Bringing Government Back into Civic Engagement: Considering the Role of Public Policy

Abstract

Analyses of the determinants of civic engagement give little heed to the role of government in citizens' lives. The nascent research in this area suggests that citizens' experiences of public programs can influence their rate of civic involvement and their attitudes about government. Features of policy design—the extent of resources bestowed on citizens, the messages conveyed through program rules and procedures, and the degree of visibility of government's role—may each influence the extent and form of program effects. Changes in public provision over time may help explain the rise and decline of civic engagement.

Keywords:

• civic engagement
• political participation
• public policy

Notes

1. Putnam, R.D. Tuning In, Tuning Out: The Strange Disappearance of Social Capital in America. PS: Political Science and Politics 1996, 28 (December), 664–683. See also Walzer, M. The Civil Society Argument. In Theorizing Citizenship; Beiner, R., Ed.; State University of New York Press: Albany, 1995, pp. 153–174. Barber, B. Strong Democracy: Participatory Politics for a New Age; University of California Press: Los Angeles, 1984.

2. The fullest recent articulation of this view is found in Sandel, M. Democracy's Discontent: America in Search of a Public Philosophy; Harvard University Press: Cambridge, MA, 1996. See also Mead, L. Beyond Entitlement: The Social Obligations of Citizenship; Free Press: New York, 1989.

3. Fukuyama, F. Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity; The Free Press: New York, 1995, pp. 313–314. Mead, 1989. Also see essays by William Schambra, Dan Coats, and Rick Santorum in Community Works: The Revival of Civil Society in America; Dionne, E.J., Ed.; Brookings Institution Press: Washington, DC, 1998.

6. Lowi, T.J. American Business, Public Policy, Case Studies, and Political Theory. World Politics 1964, 6, 677–715. Smith, S.R.; Ingram, H. Public Policy and Democracy. In Public Policy for Democracy; Helen, I.; Smith, S.R., Eds.; Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 1993, pp. 1–17.

10. Mead, 1989, p. 7. Landy, M. Public Policy and Citizenship. In Helen and Smith, 1993, p. 26.

11. Ingram H., Schneider, A., Constructing Citizenship: The Subtle Messages of Policy Design. In Ingram and Smith, 1993, p. 68.

13. Hurwitz, J.; Peffley, M. Racial Polarization on Criminal Justice Issues: Sources and Political Consequences of Fairness Judgments. Proceedings of the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, San Francisco, Aug 30–Sept. 2, 2001. Lawless, J.L.; Fox, R.L. Political Participation of the Urban Poor. Social Problems 2001, 48(3), 362–385.