Suchergebnisse

Considers the role of voluntary associations in connecting citizens & the political system, arguing that their relevance in generating attitudinal dimensions of social capital is overstated. At issue is why participating in such organizations should impact political trust. Official statistics & survey data gathered in France are drawn on to discuss the relationship between association membership & various trust indicators at the aggregate & individual levels. Focus is on the level of participation in French voluntary associations & the link between such participation, trust, & civicness. Findings indicate that participation & trust do not evolve jointly or in the same way. Social capital, ie, political & generalized trust, is also found to be declining while active membership in voluntary associations is on the rise. Further, voluntary associations are not more civic but are more politicized. Attention turns to the nature of political trust, subjecting the consistency of public opinion as determined via computer-assisted telephone interviews to the "Coleman" experiment, finding that people seem less inclined to trust an investigation run by the government. It is concluded that members of associations are not automatically trusting of the political system, although voluntary associations do intermediate between public & private. 5 Tables, 1 Figure, 55 References. J. Zendejas

Considers the role of voluntary associations in connecting citizens & the political system, arguing that their relevance in generating attitudinal dimensions of social capital is overstated. At issue is why participating in such organizations should impact political trust. Official statistics & survey data gathered in France are drawn on to discuss the relationship between association membership & various trust indicators at the aggregate & individual levels. Focus is on the level of participation in French voluntary associations & the link between such participation, trust, & civicness. Findings indicate that participation & trust do not evolve jointly or in the same way. Social capital, ie, political & generalized trust, is also found to be declining while active membership in voluntary associations is on the rise. Further, voluntary associations are not more civic but are more politicized. Attention turns to the nature of political trust, subjecting the consistency of public opinion as determined via computer-assisted telephone interviews to the "Coleman" experiment, finding that people seem less inclined to trust an investigation run by the government. It is concluded that members of associations are not automatically trusting of the political system, although voluntary associations do intermediate between public & private. 5 Tables, 1 Figure, 55 References. J. Zendejas