-intensive organizations. • Associations are looking for big donations. Hold fund raisers. And mailing-list associations sift through respondents to find prospective large donors.

  19. SO WHAT? -- U.S. civic democracy has become more pluralist, less business-centered, and more oligarchic -- all at once. More voice, less equality. -- Professionally managed associations have less popular “reach” and offer fewer opportunities for participation and interaction. Because new types of groups de-emphasize member involvement and rely on experts and big donors, they do much less than traditional membership federations to draw ordinary people into civic life and politics. -- Contemporary civic reorganizations enhance possibilities for conflicts over practical and value issues of interest to the top third of society, while doing less than blue collar trade unions and popular membership federations once did to raise and lobby for issues of concern to the lower middle class, blue collar workers, and the least economically privileged.

  20. Are there exceptions to the trend from membership groups to professionally managed associations? If so, where and why?

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