This study examines the relationship between religious involvement and civic engagement in a comparative, cross-cultural perspective. Using data from a 1996 survey of 3000 Canadians and 3000 Americans, the study assesses religion's relative contribution to civic engagement in the two settings. The study reveals that both religious tradition and, more important, church attendance play an important role in fostering involvement in civil society in both countries, even after controlling for the effects of other factors generally associated with fostering civic activity among members of society.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Brehm, John and Wendy Rahn.1997. Individual-Level Evidence for the Causes and Consequences of Social Capital. American Journal of Political Science41(3):999-1023.
2.
Coleman, James.1988. Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital . American Journal of Sociology94 (supp.):95-120.
3.
—. 1990. Foundations of Social Theory. Cambridge, MA: Belknap.
4.
Greeley, Andrew.1997. Coleman Revisited: Religious Structures as a Source of Social Capital. American Behavioral Scientist40(5):587-94.
5.
Guterbock, Thomas and John C. Fries.1997. Maintaining America's Social Fabric: The AARP Survey of Civic Involvement. Washington, DC: American Association of Retired Persons.
6.
Houghland, J.G. and J.A. Christenson .1983. Religion and Politics: The Relationship of Religious Participation to Political Efficacy and Involvement . Sociology and Social Research67:405-20.
7.
Kellstedt, Lyman, John Green, James Guth, and Corwin Smidt.1996. Grasping the Essentials: The Social Embodiment of Religion and Political Behavior. In Religion and the Culture Wars: Dispatches from the Front, ed. John Green, James Guth, Lyman Kellstedt, and Corwin Smidt.Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Peterson, Steve.1992. Church Participation and Political Participation: The Spillover Effect. American Politics Quarterly20:123-39.
10.
Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. 1997. Trust and Citizen Engagement in Metropolitan Philadelphia: A Case Study. Washington, DC: Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.
11.
Putnam, Robert.1993. Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
12.
—. 1995. Tuning in, Tuning out? The Strange Disappearance of Social Capital in America. PS: Political Science & Politics28(4):664-83.
13.
Reimer, Samuel.1995. A Look at Cultural Effects on Religiosity: A Comparison Between the United States and Canada. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion34(4):445-57.
14.
Tocqueville, Alexis de.1969. Democracy in America. Ed. J. P. Mayer. Trans. George Lawrence. Garden City, NY : Doubleday, Anchor Books.
15.
Verba, Sidney, Kay Schlozman, and Henry Brady.1995. Voice and Equality: Civic Volunteerism in American Politics. Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press.
16.
Wuthnow, Robert.1991. Acts of Compassion. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
