Building democratic habits: Civil society and local government in comparison

In the last several decades, as there has been much focus in the literature on determinants of successful democracy and democratization, there has also been a significant collection of scholarship on the concept of civil society. However, while a relationship between civil society and democracy is often theorized there have been few tests of this relationship. The few empirical tests that have been done suggest that participation in civil society organizations may cause an increase in citizen competence, which supports the theorized relationship. Additionally, though theory suggests that participation in local governance may provide similar benefits, potentially encouraging a shift to more participatory forms of local governance, this has not been empirically tested. This research tests both of these relationships, and compares them, using regression analysis on individual-level data from the Political Culture of Democracy in Mexico Survey, part of the Latin America Public Opinion Project's ongoing Americas Barometer survey efforts.