Excerpt: Mobilizing Minority Communities

Portney, Kent E., and Jeffrey M. Berry. [1993] 2005. "Mobilizing Minority Communities: Social Capital and Participation in Urban Neighborhoods". Pp. 379-384 in Understanding Society, 2nd ed., edited by Margaret L. Andersen, Kim Logio, and Howard Taylor. Belmont, CA: Thomson Learning, Inc.

Americans are disengaged from civic life. This sentiment is recognized by social theorists, corroborated through numerous studies and polls, and widely discussed by everyone from grassroots organizations to politicians. While everyone can agree on this fact, there is much disagreement over its causes, and even more disagreement over its cure.

Portney and Berry examine the "structures of strong democracy", i.e. the institutions that allow members of the community to give input and become engaged in civic decisions, within minority neighborhoods. They conducted research in five cities: Birmingham, AL; Dayton, OH; Portland, OR; St. Paul, MN; and San Antonio, TX; which all boast high levels of citizen participation in democracy.

In every city, they saw a difference in African American participation based on organization and racial makeup of the neighborhood:

Participation among African Americans in neighborhood associations is consistently higher than for issue-based organizations, regardless of the racial composition of the neighborhood. African Americans and Whites participate in social, service, and self-help organizations at relatively high rates, but only in predominantly non-African American neighborhoods. In predominantly Black neighborhoods, only neighborhood associations stand out as . . . providing clearly superior opportunities for African Americans to become civically engaged.

Neighborhood associations, the authors found, are superior to any other participatory group in nurturing a sense of community. And within neighborhoods that are predominantly African American, the sense of community seems to be higher overall.

In answering the question about whether democratic structures help to mobilize minority groups in urban political systems, it is clear that neighborhood associations foster a sense of community among their members and, while they are volunteer-operated and independent from government, they exercise meaningful powers over the neighborhood and hold sway with city officials. In spite of stereotypes that feature deteriorated social and political institutions, the research shows that neighborhoods with associations and other participatory structures do help poor blacks mobilize to better their communities.

This article is directly relevant to the sociological concept of organic solidarity and community cohesion, written about by Tocqueville to be sure, but also Emile Durkheim as he observed societal transition from agricultural to industrial and the changing values and influence of collective moralities within small communities. To Durkheim, the nature of community was changing. To later sociologists, such as David Riesman, et al, communities waned as Americans stopped looking to tradition or to themselves for guidance and instead focused on the direction and expectations of others; this led to a great restriction on individual autonomy and personal interests, including voluntary participation in community, in favor of mandatory participation in family and religious groups. Bellah, et al (cited in this article), is noted for the concept of the American civic religion, one which I have mentioned in the past as important to understanding the American social character.

Relevance: 4/5 (relevant)
Salience: 4/5 (salient)

References:

• Barber, B.R. 1984. Strong Democracy. Berkeley: University of California Press. - as an example.
  
• Putnam, R.D. 1995. "Bowling Alone: America's Declining Social Capital". Journal of Democracy 6:65-78. - as an example.
• Alexis de Tocqueville - cited in disagreement. "We no longer live in Tocqueville's America...".
  
• Bellah, Robert N., Richard Madsen, William M. Sullivan, Ann Swidler, and Steven M. Tipton. 1985. Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life. Berkeley: University of California Press. - cited in agreement.
  
• Kettering Foundation. 1991. Citizens and Politics. Dayton, OH: Kettering Foundation. - as an example.
  
• Crenson, M.A. 1983. Neighborhood Politics. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. - cited in agreement.
  
• Fowler, R.B. 1991. The Dance with Community. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas. - cited in agreement.
  
• Berry, Jeffrey M., Kent E. Portney, and K. Thomson. 1993. The Rebirth of Urban Democracy. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution. - authors' previous work. - as an example.
  
• Wilson, W.J. 1987. The Truly Disadvantaged. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. - as an example.