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May 27, 2003

Interview with Theda Skocpol

The Civic Honors Project had the good fortune of being able to interview Theda Skocpol who is the Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology, and Director of the Center for American Political Studies, at Harvard University. Skocpol served on the Editorial Board of the American Political Science Review, she is the current president of the American Political Science Association and co-edits a book series on American politics for Princeton University Press. She has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Social Insurance, and has held fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, the Russell Sage Foundation, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. During 1996, Skocpol was the President of the Social Science History Association.

I was fortunate to have an opportunity to talk with Theda Skocpol about the Civic Honors Project and the different ways that volunteerisms impact civil society. The discussion initially turned to looking at what the Civic Honors Project is designed to accomplish. A simple explanation of the target goal is developing a recognition program aimed at recognizing students, with “graduation with civic honors” as part of a movement to get colleges to motivate students to participate. Theda Skocpol believes that democratic governance and civic volunteerism developed together and that the current separation between politics and participation is predicated on the notion that, “Young people think politics are dirty, somehow, that action within the community can be accomplished apart from politics. That is why young people are withdrawing from politics.” I was curious as to what caused the current divide between action and politics within society and the answer turned out to be based on professionally managed associations and non-profit groups that have distanced themselves from politics.

Thinking about how the historical context enhances our understanding of history, it became apparent that the real evidence coming out of this discussion was of a structural dynamic that showed that the best practice for organizing groups that have a large impact is to base them on strong local participation with national leadership and representation. Looking at that dynamic is the key to understanding how voluntary organizations change social and political conditions within civil society. Skocpol discusses the reality of bringing diverse groups of people together within society with the goal to learn and understand and relate with all people. That said, the breakdown of class and stereotype is accomplished through organizations that are structured so that they not only bring people together but also perpetuate civic education.

Skocpol made several interesting arguments about organizations and how they are structured that are well documented in her book, Diminished Democracy, “In the past in America there were membership organizations that gave millions of people a chance to learn civic skills and become involved in community problems. Past associations at the local, state, and national level was a common place for communities to develop leadership skills. Millions of people learned about what governmental organization looked like.” It is an interesting relationship to look at the education function of organizations. “Today there are more non-profit organizations and social service agencies. This is not the same as attending meetings. This form of participation does not offer as much training in how to be a citizen.” Volunteering is a good way to get people involved in action over short periods of time but it is not a perfect substitute for organizations because it does not train leaders within the framework of governance or provide that larger context of national involvement.

Volunteering occasionally is good, but organizations that allow people to meet and allow leadership roles are better in making people democratic citizens. “The best part of the past historical model is the use of education, being able to bring people together across colleges might interest people to lobby for building up and expanding Americorp. Public service within college is a part of increasing engagement but needs to be developed with care to increase education. How to do this through colleges is a challenge. Opportunities for people to get together across colleges to talk and lobby, such as an organization like Americorps, would be good. College public service could offer a chance to get involved in politics and as active citizens.” The idea that government is bad and that individuals should stay away and work on ambivalent volunteer projects is one of the major devise drives occurring. The mentality of sitting back and letting other people get involved needs to be refocused on the idea of getting personally involved and making a difference.

Now that more people don’t vote, they think government is bad. But government still has an impact on everything, on families, etc. Letting other people be involved while we are not leads to cynicism. ”Organizational dynamics is an important part of identifying how to get individuals within the community to work together despite economics and ethnic lines. The idea is to build a strong coalition of different races and classes on a local and national level.” Public service at Harvard gets students involved in groups that also involve politics. “We should broaden the definition of public service that students can get involved in. Since 9/11 there has been new interest. Social movements in America today try to combine lobbying in Washington with getting involved in local projects. For example, the environmental movement and labor movement have local involvement as well as legislative campaigning.” Movements and organizations that tie people together across localities are important. Americans believe in building ties across racial lines now, but I don’t know how successful we are in doing it. We all aspire to build these bridges, but are we successful? It would be good to have partnership between public service organizations and white colleges and black colleges.

She posits that there are not as many grassroots organizations as some imagine. It is hard for purely spontaneous things to pop up. There are examples of grassroots organizations that have funding that make a difference. “Reestablishing the ideal of civic organizers that reach out to people from different backgrounds is important. That’s how it used to be and this should be encouraged again. This will probably happen through new ways now, such as the Internet. We will not have organizations again like those prior to the 1960s.” There should be organizations that are not just professionals talking to other professionals. If you are interested in a comprehensive breakdown of these issues the Civic Honors Project strongly encourages you to read and purchase the book Diminished Democracy: From membership to management in American civic life. Published by the University of Oklahoma Press this year.

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May 16, 2003

Diminished Democracy

Understanding history is a key competent of being able to view the world and understand what exactly is going on. Theda Skocpol’s book Diminished Democracy: From Membership to Management in American Civic Life is a comprehensive detailed study of how organizations developed within American society and how organizations of tradition gave way to modern issue management organizations. This unique perspective is delivered from one of Americas unique treasures Skocpol’s institutional knowledge and ability to breakdown the big issues into understandable prose is truly one of a kind.

One of the best uses of comparative analysis within the book details how organizations used to include members from all facets of life and that individuals from all classes were members of the same organizations. Skocpol discusses how breaking down differences and barriers was an important part of how civic life developed. Being able to look at specific examples of individuals and the civic pride they had for being involved in government and society like Warren Durgin who was one of Abraham Lincoln’s palm barriers. The analysis of how civic life changed the detail that went into the presentation of that information add a flavor to the book that leaves the reader with a broader perspective on the development of civil society.

The concluding section on reinventing American Civic Democracy is an well expressed set of ideas about how to create inclusion and redevelop a strong sense of civic engagement through bridging the gap in society that is created from managed organizations back to institutional involvement within society. Expressing the idea that perhaps being apolitical and not focusing on politics is a mistake and that to energize individuals it is time to reinvent engagement to include working within political organizations. What I took away from Theda Skocpol’s book Diminished Democracy: From Membership to Management in American Civic Life is that the way to build civic mobilization is to create and reinvent organizations to have local chapters and meetings that involve people as well as incorporating the modern uses of lobbyists and computerized mailing lists. That perhaps a mix of the best practices from history and current technology will yield a stronger society.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys look at civil society, engagement, and participation. The book is exceptionally well written had has an excellent flow to it that made it an enjoyable afternoon read.

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May 03, 2003

Technology in the Community

In a world where things are changing faster and faster everyday it is important to embrace technology that has the potential to empower the individual. Technology today is about bringing people together to work on a wide variety of things and being driven by business to expand the potentials of communication in the workplace. Has a distinct and definite ramification for the community. The community has to move forward with the technology adapting to change at the speed of business and this requires a focus that does not let technology get confusing the community has to rely on institutions and the individuals who are making these changes. In a society where everybody is part of the community it is not a far stretch to attempt to allow the individuals within the community to use there skills to not only advance technology for business but to use those same skills to help the community move forward.

Sometimes the community just thinks about business in terms of the financial contributions that are made to the community. However this is short sighted and is not adapting to the changes in innovation and technology. It is time for the community to think about the amount of innovation business can bring to the community in the form of expanding how people interact. Further, using that distinct background in emerging technology will help the community move forward. Because without a strong community, the business is losing out on the ability to actually improve the place where their workers come from. From the business perspective it could be said another way that strengthen the community helps develop a stronger labor pool and a better business in general.

Community leaders have to have the perspective to take a step back and acknowledge that they do not have a comprehensive understanding of emerging technology. That it could be net beneficial to utilize resources within the community to expand the ability to really use technology to benefit community. When leaders within the community really start seeing technology as an advantageous in recruiting people and spreading information in a way that was not possible before. This perspective will really define communities that are able to move forward in a progressive way and it will cast a shadow on those communities that do not utilize the capacity to bring people together. Every community needs to be focused on bringing individuals together without that level of focus then it is impossible to every get anything meaningful accomplished within the community. Action has to be taken and it needs to be made in a way and with a direction that will really benefit the community as a whole.

The assumption when thinking about what is possible in terms of thinking about technology is that utilizing technology can benefit the community. It is accepting the assumption that anything that can help bring individuals together is going to be net beneficial to society as a whole. Being very to the overall message of the civic honors program is the idea that as technology develops it will make it easier to get individuals to work together. Decreasing separation at all times is important to the community because it means that the assumptions behind the action are based on believing in the future. This is important to assist the community in integrating new technology into the community. That integration of technology will help develop a clear path for the future it will allow the community to build momentum at the speed of technology. Thinking in terms of the future bringing success is always going to be a positive message.

When thinking about technology it is important to think in terms of solutions to real problems. It is possible to brainstorm a list of problems and then think about them in term so how to apply technology to the solution. When technology is applied within problem solution framework the power of change can be unlocked. It is also important to think about technology in terms of looking at what technologies are developing and brainstorming a list of what is possible in technology then applying what has been applied from that exercise. It is important to look at every possible scenario and think about what is possible understanding the potential and the limitations will allow the problem to be identified. Once the problem has been truly identified and broken down it is only a matter of time before technology presents solutions to that problem. Looking at solutions is the beginning of understanding the problems in its entirety.

If the future is not planned around the development of technology or at least thinking about the potential role of technology full potential will be achieved. When the future is not framed from the idea that without using technology, it will be difficult to break the cycle of some problems. Ideas that some problems are so entrenched within the community that it would take something new to develop a successful strategy for strengthening the community. The idea of using advancements in technology to help guide the community’s strategy for dealing with problems is not new but it is important. Being willing to strive to be on the very edge of what is possible to push the limitations of what is possible and attempt to really create the potential for something special to happen. When the focus is on the upper bound of what is possible for the community it really raises the bar for expectations of what can be achieved. It also allows individuals in the community to see a vision of the future and what can be achieved if individuals come together to accomplish something.

Now is the time to think about what is possible so much has changed over the last few years and will continue to change within the community. It is important to understand that if the community does not rally around technology and make it a cornerstone of the future of advances in what is possible if the community does not begin to grasp this potential it will loose if technology does not become a part of the revival of civic participation. If leaders do not take control of emerging technologies it is possible that the potential to introduce them into the mainstream message of community will be lost. If technology is only used by small groups and some organizations it will have lost the potential for mass mobilization and that is what using technology in the community is really about being able to bring a large number of individuals together in a way that is efficient and effective.

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