Voluntary Associations and the Political Engagement of Young Canadians

Journal of Canadian Studies, Winter 2007 by Tossutti, L S

This essay investigates whether the generally positive relationship between membership in voluntary associations and political engagement that has been observed for adults in many countries also holds true for young Canadians who are becoming marginalized from democratic life. Drawing on survey data, the study assessed the impact of organizational type on youth involvement in conventional and unconventional political activities. It found that affiliations with certain voluntary organizations in the secular and religious domains exerted a significant impact on the likelihood of joining a political party. Some apolitical and political associational memberships in the secular domain were associated with a higher incidence of unconventional political activism. The impact of associational memberships on turnout and expressions of political interest, however, was largely neutral for Canadians under the age of 30. The findings show that different organizational affiliations lead to different civic outcomes for young Canadians.

Dans le présent article, l'auteure veut savoir si les rapports généralement positifs que l'on retrouve entre l'appartenance à des associations volontaires et l'engagement politique qui ont été observés chez les adultes dans plusieurs pays peuvent également être observés chez les jeunes Canadiens qui deviennent en marge de la vie démocratique. En se servant de données de sondage, l'étude évalue les répercussions du type organisationnel sur la participation des jeunes dans des activités politiques conventionnelles et non conventionnelles. L'étude fait ressortir que les affiliations à certaines organisations volontaires dans les domaines séculaire et religieux ont des répercussions importantes sur les chances de se joindre à un parti politique. Certaines affiliations d'association politiques et apolitiques dans le domaine séculaire ont été associées à un plus gros taux d'activisme politique non conventionnel. Toutefois, les répercussions des affiliations d'association sur le nombre de participants et les expressions d'intérêt politique sont plutôt neutres chez les Canadiens âgés de moins de 30 ans. Les résultats de l'étude montrent que des affiliations organisationnelles différentes entraînent des résultats civiques différents pour les jeunes Canadiens.

The graying of civic Canada is symptomatic of the increasingly tenuous bonds between younger generations and democratic life. Canadians under the age of 30 are less likely than their older cohorts to vote, join political parties, develop an interest in politics (Biais, Gidengil, Nadeau, and Nevitte 2002; Young and Cross 2002; Pammett and LeDuc 2003; Gidengil, Biais, Nevitte, and Nadeau 2004). It is equally troubling that their withdrawal from formal, conventional modes of political action has not been counterbalanced by a strong shift towards informal political activities outside the arenas of electoral and party politics (Biais et al. 2002; Tossutti 2004).

These trends will be examined within the context of broader theoretical and empirical debates about the links between membership in a voluntary association and political participation. Empirical studies conducted in Europe, North America, and Central America have shown that voluntary organizations can serve as recruitment networks for political activities or as incubators for the civic attitudes and skills necessary for political participation. Voting, party membership, discussing and taking an interest in politics, attending meetings, and contacting political officials have all been linked to associational involvements in mature and newly established democracies (Almond and Verba 1963; Verba and Nie 1972; Olsen 1972; Rogers, Bultena, and Barb 1975; Erickson and Nosanchuck 1990; Verba, Schlozman, and Brady 1995; Stolle and Rochon 1998; Seligson 1999).

While there is mounting evidence that the relationship between civic and political behaviour is positive, there are equally compelling arguments that the potential for associational involvements to exert salutary effects on political participation hinges on the organizational type (Stolle and Rochon 1998; Seligson 1999; Putnam 2000, 351-53) and on the internal activities of these groups (Verba, Schlozman, and Brady 1995). The most skeptical observers feel it is inherently anti-political to rely on voluntary associations that are embedded in the intermediate structure of pluralistic societies to mobilize participation, on the grounds that they encourage a privatized rather than public response to societal problems (Lisman 1998).

Despite the vigorous debate about the potential for associational involvements to revitalize political engagement, we know little about their impact on subgroups of Canadians who are at risk of becoming marginalized from political life. In light of the federal government's acknowledgement that the voluntary sector, consisting of 175,000 charities, non-profits, and grassroots organizations, constitutes a third pillar in society behind government and business (Phillips 2001), and the fact that volunteer service can be a prerequisite for high school graduation in four provinces, this is a significant gap in the research landscape.