promoting civic culture: the transmission of civic ...

PROMOTING CIVIC CULTURE: THE TRANSMISSION OF CIVIC INVOLVEMENT FROM PARENT TO CHILD* TODD L. MATTHEWS Mississippi State University

FRANK M. HOWELL Mississippi State University

For the past decade, the study of social capital and civic involvement has been of primary importance to sociologists and other social scientists. Concern over perceived declines in civic participation has troubled many, since sueh partieipation has been linked to a variety of positive outcomes both for the individual and, the broader social groups in which the person takes part. To date, most research on the factors influencing partieipation has focused on structural or community-level measures, such as state structure, increased suburbanization and changes in community institutional structures. We contribute to this literature by highlighting the important role of the family as a context for the transmission of civic skills, involvement, and knowledge between parent and child. This study draws upon theoretical and conceptual insights from the literature on social capital and civic involvement, as well as from earlier work on inter-generational status attainment and political socialization. We build an explanatory framework that traces the inter-generational transmission of civic involvement, skills, and action. We test this framework using data from the 1996 National Household Education Survey. Results indicate that both adult political and school involvement have a positive impact upon the level of child political interest, and that adult community and sehool involvement have a positive impact upon the level of child civic activities.

* Address all correspondence to Todd Matthews, Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work, 340 Bowen Hall, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS 39762; E-mail: [email protected]. The authors wish to thank Troy Blanchard and William Sansing for comments on an earlier draft as well as the anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions. All errors remain those ofthe authors. 19

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For the past decade, the study of social capital and civic involvement has been increasingly important to sociologists and other social scientists (Verba, Schlozman and Brady 1995; Putnam 1996, 2000; Ostrom 1996; Paxton 1999; Burns, Schlozman and Verba 2001; Jennings and Stoker 2004). Robert Putnam's work on social capital (1996, 2000) is typically taken as a starting point in this most recent wave of concern about participation in civic life and its possible implications. One can certainly trace this line of thought much farther back, particularly to the early analyses of American civic life written by Alexis de Tocqueville. Embedded within concepts such as civic involvement and social capital is a notion of individual involvement with extra-familial social institutions. Participation in social life beyond the confines of the home is particularly important for individuals, as it typically leads to a variety of positive outcomes for the individual and the broader social groups in which the person takes part. For this reason, concern has been expressed over perceived or actual declines in rates of civic participation (Putnam 1996, 2000; Ostrom 1996; but see also Paxton 1999; Monti et al. 2003). To date, most research on the factors influencing participation has focused on structural or community-level measures. For example, these studies have examined the links between participation and state structure (Schofer and Fourcade-Gourinchas 2001), increased suburbanization (Putnam 2000; Blanchard et al. 2003), and community institutional structures (Tolbert, Lyson and Irwin 1998; Tolbert et al. 2002; Blanchard et al. 2003). This type of research, which typically aggregates individuals into homogenous communities (oflen counties), does not provide an opportunity to explore the pathways by which individuals develop skills or resources necessary to become active in civic life. Previous research focuses almost exclusively on adult civic involvement and largely overlooks the importance of the family as an arena for civic action, thus ignoring two additional and important aspects of civic life: (1) the character and shape of the process whereby youth learn to engage in their communities; and (2) the actual civic involvement of youth themselves. Putnam views generational change as central to understanding the overall decline in civic activity; thus the study of what effects differences in skills, knowledge and actual activity at a young age is important in developing a better understanding of overall changes in civic activity. Certainly one possible source of these differences can be found in the home, embedded in the relation between parent and child. One must look back into the literatures on status attainment and especially political socialization to find models that address the question of inter-generational transmission of skills and outcomes from parent to child. In these literatures researchers often find a direct and positive relationship between a variety of parental attributes, notably parental education and/or political participation, and the child's subsequent outcome measure of interest, he it political, economic or otherwise (Blau and Duncan 1967; Jennings and Niemi 1974, 1981; Beck and Jennings 1975; Featherman and Hauser 1978). However, these areas of inquiry largely disappeared by the 1980s. We contend that they offer a pathway to understanding the character of civic participation that has been largely overlooked by researchers today. In this study we examine the influence of parents upon their children regarding the transmission of civic involvement capacity and practice. The explanatory framework we have developed focuses upon the inter-generational acquisition of civic involvement capacity and action, drawing upon theoretical and conceptual insights of existing

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research in the literature. This framework derives inspiration from current research on civic involvement and social capital, as well as earlier work on inter-generational status attainment and political socialization. We test this framework using data from the 1996 National Household Education Survey, which matches parents and their school-age children (grades six through 12) to ask about parental and child civic involvement, as well as other relevant socio-demographic variables. In the next section, we review this literature and propose hypotheses.

UNDERSTANDING CIVIC INVOLVEMENT

Trends in Civic Activity and Theories of Involvement The general starting point within the literature on social capital and civic involvement is that participation in public life has experienced an overall decline over the past several decades; yet a more careful examination of this literature leads one to conclude that there are remarkably few consistent findings, due primarily to the dramatically different ways these two concepts are operationalized and measured. As noted earlier, the starting point for most contemporary research in this area is the work of Robert Putnam (1996, 2000), though his efforts really represent the beginning ofthe most recent generation of scholars who have attempted to trace the unique nature of American associational life. This line of thought and research goes back to the work of De Tocqueville ([1835] 2000), Bryce (1895), Almond and Verba (1963), and others. The underlying assumption ofthe earlier work was that civic participation in America was already high when compared to the European countries, and was generally trending upward over time (see Crowley and Skocpol 2001; Skocpol 2004). Putnam's provocative central thesis is that social capital has been declining for nearly a half century, particularly from the 1970s onward. In Putnam's work and this line of research more generally, social capital and civic involvement are treated as one and the same. Thus the decline he refers to involves broad aspects of participation in social associational life (both political and civic participation). Whether the focus is upon partisan activities, communal participation, or public expression, Putnam (2000) has found that citizens appear to be less engaged in their local communities today than in the past (see also Ostrom 1996; Jennings and Stoker 2004). Step by step, Putnam links a variety of negative outcomes to the decline in social capital, including problems related to education, children's welfare, community safety and security, material, physical, and psychic well-being, and even democracy itself One is left wondering about the culprit for this decline, and Putnam (2000) assesses several possible factors, concluding that there are four likely suspects: (1) time and money pressures, which have contributed to the rise of dual earner families, leaving little time for anything outside of the home; (2) suburbanization, commuting and sprawl, which have left us geographically dispersed and more likely to be socially isolated; (3) time spent watching television, both for its isolating effects and for its increasingly central role in childhood socialization; and (4) generational change, particularly the replacement of the "World War II" generation by their children and grandchildren, who are to date less active in community life (see also Jennings and Stoker 2004). He speculates about the likely level of impact each of these factors has on declines in civic life (Putnam

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2000: 283-284), but concludes that he is making estimations, and further, that other "important elements in our mystery remain unresolved." In recent years, researchers have directly challenged Putnam's findings, on both substantive and methodological grounds. Documenting the same general pattern of overall decline that Putnam found, Skocpol (2004) argues that the decline in these typically cross-class groups and associations is somewhat matched by the rise of professionally managed organizations populated by the elite and well-educated, two groups that still exhibit higher participation rates than the rest of the population. Also challenging Putnam's findings are Monti et al. (2003: 146), who argue that while the results are statistically significant, they "were not especially large, one way or the other." The last part of their comment is especially important, as it taps into research that argues that the changes in participation rates are not universally negative (see Paxton 1999; Rotolo 1999), and that, contrary to Skocpol's findings, a general trend of democratization of organizations and public life has occurred (Monti et al. 2003). Social capital links individuals within communities and acts as a bridge between groups. Thus when individuals are less civically involved and social capital declines, social bonds are dissolved or never formed, meaning that there are fewer "others" whom individuals or social groups can turn to for support or assistance. In effect, the decline occurs ofthe often cited "social networks (and) norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness that arise from them" (Putnam 2000: 19). Few would contend, however, that these networks and norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness have disappeared from within the bonds of the family unit. The central importance of parent-child socialization in most sociological thinking cannot be overstated. It is seen as a key element in the continuity of social life. It is first inside the home that we learn to view and act within the social world. In this research, we undertake an explicit examination of the link between parental or guardian civic involvement and the subsequent capacities and civic activities of their children. We contend that these links have been largely overlooked in the prior literature on civic involvement and social capital, as researchers have typically neglected the familial context as a possible explanation for levels of civic involvement. We seek to correct that here by incorporating aspects ofthe very powerful parent-child relationship into our explanation of civic involvement. We now turn to these links between parents and their children. Theories of Intergenerational Transmission Research on inter-generational transmission of attributes takes for granted the centrality of socialization of children by their parents, as well as the social-structural opportunities or limitations experienced by children who are born into different locations in the system of social stratification. Early sociological research on stratification through status attainment offers one of the clearest examples of parental or inter-generational transmission (Blau and Duncan 1967; Featherman and Hauser 1978). The basic working model operating in this literature involves the study ofthe intergenerational infiuence of the father's occupational status and education level, along with the family structure as measured by number of siblings, upon the son's income or occupational status. Later revisions expanded the model and eliminated the obvious gender bias of focusing only on fathers and sons; however, the primary bulk of this work was done in the late 1960s and 1970s, and this research agenda has largely disappeared in contemporary sociology.

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Direct studies of inter-generational transmission of civic involvement are virtually non-existent. The research on cross-generational political socialization done within political science involves one component of the study of overall parental transmission of civic involvement, and certainly offers a complementary model for this research. This line of inquiry dates back to the late 1950s and early 1960s (Hyman 1959; Campbell et al. 1960), though much of this work was done in the 1960s and 1970s, particularly in the years following the ratification ofthe 26th Amendment, which enfranchised 18 to 20 year olds, and led to interest in their political skills and socialization (see Dudley and Gitelson 2002 for an overview; also Jennings and Niemi 1974,1981; Cook 1985). Within this tradition, researchers demonstrated that political socialization was the result of diverse sources, including but not limited to the parent-child relationship (Jennings and Niemi 1974, 1981; Beck and Jennings 1975; Dudley and Gitelson 2002). They saw family as a central force in its own right, through the inculcation of parental values and beliefs, hut also as a mediating mechanism in the relationship between individuals and an ever-changing society (Maccoby 1968; Jennings and Niemi 1974). Additionally, they found that parental political behavior was directly related to their child's subsequent activity, with much of the development of this link between parent and child politics occurring during the elementary school years, and surprisingly little change taking place afterwards (Jennings and Niemi 1974, 1981). However, even with such strong findings, or perhaps because of them, much like the status' attainment literature in sociology, by the 1980s political socialization research declined dramatically, leading Cook (1985: 1080) to conclude that "childhood...disappeared in political science." In recent years, political scientists have argued that the study ofthe relationship between youth, political literacy, and civic activism is of central importance again as civic involvement has taken on such important prominence in the literature (Niemi and Junn 1999; Dudley and Gitelson 2002; Gimpel, Lay and Schuknecht 2003; Jennings and Stoker 2004). Most of this work has focused upon the educational system and the development-or apparent lack-of political interest amongst younger generations (Delli Caprini and Keeter 1996; Dudley and Gitelson 2002). Though focused on explaining adult participation, Verba et al. (1995) have developed their Civic Voluntarism Model, which also explores aspects ofthe inter-generational transmission of participatory skills and capacities. This model predicts pre-adult experiences such as exposure to politics at home, respondent's education, and activities in high school, based on variation in the background characteristics of the individual and family (parents' education, gender, race-ethnicity). They found that parental education level was highly significant and positively related with discussion of politics at home, child's education level, and child's level of high school activity. The child's demographic profile was not significant for discussion of politics at home, except for Latino children, who were exposed to less discussion of politics than whites. Being female was highly significant and positively related to level of high school activity, while heing Latino was significant and negative. Subsequent analyses ofthe effect of family background and one's high school activity demonstrate that each remains a significant predictor of adult participation, long after one has moved on to other stages ofthe life course. Verba et al. (1995: 442) argue that these findings are: "striking. Over and above their effects on political activity through political interest, these factors have direct consequences for participation. Once again, this suggests the multiple roles

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that the family and school experiences play in bringing individuals into politics, indirectly by shaping opportunities to acquire education, jobs, and income, and more directly by providing political stimulation." The role of parental socialization and the school setting in the development of civic skills, knowledge and action cannot be overstated. As demonstrated by Verba et al. (1995), each of these social institutions takes on a central role in shaping adult outcomes for political participation; however, we would argue that civic activity is about more than just political participation and knowledge. Civic activity represents a broad array of organizational affiliations and social networks, which taken in combination has the potential to significantly impact one's social space. Also, when attempting to trace inter-generational infiuence, there is also more to consider than simply parental education and socio-demographic correlates. Thus we draw from the model of political participation that Verba et al. (1995) have developed, but we also incorporate other elements in attempting to predict adolescent civic involvement and the development of civic skills and knowledge. In the next section, we develop hypotheses that we will subsequently test.

RESEARCH HYPOTHESES AND EXPECTATIONS The primary objective of this study is to develop a better understanding of the role of parental infiuence on their children's actual and potential civic involvement. The underlying assumption is that civic involvement is positive for the community in which it takes place, as well as for the individual who participates. As noted earlier, prior research has shown that those who have more politically involved parents will be likely to be both more knowledgeable about politics and more active in their adult lives. Since the data we are using focuses on the link between parents and their adolescent children, the political activity of the children is not possible to consider. Further, we follow the lead of those such as Paxton (1999) who argue that political and civic forms of involvement are not automatically to be treated as one and the same. Thus we can state our first hypothesis as follows: Hypothesis I: Higher levels of parental political involvement will lead to higher levels of child political interest. Following logically from the first hypothesis, and noting the link between adult civic activity and their child's subsequent behavior, we can also state our second hypothesis: Hypothesis II: Higher levels of parental community involvement will lead to higher levels of child civic activities. Beyond direct modeling of political or civic activities, attitudes, or values, parents can also positively impact their children through participation in their child's school. Increasing levels of parental involvement has been a central concern for those involved in education, as well as politicians and parents (Birenbaum-Carmeli 1999; D. Moore 1992; E. Moore 1991; Scarpa 2004; Woods 1988). Educational researchers have demonstrated the link between higher levels of parental activity in children's schools


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and positive outcomes for the children (Bird 2003; Smith et al. 2003) or reduced levels of negative outcomes (McNulty and Bellair 2003; Xu 2003). This relationship would be expected to hold for increased levels of knowledge, including political interest, and also for increased participation in civic activities. Parental involvement in the school sends a signal to their children ofthe importance their parents place on engaging in community life outside the home. Thus our third hypothesis is: Hypothesis III: Higher levels of parental involvement in school will lead to higher levels of both child political interest and civic activities. The dataset used in this study allows us to examine certain variables which Putnam (2000) considered potential explanatory factors behind the decline of civic involvement and social capital. Again, these factors include: (1) time and money pressures; (2) suburbanization, commuting and sprawl; (3) time spent watching television; and (4) generational change. Since this study involves cross-sectional data collected about parents and children, it does not readily lend itself to an examination of the question of generational change. However, the other three factors are included in the data and tested here. Assuming the accuracy of Putnam's assertions, we expect that: (1) twoparent households where both parents work outside the home (versus households where one person or no one works outside the home) will be negatively related to levels of child political interest and civic activities; (2) the relationship between community size and child activities and knowledge will be significant and negative (i.e., children raised in smaller communities or rural areas will exhibit higher levels of civic activities or child political interest); and (3) the presence of rules restricting television viewing will be significantly and positively related to child activities and knowledge.

METHODS Data The National Household Education Survey (NHES) is a national probability survey that has been conducted semi-regularly since 1991. The goal ofthe NHES is to assess a variety of issues related to the state of education in the United States. Collection of data on Youth and Adult Civic Involvement was completed between January and April 1996. The target respondents for the Youth Civic Involvement (YCI) survey were students enrolled in 6th through 12th grades whose parents or adult caregivers also completed a civic involvement survey. Survey respondents were chosen using list-assisted random digit dialing, primarily to correct for under-representation of blacks and Hispanics in previous NHES surveys (Brick et al. 1996; Schreck, Miller and Gibson 2003). Household interviews were completed for 8,043 youth and matched adult household respondents, representing a weighted unit response rate of 89 percent (Brick et al. 1996). The present analysis is based on the 7,615 respondents who provided complete information for each ofthe variables described below. NCES uses a complex sampling design to select respondents for the NHES surveys, necessitating the use of replication techniques. The use of proper weighting techniques is important with data derived from complex sample designs, since the standard errors will be incorrect without them, leading to problematic significance test results. The statistical program AM allows for the analysis of data from complex samples, through

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the use of Taylor-series approximation, which provides appropriate standard errors for statistical analyses (American Institutes for Research 2005).

Measures The indicator of the child's political interest was constructed by summing Likert-type responses to questions about the frequency ofthe youth: (1) reading about national news, (2) watching or listening to national news, and (3) talking about national news with family or household members. There were four responses for each question, including hardly ever=l, at least monthly=2, at least weekly=3 and almost daily=4. Scores ranged from 3 to 12 for this variable. The alpha reliability was .605 for this indicator of child political interest. Child's civic activity is measured by asking the child if they have participated in any community service-oriented activities over the past year (l=yes). The indicator of adult community involvement was constructed by summing yes/ no responses to questions about: (1) membership in any community organizations, (2) weekly or more frequent church attendance, and (3) participation in ongoing community service activities. Scores ranged from 0 to 3 for this variable. The alpha reliability was .611 for this indicator of adult community involvement. The indicator of adult political involvement was constructed hy summing yes/no responses to questions about whether (s)he: (1) contributed money to a political cause, (2) worked for a political cause, party or candidate, (3) contacted a political representative, (4) attended a political meeting or really, (5) voted in the past five years. Scores ranged from 0 to 5 for this variable. The alpha reliability was .620 for this indicator of adult political involvement. Adult school involvement is measured by asking the adult if (s)he participated in any volunteer activities at their child's school (l=yes). Several variables are utilized to capture the core arguments of Putnam's (2000) social capital model. To measure parental participation in the labor force we categorize families into four types: Mom/female only full-time. Dad/male only full-time, no one employed, and two full-time workers (reference category). To address television viewership, we include a measure ofthe presence of rules about TV watching (l=yes). Finally, to address Putnam's (2000) concerns regarding the negative implications of suburbanization we include a dichotomous measure of community size (l=rural areas or small towns). The regression models also include several control variables: household income (originally a categorical variable converted into dichotomous variable: above or below median income category); three race-ethnicity variables (Black, Hispanic, and Other, with white as the reference group); highest level of adult education in the household (including: less than high school, high school/equivalent, some college, college graduate, and graduate school); gender ofthe child (l=male); the child's grades, as reported by the responding parent or adult guardian (including: mostly F's, mostly D's, mostly C's, mostly B's, and mostly A's); and the child's age (in years). Each of these variables has been shown to be related to civic involvement and interest in prior research (Verba et al. 1995; Putnam 2000; Burns et al. 2002).

Design and Analysis Ordinary Least Squares regression and logistic regression are used to examine whether parental political involvement, community involvement, school involvement, and the variables which Putnam indicates are critical factors in the decline of civic involvement.


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are each related to the child political interest and child civic activities, after controlling for other correlates of civic involvement. Table 1 presents the descriptive statistics for the variables included in the analysis. Table 2 includes the results ofthe OLS regression model ofthe predictors of child political interest. In Table 3, Model 1 presents the results ofthe logistic regression model ofthe predictors of child civic activities. In Table 3, Model 2, the results of the logistic regression model of the predictors of child civic activities including child political interest are presented. As noted above, the statistical program AM was used to conduct each analysis, because this program is designed specifically to perform statistical analysis on data drawn from complex samples such as the NHES (American Institutes for Research 2005).

RESULTS Descriptive statistics for all variables used in the models are reported in Table 1. Slightly over one-half (51%) of the child respondents were male, and their average age was 14.24 years. Adult reporting of child grades indicated that only 1.2% of the children received mostly F's, while 3.6% received mostly D's, 20.3% received mostly C's, 39.4% received mostly B's, and 35.5% received mostly A's. The variables related to Putnam's social capital research include the structure of adult employment in the household; the presence of rules about the length of time the child watches television; and the type of community the household is located in. 62.6% of the households had two adults employed, 29.4% had only a father/male employed, 3.9% had only a mother/ female employed, and no adult was employed in 4.1% ofthe households. In just over one-third of the households (34.1%) there were rules about the amount of time the children were allowed to spend watching television. A slight majority of respondents (55.5%) reported living either in a rural/farm area or in a small city/town (i.e., less than 50,000 population), with the rest living either in larger cities or their suburbs. The mean for the adult community involvement variable was 1.736. The average adult political involvement was 1.926. Just under one-third (30.8%) of adults were involved in their child's school. Mean child political interest was 3.865, while 21.3% ofthe child respondents participated in service activities. Table 2 includes the results ofthe OLS regression model ofthe predictors of child political interest. The primary focus of this study is directed towards assessing the effect of parental community involvement, political involvement, and school involvement on their child's political interest and civic activities. However, several demographic and background characteristics were also included and merit consideration in their own right. Parental education level (B = 0.056, p < .001) has a highly significant positive relationship upon child political interest, indicating that as with status attainment, children whose parents have more education tend to have more political interest. Additionally, characteristics of the child exhibit statistically significant effects upon level of political interest. Being male (B = 0.079, p < .001) is highly significant and positive, which is consistent with past research (Verba et al. 1995; Burns et al. 2001). Also, child's age (B = 0.103, p < .001) and child's grades (B = 0.127, p < .001) are highly significant and positive as well, indicating that the older the child and the better the child's grades, the more political interest they will demonstrate. For the variables which structure civic engagement behaviors, only the presence of

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TABLE 1. DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS Variables Income (l=above median category) Race-ethnicity Hispanic Black Other White Highest level of education for household adult Less than high school High school/equivalent Vocational/technical/some college College graduate

Graduate school Child gender (l=Male) Child grades Mostly F's Mostly D's Mostly C's Mostly B's Mostly A's Child age (in' years) Household employment Mother only Father only Neither employed Two employed Rules about TV (l=Yes) Community type (l=Small city or farm) Adult community involvement (0-3 range) Adult political involvement (0-5 range) Adult school involvement (l=yes) Child political interest (3-12 range) Child service activities (l=Yes)

Percent or Mean 50.1% 12.9% 12.8% 5.4% 68.9% 7.6% 28.3% 29.9% 16.7% 17.6% 51.0% 1.2% 3.6% 20.3% 39.4% 35.5% 14.24 3.9% 29.4% 4.1% 62.6% 34.1% 55.5% 1.736 1.926 30.8% 6.865 21.3%

rules regarding television viewing is highly significant (B = 0.123, p < .001). This result demonstrates that households where the amount of television watching is controlled produce children with more political interest. The family employment and community size variables are not statistically significant. Adult community involvement is not related to child political interest, but, as expected, both adult political involvement (B = 0.060, p < .001) and adult school involvement (B = 0.026, p < .001) are highly statistically significant and operate as expected, with increased adult involvement in politics or their child's school infiuencing their child's political interest, net ofthe other variables in the model.


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TABLE 2. ORDINARY LEAST SQUARES REGRESSION OF PREDICTORS OF CHILD POLITICAL INTEREST Income Race-Ethnicity (White reference) Hispanic Black Other Adult Education Child Gender (l=Male) Child Grades Child Age Family Employment (Two adults working reference) Mom Only Dad Only No Work TV Rules (l=Yes) Community (Small city or farm) Adult Community Involvement Adult Political Involvement Adult School Involvement Constant R2 N *sig. at p < .05, ** sig. at p < .01, *** sig. at p < .001

b -0.006

R -0.001

SE 0.059

0.087 0.107 0.032 0.107*** 0.364*** 0.324*** 0.115***

0.013 0.016 0.0030.056 0.079 0.127 0.103

0.082 0.085 0.120 0.026 0.052 0.031 0.013

0.027 -0.025 0.062 0.599*** -0.023 -0.019 0.138*** 0.127*** 2.764*** 0.062 7615

0.002 -0.005 0.005 0.123 -0.005 -0.008 0.060 0.026

0.133 0.058 0.132 0.056 0.054 0.027 0.022 0.029 0.246

In Table 3 Model 1, the results of the logistic regression model of the predictors of child civic participation are presented. Parental education level is significant (B = 0.059, p < .05), thus children whose parents have more education tend to participate in civic activities at higher levels. Characteristics of the child exhibit statistically significant effects upon level of civic activity. Hispanic children (B = 0.239, p < .05) are significantly more likely to participate in civic activities than are white children. No other racial-ethnic differences emerge, mirroring studies of adult civic involvement (Verba et al. 1995; Bums et al. 2001). Also similar to adult civic behavior patterns, but contrary to the political interest variable, being male (B = -0.253, p < .001) is highly significant and negative (see Bums et al. 2001). Interpreting the odds ratio, school age males are 22.4% less likely than school age females to participate in civic activities, holding all else constant. This is a reversal ofthe advantage male children hold in political interest, and is indicative ofthe importance of maintaining the distinction between political activity and other forms of civic behavior in future research. This issue is discussed in greater detail in the concluding section. Child's grades (B = 0.180, p < .001) and child's age (B = 0.088, p < .001) are each highly significant and positive; thus, as with political interest, the older the child or the better their grades, the more likely they are to participate in civic activities.

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TABLE 3. LOGISTIC REGRESSION OF PREDICTORS OF CHILD SERVICE ACTIVITY Model 1

BOdds ratio

Model 2

1.024

0.022

BOdds ratio 1.022

Income 0.024 Race-Ethnicity (White reference) Hispanic 0.239* Black -0.060 Other 0.137 Adult Education 0.059* Child Gender (l=Male) -0.253*** Child Grades 0.180*** Child Age 0.088*** Family Employment (Two adults working reference) Mom Only 0.080 Dad Only -0.051 No Work 0.001 TV Rules (l=Yes) 0.247*** Community (Small city or farm) -0.039

1.270 0.942 1.147 1.061 0.776 1.197 1.092

-0.249** -0.069 0.137 0.048 -0.295*** 0.148*** 0.077***

0.780 0.933 1.147 1.049 0.745 1.160 1.080

1.083 0.950 1.001 1.280 0.962

0.079 -0.049 -0.004 0.191** -0.038

1.082 0.952 0.996 1.210 0.963

Adult Community Involvement

0.219***

1.245

0.223***

1.250

Adult Political Involvement

-0.025

0.975

-0.041

0.960

Adult School Involvement Child Political Interest Constant -2 Log Likelihood

0.292***

1.339

0.273*** 0.102*** -4.167***

1.314 1.107

N

0.384***

7615 *sig. at p < .05, ** sig. at p < .01, *** sif;. at p < .001

-3827.92

-3796.37 7615

There are mixed results again for the variables which structure civic engagement. The presence of rules regarding television viewing is highly significant again (R = 0.247, p < .001), with children in homes where parental control over television viewing is exercised being 28% more likely to participate in civic activities, holding all else constant. This demonstrates that parental control over overall levels television watching is a significant factor in the development of civically aware and involved children. The family employment variables and the community size variables are not statistically significant. Adult political involvement is not related to child civic activity, but, as expected, both adult community involvement (B = 0.219, p < .001) and adult school involvement (B = 0.292, p < .001) are highly statistically significant and operate as expected, with increased adult involvement in community life or their child's school infiuencing their child's level of civic activity. Table 3 Model 2 contains the results ofthe logistic regression model ofthe predictors of child civic participation. The difference in this model is that child political interest is


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included as well. Some significant substantive changes emerge following the inclusion of this variable. Parental education level is reduced to insignificance, indicating that its effect is largely traceable to its impact on the development ofthe child's political (or more broadly civic) knowledge. Also, the relationship between child civic activity and being Hispanic is reversed when political interest is included, indicating that there are different avenues for the introduction of civic-mindedness and civic activity into the lives of children or adolescents. For Hispanic children, the introduction ofthe child political interest variable reverses the relationship with child service activity from significant and positive to significant and negative. Thus, when controlling for child political interest and the other variables in the model, Hispanic children are 22% less likely to participate in service activities. This reversal is likely due to the contrasting associations among the political interest variable, service activity, and Hispanic status. Other variables maintain the same relationship: having higher grades, the child's age, the presence of rules regarding television viewing, levels of adult community involvement, and levels of adult school involvement are all significant and positively related to child's level of civic activities. Also again, males are significantly less likely to participate in civic activities than are females. The variable added to this model, level of child political interest, is highly significant and positive (fi = 0.102, p < .001). This variable indicates that, net ofthe other variables, as the level of a child's political interest increases, that child becomes increasingly involved in civic activities.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION Research on the perceived decline of civic involvement has been widespread throughout the social sciences over the past decade, spurred on in large part by the work of Robert Putnam (1996,2000). Though heavily debated, this line of research has noted significant declines in political interest (Delli Caprini and Keeter 1996; Dudley and Gitelson 2002) and overall activity (Putnam 2000) among younger generations. What we have found here demonstrates that regardless ofthe possible existence of these overall generational declines, one path to securing higher levels of participation of the young in civic life involves the transmission of dispositions, values, knowledge, and norms of activity from parents to children. This is further enhanced by parental involvement in their child's school life, probably due to the fact that this is a clear, visible illustration to the children of the importance their parents place on engaging in community life outside the home. Further, the child's academic success is highly significant statistically and positively affects the level of a child's political interest and civic activities. Not surprisingly, children who are more successful academically are more knowledgeable about politics, and they are also more likely to participate in civic activities. By contrast, the variables which structure civic engagement included in the model produced, at best, mixed findings, as only the limitation of television watching through household rules produced significant positive effects on child political interest and child civic activities. This finding is consistent with other recent work (Bankston 2003) that demonstrates the link between heavy television viewing and reduced adult civic activity. Thus as Putnam (2000) contends, reducing the amount of time one spends watching television should positively influence levels of civic involvement, including

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among youth, as was found here. These habits of participation or passivity in youth would be expected to typically carry over into adult life, infiuencing future levels of civic involvement. This is clearly a factor, yet it must be noted that the findings related to the hypothesized parent-child linkages indicate that there are other important factors infiuencing participation in civic life that Putnam has minimized or avoided in his seminal works on civic involvement. An additional finding worth noting is the change in the relationship between the gender ofthe child and their political interest on the one hand, and their civic activities on the other We found that males are more likely to exhibit higher levels of political interest while females are more likely to exhibit higher levels of civic activity. These findingsfitin with earlier research which notes-this mixed relationship between gender and adult civic participation, with men generally more likely to be politically active and women more likely to participate in community organizations and activities (Verba et al. 1995; Burns et al. 2001). Further research into more specific elements ofthe process of gendered socialization is warranted, including an analysis which explores the parentchild socialization process by gender of both the child and the adult (i.e., adult females matched with female children, adult females matched with male children, adult males matched with male children, adult males matched with female children). And as noted above, these findings also highlight the importance of the conceptual and analytical separation of the political and community dimensions of civic involvement, distinctive components of civic life which research on civic involvement or social capital often fails to adequately disentangle. The link between child's civic involvement and both parental school involvement and higher levels of parental education is consistent with the literature that demonstrates a relationship between education and civic involvement. This also falls in line with the educational literature which notes that better educated parents and those parents who are more involved in their children's schools are more likely to have children who experience positive outcomes such as academic success (Bird 2003; Smith et al. 2003), and are less likely to have children who participate in deviant activities (Xu 2003) or adolescent violence (McNulty and Bellair 2003). It would appear based on the findings here that one could add that parental activity in their child's' school is also a contributing factor in the development of more civically minded children, above and beyond the direct effect of levels of parental education and levels of parental community or political involvement. Furthermore, enhanced adult participation in their child's schools is something that school administrators have long argued produces positive benefits not just for the children, but for the adults, and, by extension, for the community as well (Scarpa 2004). It is a reinforcing circle however, given the role that schools play in enhancing parental involvement is critical, as those schools which actively recruit parents to become involved are more likely to receive greater parental involvement (Bird 2003). One must interpret these findings with caution, as children and adolescents are structurally limited in significant ways from participating fully as citizens in their communities. However, the capacity to participate in politics and community life is not a light switch that is turned on at age 18. As noted by a reviewer, future research should also examine more closely the age-graded character of child and adolescent civic Ufe, which would enhance our understanding of the socialization process and its subsequent outcomes. Given the significance of age as a predictor of civic interest


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and activity, subsequent research should pay more careful attention to the ways which children of different ages and grade levels (for example, middle school versus high school) are socialized into civic life either voluntarily or through compulsory curricula. It is expected that children who have been influenced by their parents (or others in their homes) are more likely to be civically aware and engaged during childhood or adolescence (participation in school government, community service activities, etc.), which should foster greater knowledge and participation once adulthood is reached. Thus, though not directly predicting adult outcomes, the inculcation and development of habits and practices of participation or passivity cannot be ignored as indicators of future adult civic involvement. A limitation of this study is that better measurement of parental and child involvement in civic life is needed. For example, it would have been preferable to include counts of the number of activities the child participated in, or to have a sense of what types of activities the child was involved in, not just whether someone participated in civic activities. However, the NHES 1996 data set is rare in that it allows for crossgenerational comparisons of the type desired and theorized, thus this limitation was one that we could live with. Future data collection is warranted to incorporate these considerations, particularly given that the findings here are useful to various groups concerned about civic life. For researchers and politicians worried about perceived declines in civic activity, one avenue to stimulate increased participation is clearly the household. Also, the findings lend empirical support to the push by the educational system and government institutions to encourage parental involvement in their child's schooling as a means of facilitating positive outcomes for the children. This study moves that work forward through the inclusion of non-school related outcomes for the children, specifically the child's political interest and civic activities, which are another set of skills and practices that may lead to positive outcomes for the children in their adult lives and for the communities they will inhabit. Subsequent research is needed to develop and test better measures of involvement in civic life, and to assess issues such as the effects of gender dynamics and the interplay of individual and community or structural level factors upon the development of civic involvement capacity and practice. this study has addressed an important oversight in the civic involvement and social capital literatures: the impact of the parent-child linkage on levels of child civic activities and political interest. The findings support our expectations that parental involvement in politics, community, and their child's schooling are each significantly and positively related to child civic activities and/or child political interest. This does not limit or necessarily mitigate the role of structural factors in facilitating or inhibiting civic participation, but points out other avenues through which civic activity can be developed. Future research into the changing character of civic life should consider the powerful link between parent and child when attempting to explain or predict levels of civic involvement. Todd L. Matthews is a doctoral student and lecturer in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work at Mississippi State University. He holds an M.A. in sociology from the University of Tennessee and specializes in Environmental Sociology and Social Inequality. He has published articles in Soeial Forees, the Journal for the Seientific Study of Religion, and the International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology. Frank M. Howell is Professor of Sociology and Director ofthe Spatial Analysis Lab in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work at Mississippi State University. His work on communities and the environment encompasses civic engagement behaviors and resource mobilization perspectives. He has published in a wide range of social science journals, most recently in Rural Soeiology and Environmental Health Perspeetives.

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