Community Works: The Revival of Civil Society in America [Paperback]

E. J. Dionne (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2000

America is experiencing a boom of voluntarism and civic mindedness. Community groups are working together to clean up their cities and neighborhoods. People are rejoining churches, civic associations, and Little Leagues. And, at every opportunity, local and national leaders are exhorting citizens to pitch in and do their part. Why has the concept of a civil society--an entire nation of communities, associations, civic and religious groups, and individuals all working toward the common good--become so popular? Why is so much hope being invested in the voluntary sector? Why is a civil society so important to us? This book looks at the growing debate over the rise, importance, and consequences of civil society. E.J. Dionne puts the issues of the debate in perspective and explains the deep-rooted developments that are reflected in civil society's revival. Alan Wolfe and Jean Bethke Elshtain discuss reasons why the idea of a civil society is important today. Theda Skocpol and William A. Schambra offer two opposing viewpoints on where successful voluntary civic action originates--nationally or at the local grass roots. John J. DiIulio Jr. shines a light on the success of faith-based programs in the inner-city, and Bruce Katz studies the problems caused by concentrated poverty in those same neighborhoods. Jane Eisner underscores the extent to which the volunteer sector needs organization and support to effectively complete its work. Other contributors include Bill Bradley, William A. Galston, and Gertrude Himmelfarb.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

E.J. Dionne Jr. is a columnist for the Washington Post and a senior fellow in the Brookings Governmental Studies program. He is the author of Why Americans Hate Politics (Simon & Schuster, 1991) and, most recently, They Only Look Dead: Why Progressives Will Dominate the Next Political Era (Simon & Schuster, 1996). --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: Brookings Inst Pr (April 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0815718675
• ISBN-13: 978-0815718673
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,085,766 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The complex coexistence of civil society and government, July 13, 2001

By 

Robert O. Bothwell (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Community Works: The Revival of Civil Society in America (Paperback)

COMMUNITY WORKS is a collection of 18 brief, pithy essays about civil society in America -- past, present and future, although the emphasis is on the present (mid-1990s). The essayists are academicians, activists, religious leaders, former government officials, politicians and philosophers. With such a long time perspective and so many diverse perceptions, it is hardly surprising that "civil society" is defined in nearly 18 different ways. Civil society, thus, is viewed as either hurting or healthy, declining or reviving. Regardless, several things are certain: civil society exists in America, is not dead, nor is static, and more people than ever are writing about it. COMMUNITY WORKS is a rich and complex book. It is a terrific smorgasbord of provocative thought (and some facts) both for beginners in Civil Society 101 as well as for those much more steeped in the concept and its realities.

The REVIVAL in the title is a takeoff from Robert Putnam's now famous "Bowling Alone" article (1995), in which he documented (with inadequate data and observations, in this author's view) that America's civil society was losing its networks of civic engagement, and this boded ill for the nation. E. J. Dionne, Jr., REVIVAL's editor, clearly believes that Putnam overstated the case of civil society's decline. Nevertheless, Dionne includes a fair number of essays that share Putnam's pessimism, as well as a good number that reflect Dionne's optimism.

Alan Wolfe opens the book by telling us not to worry that we are currently defining "civil society" in ways quite different from Locke, Rousseau, de Tocqueville, and other past observers, but to understand that we are reinventing civil society today, as indeed, civil society has been reinvented in every past era and different country/culture.

The most common ground among the essayists is that civil society is not an isolation ward for the birth and nurturing of networks of trust, reciprocity, tolerance and more good things, but that civil society must coexist with government and business, both as critic and collaborator.

While respecting the coexistence as fact, some, however, insist that civil society is the bedrock of government (and maybe business). Jean Bethke Elshtain leads this group, arguing that civil society provides the democratic culture for democratic government. (Francis Fukuyama in Trust made similar observations about civil society underpinning profitable global business.) Michael Waltzer and others argue, however, that government must first provide the legal and political space for civil society. Still others write that business must first provide the meat and potatoes (or peas and potatoes) before the citizens can focus on soccer, food banks, piano recitals, meals on wheels-- whatever networks create civil society values.

To William A. Schambra and others, the bedrock in the coexisting spheres is neither business, government nor civil society, but the local activities that create civil society values. Theda Skocpol counters this local fixation by documenting that most local organizations historically have had substantial ties with national organizations, such as the PTA and American Legion, which "have often grown up in a mutually beneficial relationship with federal policies, including federal `tax-and-spend' programs."

Cutting across the foregoing issues are political liberals' and conservatives' thoughts on civil society. According to Dionne/Waltzer, "The interest in civil society reflects (for conservatives and libertarians) a reaction against government and (for liberals and progressives) a search for stronger ground on which to rebuild responsive and energetic government." But all agree that civil society should be more important than it now is. Politicians Bill Bradley, Dan Coats and Rick Santorum speak to this, as do essayists Alan Ehrenhalt, Gertrude Himmelfarb, Bruce Katz, David Kuo and Michael Waltzer.

Compelling observations are offered by Kuo on what liberals and conservatives can learn from each other about government and civil society. For example, Kuo tells liberals that "Faith matters...(It has) policy potential as a catalyst for radical change in people's lives." Or, as he tells conservatives, "Government programs can do - and have done - good...food stamps... indexing of social security benefits and medicare....Despite its well-documented failures, the War on Poverty changed the face of poverty."

Last, but not least, the role of faith-based organizations in civil society is another major discussion in Revival. John J. DiIulio, Jr., Rev. Eugene F. Rivers III and Himmelfarb focus on this role. They are all quite positive about the essentials of religion in building strong civil society, though they all ascertain critical roles for government in providing support for religion and faith-based charities. Such support may be in the form of money for community development and social services (as DiIulio and Rivers suggest), but it may also be non-monetary, as value support to stigmatize immoral behavior -- "illegitimacy, promiscuity and chronic dependency" -- through legislation, judicial decisions, administrative regulations, educational requirements and tax codes (as Himmelfarb advocates).

If one wants to quarrel about the value of REVIVAL, it would be that most of the essays offer opinions about civil society rather than propose theories buttressed by facts about American civil society's shortcomings or illustrious realities. The essays by Skocpol and William A. Galston and Peter Levine are exceptions to this.

Robert O. Bothwell is President Emeritus/Senior Fellow of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, Washington, DC, USA