| How do apolitical, voluntary associations influence the civic engagement of their members? This study uses original, multilevel data from a set of apolitical arts associations in the greater Boston area (choral societies) and the volunteer members (singers) within those groups to answer this question. Building on current theories of civic development, I find that some individuals who joined choral societies for purely recreational reasons over time developed civic motivations for staying with their group. I term this addition of civic motivations the development of "civic mindfulness"---an awareness of the civic component of associational participation. Individuals in choruses that are internally democratic and that have higher proportions of members who joined for civic (in addition to recreational) reasons are more likely to develop "civic mindfulness," as are individuals who practice more civic skills in their groups, who socialize with other members more often, and who take on volunteer leadership roles. The development of "civic mindfulness" in turn significantly predicts individual engagement in new political and community activities (controlling for other factors). These findings imply that, in line with Tocqueville's observations, in the right associational context individuals who are not innately "civic" can be drawn into political and community life, potentially improving the quality of modern democracy.;The Boston Area Choral Societies Study was designed to collect data in ways that would increase confidence that observed effects on member civic engagement were causal. Because most members join groups for recreational (rather than civic) reasons, and because organizations unintentionally provide different civic experiences for members, concerns about self-selection are alleviated here. In addition, efforts to collect data from individuals in a time-ordered manner and to conceptually and analytically detail the process of civic development further strengthen the causal claims. Finally, the relatively privileged (and homogenous) demographic profile of Boston choristers provides an especially rigorous test of associational influence hypotheses. For these reasons, this study not only reinforces our knowledge of the correlation between associational participation and civic engagement, but also gives us substantially more reason to believe that apolitical associations can---perhaps unintentionally---cause members to become more engaged citizens. |
