Second National Metropolis Conference
Immigrants and Civic Participation:
Contemporary Policy and Research Issues
Montréal, November 1997
Civic Participation, Awareness, Knowledge and Skills
by James S. Frideres, Professor
Department of Sociology
The University of Calgary
Introduction
This paper will review the recent literature focusing on correlates of civic
involvement in Canada and in other democratic societies. In carrying out this task, we
have discovered many dimensions of civic involvement, e.g., participation, awareness,
skills, and knowledge.1 This subject is an integral
part of the mandate of the renewed multicultural program which identifies one of the
goals/objectives of the policy is to develop an individuals' capacity and opportunity to
participate in shaping the future of their community and their country.
I do not plan to discuss the controversies about a discourse of civil society which
have been raging over the past three decades. Thus, I will not revisit controversies
between the defenders of the elite versus the participatory model of democracy, between
the rights-oriented liberalism and communitarianism or between the neoconservative
defenders of a free market versus those defending the welfare state. This is a paper which
summarizes the recent, extant literature on civic participation, awareness, knowledge, and
skills.2
Civic Involvement
The traditional idea in the Western Democracies has been that it is desirable for the
effective functioning of the democratic system that the individual be disposed to play an
active part in the working of the system, as voter, community participant, worker,
activist, political party member. It is felt that each citizen has to be persuaded that
he/she has a responsibility to be informed and be an active participant in the democratic
system. In the end, all members of society should be able to judge the efficacy of various
points of view and act on the basis of what seemed to be the wisest course of action. This
would allow each citizen to make wise decisions and society could function in a stable
manner.3
Civic involvement may be evident in a number of settings. The most common are voluntary
community organizations.4 These organizations are
geographically based, operating in specific places, volunteer driven, with a primary
resource of "human capital", locally initiated, responding to local conditions,
and focusing on specific problems confronting the local population. When operating at
their peak, these organizations transform isolated individuals into public citizens and
contribute to the stability of society.5
At a more specific level, these organizations empower individuals and communities to
gain mastery over their affairs.
Before proceeding further, we need to be conceptually clear in the use of our term
"civic involvement". Civic involvement (some might say civic culture) represents
the patterning of how we share a common space, common resources, and common opportunities
and manage interdependence in that "company of strangers" which constitutes the
public (Selman, 1991). It represents a tangle of human connections, past and future; at
the same time it defines entitlements and responsibilities.6
We are concerned with how we manage that inter-dependence in Canada and about the role
of individuals, acting singly or in concert with others, as participants or citizens
within that process.7 There is an assumption that
the building of a sense of community acts as a mechanism to stimulate the healthy
development of the environment and the people who inhabit it. We are concerned how this
process operates within our social and political system.8
After reviewing many works on the subject matter (both theoretical and empirical), it
is clear that civic involvement is multidimensional and operates at a number of levels.
For example, civic involvement may involve such mundane activities as a family discussion
about government policy, a peer group discussion regarding political candidates during an
election or canvassing for a local charitable organization. It may also entail more
visible actions such as supporting a candidate running for political office, running for
political office, participating in a referendum, lobbying government, or engaging in
protest activities. The many levels of involvement may be focused on the individual, the
family, local community, region or nation. Finally, it should be noted that the context
for these activities is also varied, taking place in a work setting, educational
institution, ethnic community, voluntary association, religious organization or other
milieu corroborating the belief that civic involvement may be secular (political,
economic) or religious in nature.
Nonetheless, each context has a potential impact upon an individuals capacity and/or
opportunity to participate in the future of their community or country. We begin by
presenting a general model which reveals the dynamic nature of civic involvement as well
as how changing individual and structural factors impinge upon the level of participation,
awareness, knowledge, and skills. It also reveals the synergistic linkage between the
individual and the social structure in which they operate. We then look at correlates of
civic involvement in an attempt to ferret out those social and structural factors which
are related to civic involvement. Next, we look to the literature to identify those
similarities and differences between native born and immigrant Canadians with regard to
civic participation, knowledge, awareness and skills.
As noted above, we will first look at those factors which are related to civic
involvement and then turn our attention to research which has focused on the consequences
of civic involvement.
Why do people participate?
The issue of civic involvement has been of interest since the turn of the century.
Social scientists have argued that involvement in one s family, private clubs, voluntary
associations and the political system are necessary components of stable, well functioning
societies. This in turn is conducive to a stable democratic polity.9
The position taken by Canadians (congruent with the work of Alexis de Tocqueville), is
that without active participation on the part of citizens in egalitarian institutions,
there will be no way to maintain the democratic character or the political culture of
social and political institutions.
Because modern civil society is based upon egalitarian principles and universal
inclusion, experience in articulating the political will and in collective decision making
is crucial to the reproduction of democracy. As such, if Canadians wish to continue to
live in a civil society, they must develop social associations cutting across class
structures, neighborhoods, develop networks of mutual aid, all of which provide a
collective service and promote a civil society.
Over the past two decades, a number of disciplines such as Sociology, Political
Science, and Social Work have contributed theories and models to the study of civic
awareness, knowledge, skills and participation. (See Figure 1)
The explicit assumption is that civic involvement will have a wide variety of benefits at
the national, community, interpersonal and individual level (Wandersman and Florin, 1997).
For example, many times, communities, government agencies, or other organizations have
looked to civic involvement as a way to provide a solution to a problem, e.g., urban
service delivery, health promotion, disease prevention, crime and drug abuse prevention,
welfare reform, mental health service delivery.
Current research suggests that individuals become involved in civic activities
depending on the benefits and costs of participation. Research further stipulates that, to
be effective as incentives, benefits are "selective" or "private" in
that they specifically reward members for their individual contributions and are only
obtainable by those who actually participate. If you can't, or can get the rewards
elsewhere, or by letting others do it, it is likely that individuals will not participate
and engage in "free rider" behaviour. Selective incentives are not only
material, e.g., money, but can also be nonmaterial (solidarity), e.g., friendship,
personal satisfaction. Research also suggests that purposive benefits, which are derived
from suprapersonal goals of the organization, include such activities as bettering the
community, doing one's civic duty, and fulfilling a sense of responsibility.10
The most active participants in voluntary organizations, e.g., leaders, are primarily
motivated by purposive benefits such as working toward the improvement of the neighborhood
or community. Others have suggested that the enjoyment of leadership and organizing as
well as ego gratification are important motivators. However, solidarity benefits are also
important for these individuals. Material motives were found to play a relatively minimal
role as motivator for the most active participants. In general, purposive motives are
important initiating participation while solidarity, purposive and material motives are
important for sustaining participation. Costs are negatively associated with any form of
involvement. (See Figure 2)
Within the "cost-reward" model, three factors have been identified as
influencing an individuals participation in voluntary organizations: perception of the
environment, ones social relations, and one's perceived control and empowerment within the
community.
1. perception of environment: Individuals judge the degree to which their environment
(or a specific aspect of the environment) is positive or negative to the individual. If
viewed negatively, stress and arousal result, e.g., fear of crime, lower property values,
and social withdrawal from civic involvement occurs. Viewed in this light, perception of
environmental problems can serve as a motivator to action since in many cases
organizations are created as a response to the threat or reality of physical
deterioration. Research shows there is a curvilinear relationship between perception of
environmental problems and individual participation in a voluntary organizations.
2. one's social relations: This refers to social interaction with neighbors, e.g.,
borrowing, informal visits, help in emergency. Research shows that when people engage in
and feel a sense of community, they interact more with their neighbors. Moreover, the
presence of social networks within a neighborhood helps regulate social behaviour through
normative mechanism called informal social control. With the establishment of social
norms, individuals have a clear sense of rights and responsibility which in turn motivates
individuals to engage in civic activities.
3. perceived control and empowerment: Perceived control relates to the beliefs an
individual has about the relationship between actions (behaviours) and outcomes.
Individuals evaluate the likelihood that their own individual efforts (or a group of
people working together), can solve a specific problem. This expectancy will influence an
individuals civic involvement. Research shows a similar impact is related to an
individuals locus of control.
At the same time there are pull factors involved in moving individuals to greater civic
involvement, there also are push factors which keep them from doing so. These barriers to
civic involvement include such structural factors as receptivity of host society, levels
of racism/discrimination, and the host society beliefs about "ethnics" and/or
immigrants. In addition, a number of socio-demographic factors as well as attitudes and
beliefs are linked to low levels of civic awareness, knowledge, and participation. Thus,
it is important to realize that the impact of each independent variable is not simply one
which ranges from no relationship to a positive one. In some cases, low levels of the
independent variable, e.g., education, seems to have a negative impact on the civic
involvement or awareness of the individual.
Correlates of Civic Involvement
We now move to the more general literature on citizen participation and "civic
involvement" in an attempt to isolate those factors which are theorized to have an
impact upon civic awareness, knowledge, participation, and skills.11
There is a considerable body of theory regarding the issue of civic involvement while at
the same time, very limited empirical data to support those theoretical claims. Figure 3 identifies those hypothesized and empirically tested
independent variables related to one or more of the many dimensions of civic involvement.
Standard socio-demographic factors have been the most cited contributors to civic
involvement although the theoretical rationale for how these variables impact upon civic
involvement is seldom presented. Nevertheless, most researchers point to the contextual
environment in which individuals operate and these also have an impact on civic
involvement. Unfortunately, these structural factors have not been well researched.
Another set of variables are those defined as "beliefs or attitudes". For
example, researchers have found that many individuals have "private regarding"
attitudes that cause them to act in their own special interest and withdraw from the
process of public participation. Others have attitudes of "nonparticipation" or
practice a "culture of silence" which present barriers to civic involvement.
Finally, most researchers point to time as an important mediating variable. As
individuals mature, become educated, gain status in the community, their participation,
knowledge, skills, and awareness in civic activities changes. Similarly, as social
structure evolves over time, the impact of specific structures varies. Thus contextual
variables form an important envelope in which individuals operate.
The results in Figure 3 show that many individual
factors show a positive relation to civic participation. However, other dimensions of the
concept have not been subjected to empirical testing. What is lacking in this review is an
analysis of "paths", multiple impacts, and "multicollinearity" of the
individual variables.
Immigrant vs. Native Born Civic Involvement
There is a belief that deep cultural and value differences between immigrants and
native born Canadians make the successful integration of recent immigrant groups very
difficult (Weinfeld, 1994). Government today takes the position, as did Marshall (1965),
that integration assumes that there are core values of a culture which are more or less
stable and a process of incorporation of different groups will take place within a common
national community. At the same time, we have taken the position that one can be ethnic
and yet share a common citizenship, a position that many European countries have yet to
debate, e.g., France, Germany.
Most research clearly demonstrates that social membership is obtained by immigrants
gradually over a long period of time. It is the result of participation in the civil
society, in the daily life, in the labour and housing markets, in leisure time activities,
and associational life. Immigrants become members not by way of formal decisions, but as a
matter of fact and, they begin to behave as members of society after some minimum period
of residence, generally regarded as between three and five years.12
Researchers focusing on civic involvement of immigrants hypothesize differences between
immigrants and native born Canadians.13 Figure 4 reveals those variables which reveal different levels
of civic involvement for native born and immigrant Canadians.
Impacts of Civic Involvement
The final section of our paper focuses on the consequences of civic involvement.
Research shows that participation in civil society such as voluntary organizations,
provides opportunities for learning about public issues and acquiring skills, knowledge
and practical experience of relevance to the role of functioning as a citizen. People gain
knowledge about specific aspects of our society, e.g., social or public policy, also gain
deeper convictions about the values which are at work in our society and how they are
applied.
Finally, civic involvement allows people to see how the processes of social and
political change work and how it is possible to have impact on the direction of change.14 In summary, most research on citizen participation
in community organizations (of all types and forms) has shown a positive impact on: a) the
community, b) organizations, and c) individuals. The specific variables are outlined in Figure 5.
Conclusion
The dilemma facing Canadians is how can we build civic involvement? How can inclusion,
shared identity and political unity occur when diversity reigns? We must remember that
nominal civic participation is the membership of a state, while citizenship means
generalized rights. This statement embodies the idea that membership in a society refers
to several subsystems, the economic, social, political. Furthermore, it illustrates the
inter-connectivity of the subsystems. For example, when economic subsystems are being
globalized, the political subsystems, the basically unaltered territorial nation states,
tend to lose some of their political control. International migration is one important
example of this "disjuncture" between the economic and the political, and
against the principles of liberal democracy a growing number of permanent residents are
excluded from civic membership.15
Globalization presents people with an unending stream of products, ideas, values which
threaten to destabilize links between the citizen and the state, unless they are
constrained by the positive identification with the polity that an enriched practices of
citizenship can generate (Kaplan, 1993). Our argument is that "community16 as a place" is disappearing, and taking its place is
"community as space". As a result, Canadians must rethink the concept of
"community" and take steps by which civic involvement acknowledges this new
conceptualization of "community".
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Figure 1. Theories of Citizenship and their Salient
Attributes*
| The Right: |
-beyond entitlement
-self supporting in the market place
-do not look to the state to solve individual problems |
| The Left: |
-more individual freedom
-welfare state citizenship
-reliance on macro-economic policy
-rights precede responsibilities |
| Civil Society: |
-civility and self restraint
-reliance upon voluntary associations
-government to promote network of associations |
| Feminism: |
-structural barriers imposed upon women
-ideology of "protection" over "acquisition"
-virtues of the private sphere, e.g., family |
| Liberal Virtue: |
-political responsibility
-civility and self-restraint in private life
-willingness to engage in public discourse
-ability to question authority
-public reasonableness |
| Civic Republicanism: |
-active and virtuous citizenry
-political participation valued for its own sake
-political life is superior to other private pleasures
-high level of prominence in society |
Source: Kymlicka, 1992.
* While there are commonalties among the various theories, each
seems to accentuate aspects not considered important by others. Nevertheless all seem to
agree that today's citizens are passive citizens and research suggests that today's
generation is more so than the past. Moreover, one can see that there is substantial
disagreement as to how full membership and participation can be effected.
Figure 3. Hypothesized and Empirically Tested Correlates
of Civic Involvement and their Direction
Civic Involvement
| Individual Attributes |
Participation |
Awareness |
Skills/Knowledge |
| Age |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Education |
+ |
+ |
+ |
| Sex |
+ |
+ |
+ |
| Language Ability |
+ |
+ |
- |
| Residence |
0 |
|
|
| Income |
+ |
+ |
+ |
| Social Class |
+ |
+ |
+ |
| Occupation |
+ |
+ |
+ |
| Occupation Prestige |
+ |
+ |
+ |
| Marital Status |
+ |
|
|
| Own / Rent House |
+ |
|
|
| Material Benefits |
+ |
+ |
|
| Presence of Children |
+ |
+ |
+ |
| Ethnicity |
- |
- |
- |
| Locus of Control |
+ |
+- |
+- |
| Quality of Life |
+ |
+ |
|
| Political Involvement |
+ |
+ |
+ |
| Attitudes |
|
|
|
| Beliefs about Immigrants |
+ |
+ |
|
| Media Usage |
+- |
|
+- |
| Labour Force Participation |
+ |
0 |
0 |
| "Presence" of Relatives |
+ |
- |
- |
| Structural Factors |
|
|
|
| Networks |
+ |
+ |
|
| Government Policy Discrimination |
- |
- |
- |
| State of Economy |
- |
- |
- |
| Institutional Completeness |
- |
- |
|
| Economic Capacity |
+ |
+ |
|
| Social Receptiveness |
+ |
+ |
|
| Historical Experience |
|
|
+ |
| Size of Community |
|
|
|
| -Total |
- |
- |
|
| -Minority |
|
|
|
| Labour Force Participation |
+ |
+ |
|
Note: + means positive relationship,
- means negative relationship,
0 = no relationship, blank means no data available.
Bold/larger face refers to empirical results.
Figure 4. Factors Related to Civic Involvement Comparing
Immigrants and Native Born Canadians
| |
Difference |
Similar |
Relationship |
| Age |
|
X |
|
| Sex |
X |
|
|
| Education |
|
X |
|
| Income |
|
X |
|
| Social Class |
|
X |
|
| Occupation |
|
X |
|
| Marital Status |
X |
|
|
| Own Home |
|
X |
|
| Language Ability |
|
no control group |
(+) |
| Willingness to Integrate |
|
no control group |
(+) |
| Presence of Children |
X |
|
|
| Attitudes |
X |
X |
|
| Beliefs |
X |
X |
|
| Network |
X |
|
|
| Length of Time |
|
no control group |
(+) |
| Age of Entry |
|
no control group |
(+) |
| Media Usage |
|
|
|
| - Mass |
|
X |
|
| - Minority |
X |
X |
|
Figure 5. Effects of Civic Involvement: Empirical
Results
|
Dependent Variable
Effect of Civic Involvement |
Independent Variable
Civic Involvement |
- higher individual competencies
- higher self confidence
- sense of citizen duty
- lower feeling of helplessness
- provision of services
- sense of community
- community development
- higher social cohesion
- higher efficacy
- residential satisfaction
- perception of social issues
- higher sense of security
- higher rates of friendliness
- personal satisfaction
- high level of community norms
- less confusion over rights and responsibilities
- low levels of alienation
- higher levels of integration
- high level of community development
- voting behaviour increases- social integration increases
- change physical environment
- reduce crime level
- increase level of neighboring
- decreased deterioration of physical environment
- increased social services at community level |
Footnotes
1 The review of literature revealed a body of
literature focusing on civic awareness and knowledge of children. However, for purposes of
the present paper, this research has not been included.
2 The controversy over civic participation during
the 50's and 60's both in Canada and in the United States precipitated considerable
research and debate. However, since that time, little systematic research has been carried
out on the issue.
3 Today, only three Charter rights are expressly
given to Canadian citizens: There are:. the right to vote and be qualified for membership
in the House of Commons or a provincial legislature, mobility rights and minority-language
education rights. Other rights are conferred variously on "everyone" "any
person" every individual or any member of the public in Canada. The Charter also
constrains governments capacity to confer benefits or impose restriction on the basis of
citizenship.
4 Participation has been measured using such
indicators as, cleanup and beautification programs, home repair and improvement programs,
building projects, provision of services (joint or with government agency), voting,
political action, and other forms of membership in voluntary associations.
5 At the same time, it is known that the
"mortality" rate of voluntary organizations exceeds fifty percent in the first
year of operation. This of course may be a result of the organization "solving"
the problem confronting the local group or upon seeing the futility of its actions, simply
decline and "die".
6 Researchers have differentiated between
"quality" participation which refers to its impacts on outcomes at multiple
levels, and "scope" which focuses on frequency or duration of occurrence.
7 Social citizenship refers to those rights and
duties of citizenship concerned with the welfare of people as citizens, taking welfare in
a broad sense to include such things as work, education, health and quality of life.
8 The inputs-outputs approach of systems theory
envisions public policy as the response of the political system to inputs, or forces
brought to bear upon it from the societal environment. Other models of policy making
including interest group theory, institutional and organizational approaches, and the
"bureaucratic" politics model, all emphasize the importance of the political
system itself. Earlier policy outputs become subsequent inputs.
9 Canadians have favoured the peace, order and
good government approach over the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness approach taken by
our southern neighbors. We have not been discriminating in supporting good government and
have subordinated ourselves to the community. In the end, our deference to authority has
fostered a citizenry which is law abiding. However, citizenship must extend beyond mere
obedience to authority. We must participate in the debates of democracy to ensure that the
laws are good and fair. Only then will we achieve good government.
10 Material benefits are tangible rewards,
solidarity benefits are derived from social interactions and purposive benefits are
derived from suprapersonal goals of the organization.
11 Researchers have identified four types of
organizations which have influence an individuals civic participation: institution
directed (committed to the welfare of the institution), volunteer group-directed
(committed to the organization itself), problem directed (committed to the mission of the
organization,) and social change directed (committed to certain social ideals and a
particular vision of the future.
12 Canada pays lip service both to the
principle of inclusiveness and to the idea of rights to remain in a country based on a
social membership established by long residence.
13 The results presented do not differentiate
between voluntary immigrants and refugees. This lack of distinction results from the
research designs utilized which do not differentiate between the two
14 The use of study circles has been
utilized by some countries, e.g., Sweden, to involve the public in civic activities.
15 Civil societies can always be more just and
civil disobedience is just one way of achieving this utopian justness. Past acts of civil
disobedience, workers strikes, sit-ins, boycotts, were all once illegal but we now
consider them to be normal. Civil disobedience, for some, constitutes a litmus test for
democracy.
16 A sense of "place" or community
refers to the relationship between the individual and the social structure.
  
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