Archive for January, 2011
Miami & Minneapolis-St Paul: contrasting results but the same issues?
This study – featured (and partly written) by Peter Levine illustrates the way that different civic cultures can promote and legitimise civic engagement in different – and better ways. It seems fairly clear that Minneapolis-St Paul is a much better place to live in this respect:
“In both communities (as elsewhere in the United States), people with more education and income tend to engage more in civic affairs. But individuals in Minneapolis-St. Paul who are in the lowest income group are more likely to volunteer, buy viagra online attend public meetings, work with neighbors, participate in politics outside of elections, and participate in associations than are people in the wealthiest tier in Miami. An individual with a high school education in Minneapolis-St. Paul is about as likely to be engaged as an individual with a college education in Miami.”
For me, it does raise the point
that a positional look at engagement is important. In many ways, surely a relatively low disparity between the involvement of different demographic segments is as (more?) important than a high level of engagement in itself? After all, a highly engaged and vibrant democracy in which the bottom 25% of the social ladder isn’t involved at all has a fair few parallels with a slave-owning society…