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.40 Putnamthoroughly makes the case that civic participation our participation184 Democracy Remixed in bowling leagues, church groups, and community organizationshas been dropping across age groups.While overall civic activity may have been decreasing, comparedto traditional forms of political participation, civic engagement is agold mine.Black Youth Project data indicate that civic engagement isan area in which we do find more activity among young people (table5.1).Asked if they were a member of an organized group, 38 percentof black youth, 47 percent of white youth, and 33 percent of Latinoyouth said yes.When asked if they had engaged in organized volunteeror community service, again we see a high return, with 48 percent ofblack youth, 62 percent of white youth, and 54 percent of Latino youthanswering yes.While the general trend here is greater rates of par-ticipation among all groups than that indicated for explicitly politicalactivities, our data stand in opposition to the CIRCLE data that showblack youth as more civically engaged.To the contrary, black youthin our sample lag behind white youth by 9 to 14 percentage points,depending on the activity.There is one area of civic engagement inwhich black youth lead the way religious activity.When asked aboutactivity at their places of worship, black youth who identify as having acurrent religion far exceed their white counterparts.Forty-five percent of black youth who had a religion with whichthey identified said that they attended religious service at least once aweek, compared to 40 percent of religion-identified Latino youth and35 percent of similarly situated white youth.41 There appeared to be atable 5.11 Civic Engagers: Black Youth Project, 15- to 25-Year-OldsCivic engagers Black White Latinoyouth (%) youth (%) youth (%)Member of an organized group 38 47 33Engaged in organized volunteer or 48 62 54community-service workAttended religious service at least once a 45 35 40week*Served on a committee, organized a 37 33 28meeting, helped with special project atplace of worship at least once or twice amonth**Note: Percentages are for those respondents who indicated that they had a current religion,not all respondents.Source: The Black Youth Project Fight the Power 185 table 5.12 Civic Engagers, MCPCE Study, 18- to 30-Year-OldsCivic engagers Black White Latino Asianyouth (%) youth (%) youth (%) Americanyouth (%)Member of an organized group 21 34 16 33Engaged in organized volunteer 24 27 23 24or community-service workSource: 2008 Mobilization, Change, and Political and Civic Engagementsignificant sex gap in rates of attendance only among black youth, with49 percent of young black women attending service at least once aweek, compared to 40 percent of young black men.Finally, when askedabout their participation in civic activities at their religious institutions,such as serving on a committee, organizing a meeting, or giving timeto a special project, the numbers dropped.Specifically, 37 percent ofblack youth indicated they participated in such activities at least onceor twice a month.Thirty-three percent of white youth and 28 percentof Latino youth similarly were active once or twice a month.Again,the most significant gender difference in such participation was foundamong black youth, with 30 percent of young black men saying theyengaged in such activities at least once a month and 43 percent of youngblack women saying they participated in these activities.Interestingly,the numbers in table 5.12 suggest that the percentage of young peopleengaged in civic activity in 2008 was lower than that found in the BlackYouth Project data but still higher than that registered for most otherforms of political engagement.It might be, as we found earlier, thatMCPCE respondents, if involved at all in 2008, were preoccupied withactivities related to the election.FINDINGS ON DIGITAL DEMOCRATSHaving reviewed the general participation patterns of black youth,I want to return once again to the digital Democrats in our Black YouthProject data to get a sense of the factors corresponding with their par-ticipation.42 Interestingly, it is through this set of analyses that a numberof the variables that previous scholars suggest should influence partici-pation start to show up.For example, when trying to explain whichyoung blacks are more likely to send an e-mail or blog about a politicalissue, three factors stand out: age, whether one is in an organization or186 Democracy Remixed group, and one s level of political efficacy.As one gets older that is,moves toward 25 one is less likely to send an e-mail or write a blog.One possible reason for this might be that 18- and 19-year-olds are inschool or have more time to engage in such activity." A 25-year-old black adult is 11 percent less likely to send ane-mail or write a blog than an 18-year-old.Similarly, those young people who are in an organization or groupare more likely to send an e-mail or write a blog.In this case, it couldbe that being part of an organization provides you with the informa-tion that would incite participation.In addition, being a member of agroup may mean you are part of a network that communicates throughe-mails." A young black person who is in an organization or group is7 percent more likely to send an e-mail or write a blog thana similarly situated black youth with no organizational orgroup ties.Finally, as we have found previously, those young people who feelmore politically efficacious are also more likely to send an e-mail orwrite a blog [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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