Civic Engagement Quiz 1 Essay Sample

The key ingredient for treading toward a better future is through the apotheosis of democracy across the entire globe. The concept of democracy and democratization is closely intertwined with the civil society. The civil society constitutes the life and blood of the system in question. Thus, the government and the civilians have to work together to ensure the success of the democratic process. Any impediments in the way of working together would mean that the democratic structure would get weakened and the very basic aim of democracy would not be achieved. The American society has seen a gradual fall in civic engagement over the years and there has been a committed endeavor to initiate the process of civic engagement to supplement the democratic procedures and the establishment.
An emphasis on group activities has also been found in the work of De Tocqueville who goes on to explain how the people are involved in criticizing the leaders and authority in general. According to him, the American citizens were proactive in coming together for forming associations. These associations ranged from being commercial, industrial, religious, moral and so on. However, in his observation, it was a matter of great concern that the Americans could become too satisfied with the sense of equality among themselves that there would be no sense of self-government left in the society.
Tocqueville opined that under such circumstances, the government would be able to grow more powerful and would go on to entangle the society with innumerable regulations and thus keep the people in bondage. Such a situation could lead to the American government becoming oppressive and brutal in nature like European monarchy and the societal equality which the citizens are basking on would be futile. Tocqueville pens in the very last sentence of Democracy in America that it actually depends on the people whether equality would lead to freedom or servitude, barbarism and wretchedness or prosperity and knowledge.
Robert Putnam opined comprehensively in 1995 that the performance of the social institutions was directly influenced by the networks and norms of civil engagement. While talking about America, Putnam has said that the society was seeing a wane in civic involvement in the state machinery and this was a huge impediment in the process of advancement of the democratic structure. According to him, this erosion has its inception quarter of a century before and the greatest challenge is to reverse the trend. Civic trust and engagement are to be restored with utmost concern, according to Putnam. His seminal work, Bowling Alone (2000), brought forth his comprehensive exploration of this domain and went on to elucidate the fundamental shifts which have been contextual in this regard.
The civic engagement is evidently a matter of concern for the success of American democracy. Things like political knowledge, voting and grass-root activism in politics have become much lessened with time in the nation. In fact, any sort of engagement in a community or organization has seen a fall in the recent times. Putnam explores in his work how the informal social ties of the citizens of America had almost become half in 1998 in comparison to the figures of 1975. The communication with others of the society is declining with time. This is also a matter of prime concern and needs to be looked into.
The paramount ingredient for societal ties is trust among the people and studies have shown the alarming results that distrust and dishonesty have marred the comfort zone among the people of the society to a large extent. Employment in the police force, the security forces and law remained stagnant for a very long time. The gradual transformation in the familial structure was significant as more people started living alone. These individuals were left devoid of any proper avenues for engaging in civic life as there were no institutions to engage these people.
The suburban sprawl also needs to be taken into consideration as this transformed the spatial integrity of the population. People had to travel more and were let with minimal time for group activities. Also, the technological advancement which has seen a massive spurt in the recent years is to be seen as a primary cause for the non-involvement as it had led to a privatized leisure time. The time spent in watching television or any such activity directly taxes the time which could be spent in group.
The relationship between the basic trust in human beings and in government is quite strong and the organizations in question serve the role of the quintessential platform for training of future leaders who could go on to hone their skills and habits of cooperating for mutual benefits through their activities in such organizations of the society. In the present day scenario, the citizens require to comprehend their common values and thus develop the paramount commitment to the welfare which is necessary for the community. Such activities aimed at the community’s welfare would mean the individual welfare for every member of the group.
Hence, the matter of foremost importance is to make every citizen understand the connection between their own interest and the betterment of the community. This would inspire them and they would work in unison for the development of their community, thereby leading to greater good in the process. Another matter of importance is the presence of suitable vehicles which would enable the members of the community to stay in touch with other citizens and thus involving more people in the process.
The government needs to play a pivotal role in the procedure. The government has the onus on its shoulders to ensure its activity as a catalyst by providing with resources for the people. The establishment needs to come forward to plan with the community to accomplish common goals which would beneficial for the cause of civic engagement to a great degree.
It has to be understood that any society which has generalized reciprocity from both the sides in question is bound to function more efficiently that a society which is distrustful. To achieve generalized reciprocity what is required is the frequent interaction among the people of the society. The economic betterment of the individual is dependent on social capital which in turn requires the obligation and responsibility of civic engagement. Bridging and bonding are really important in the context of social capital.
It is a fact that people who trust others in the community and the government are good citizens. The people who are engaged in community activities tend to be more trusting as well as trustworthy. In contrast to this amiability, the people of the society who remain disengaged from civic life are found to believe that they are surrounded by unscrupulous people and they fail to be honest themselves.