What are some national early childhood associations?

Declines in participation rates in profesisonal associations

• I have a client who needs a quick literature review on the subject of the decline of volunteerism. There is a large general literature anchored by the book "Bowling Alone" (Putnam). I am not interested in the very general lit like Putnam's book, most of which deals with the defcline of civic participation in local affaris and voting and the like. Instead I am interested in a specific aspect of this general problem. I would like information on the rates of volunteer participation within professional associations in such things as committees, annual meetings, local chapter events. I am also interested in three further aspects of this general question. -- First, whether there is a difference in these rates of participation between large metropolitan areas and small towns. -- Second, there is good documentation of decline in the US and Canada in these kinds of voluntary activities. But I do not know if the change in professional society participation occurs participation is unique to North America or is also occuring in Europe and South America. -- Third, the decline is most severe in generalist associations. One reason is that professions have become more specialized, and that proccess has spawned spcialized associations. The result is the loss of membership and participation in the generalist associations. What I do not know is whether the specialized societies are also experiencing low participation in committees, etc.

• Answer:

  Hello, hmc53142-ga! Your question proved trickier than I thought it would. While I found plenty of information on volunteerism and professional/semi-professional associations, it was next to impossible to find trends in South America. It was also very difficult to find information pertaining to local, small-town chapters of professional associations versus large professional associations. I am not sure if I have interpreted that aspect of your question accurately. If you want differences between volunteerism in small towns versus large municipalities in general, that is a much easier. Otherwise, it might be helpful to target a few professional associations that interest you, to see if I can figure out some comparisons between volunteer participation between local and national chapters. The same would be true for comparisons of South American chapters of US professional organizations. Even then, I don't know how much information might be available. The following is what I have uncovered: General Overview: A critique of Putnam's Book *************************** From "Putnam, Fukuyama, De Tocqueville, and Volunteerism in the International Community," by Paul Rich and Guillermo De Los Reyes. Draft of a paper for the International Studies Association. (2/1999) http://mailweb.udlap.mx/~rich/papers/isa99/morris.html Excerpts: "While Professor Putnam has made a valuable contribution by sparking debate over whether volunteerism has ebbed, just the spirited social exchanges of the Internet and the enormous non-paid activity in constructing World Wide Web archives shows the other side of the coin to which we refer.11 All manner of discussion, lobby, and support groups have sprung up via the Net.12 Putnam relies on surveys which show a decline in conventional membership in organizations that may have declined because of changes in interest and constituency rather than a lack of public spirit.13 The Grange, for example, could not sustain growth as the farming population decreased. The United Commercial Travelers still maintains a lodge system for lonely salesmen, but air transportation makes it possible to be home for the weekend, and the organization has suffered from that." "Research by Brent Morris shows that some of the organizations that Putnam cites as evidence of the recent decline in volunteerism actually began their decline long ago. The Odd Fellows, for example, began declining in 1920, and the decline from 1920 to 1935 exceeded all its growth from 1990 to 1920. In 1920 the Odd Fellows had 1, 736,00 members. In 1940 they had 666,000 members. D. Morris shows similar, if now obscure organizations such as the Patriarchs Militant, Rebekah, and Knights of Pythias also peaked around 1920 and then began to decline."14 "The work Dr. Morris has done is a good example of how useful it will be if the research done into rather private, if not totally secretive, societies like the Masons is incorporated into discussions about intermediate organizations and volunteerism. (We recognize the Masonry sometimes resents being called a secret society, claiming that it is very visible by virtue of its buildings and charities.) Clearly Putnam cannot go back to 1920 in trying to show a decline in the voluntary spirit. His thesis needs a more recent date. He cannot, for example, use the lack of member participation in the National Geographical Society because that would put him back in the 1890s." "Putnam´s claims about those voluntary groups that have grown substantially in recent years such as the Sierra Club and American Association of Retired Persons, -- that they mean little more to their members than do magazine subscriptions, are somewhat contradicted by the activities of those groups he singles out. The AARP for example has more than 4000 local chapters, many of them being involved in blood drives, hospital visitation and other civic activities." "So the situation is not easily interpreted. Less Americans are joining the Odd Fellows, but more every day are involved in college alumni groups -- if only because more are going to college. Putnam could argue that new movements are more like the National Geographic Society (itself a nineteenth-century foundation) and that the memberships of many organizations are uninvolved, but the level of involvement of members in organizations in the past surely varied as well. Accusing him of "intellectual and journalistic superficiality", Robert J. Samuelson found that even bowling was simply showing a more relaxed style rather than demonstrating a dearth of community. Anyway, argued Samuelson, softball leagues now had more than 40 million participants, in contrast with only 27 million in 1972. Conceding that unions had slumped, he pointed out that there had been an increase participation in literary and art groups and professional groups, suggesting perhaps a change in the population rather than a decline in spirit.. American associational life today he insists is less along racial, sexual and ethnic lines and thus has improved in quality." "Another critic of Putnam, Diana Eck, discusses how the American penchant for volunteerism has influenced traditional religious groups that are relatively new to the country. "There are Hindu groups that adopt a highway and an organization called Sikhs Serving America that tries to help street people. There has been a proliferation of "voluntary associations based on democratic, and not necessarily Christian, principles" which counteracts the notion that people are bowling alone.19 "When it comes to bowling, the Bowl for Kids´ Sake organization aiding the Big Brother and Big Sister mentoring programs has produced so far more than $125 million, and from ground zero in 1981 now involves more than two million bowlers a year. (Of course the argument could be made that BKS members don´t share pizzas and beers are readily as members of company teams, but the proof of that would seem a challenge.) The Big Brother and Big Sister organizations have been joined in a new mentoring movement by other new groups such as Concerned Black Men, One Hundred Black Men, Foster Grandparents, and Friends of the Children." "A case then can be made that for every sewing circle and fraternal lodge that has declined, another sort of volunteerism springs up. An optimist, Professor Ann Boyles, writes, "It is perhaps the most significant social phenomenon of our time: the sudden efflorescence of countless movements and organizations of social change at local, regional, and international levels." She adds, "This blossoming of civil society, as represented by non-governmental organizations, community-based groups, academic institutions, and others, is significantly reshaping the international agenda."20 (There is an extensive bibliography at the end of this paper that may prove useful!) An article of some interest: "Secret Ritualistic Organizations and Volunteerism in Mexico, "by Guillermo De Los Reys. Presented at the 2000 Meeting of the Latin American Studies Association. http://mailweb.udlap.mx/~rich/papers/LASA2K/reyes.pdf Excerpts: "In Mexico today, which is undergoing democratization, there has been a recent rapid growth in the number of non'governmental organizations. "From 1989 on the number of non governmental organization (NGOs) skyrocketed. As a sociocultural response to the state's withdrawal from welfare responsibilities since 1982, professional groups, intellectuals and progressive church-inspired associations decided to organize working groups oriented to the development of public services, technical consultancy, health programmes, popular urban development, popular education, youth attention, environmental protection and so on and so forth. Past state monopolization of all these kind of societal initiatives waned, and given the availability of internation funding, several NGOs flourished all over the country,"25 (Extensive bibliography follows article) ============================================================================ Rates of Volunteer Participation ********************************* Canadian Statistics: ==================== As excerpted from "A sharp decline in the volunteer pool accurately mirrors the decline of faith," by Ted and Virginia Byfield. Report: Canada's Independent News Magazine. (9/10/2001) http://report.ca/archive/report/20010910/p44i010910f.html "Now, however, we can clinically chart our downfall, actually measure the moral temperature, take the social pulse. Last week, for instance, there came a disturbing story, disturbing enough for the Globe and Mail to make it their front-page headline: "Alert Raised as 1 Million Fewer Now Volunteer." "Canada has one million fewer volunteers today than it had in 1997," read the story. The National Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating had found that Canada's pool of volunteers shrank from 7.5 million in 1997 to 6.5 million in 2000. Where volunteer labour totalled the equivalent of 578,000 full-time workers in 1997, it was 549,000 in 2000. Canadian charities had lost nearly 30,000 workers. This would have spelled disaster for a number of charities, said the report, were it not for the fact that the people who do volunteer made up the differences by contributing far more of their time. Now 7% of volunteers contribute 73% of all volunteer labour. ==== As excerpted from "The State of Volunteering in Canada: National Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating - 2000." http://www.vsi-isbc.ca/eng/joint_tables/nvi/cvi_report/doc8.cfm "The results of the NSGVP contain both good news and bad news. The good news is that 6.5 million Canadians are engaged in volunteering and these volunteers come from all age groups, all backgrounds, and all communities. The bad news is that, between 1997 and 2000, one million fewer Canadians contributed to a formal volunteer activity - a 13 percent decline. This is an alarming trend." "The volunteering rate declined independent of age, sex, marital status, education, labour force status and income. Despite the adoption of mandatory community service in some high school education systems, the volunteering rate among those aged 15-24 declined from 33 percent in 1997 to 29 percent in 2000." "Further, in spite of a 2.5 percent increase in the Canadian population and a 9 percent increase in the average number of hours per volunteer between 1997 and 2000, the decline in the overall volunteering rate resulted in an absolute decline in the total number of volunteer hours - from 1.11 billion hours in 1997 to 1.05 billion hours in 2000. To put this in perspective, this decline of 56 million volunteer hours is equivalent to the loss of 29,000 full-time jobs. While these numbers speak for themselves, they do not explain why this decline has occurred." "In 2000, 73 percent of Canadians did not volunteer at all, at least in the formal system. The survey findings also show that only seven percent of Canadians contribute almost three-quarters of all volunteer effort. This central core of 'super' volunteers is highly homogenous: they are older, university educated, higher income, parents, and actively religious. While these people represent a remarkable cohort of Canadians, dependence on such a small number is neither wise, nor sustainable, in the longer term. Effort is needed to deepen and extend the pool of volunteers." "The single most important factor people give for volunteering is a belief in the cause supported by the organizations. This is followed by: putting skills to use; being personally affected by the cause; and exploring one's own strengths. These factors remained stable over the three-year period, suggesting that other factors contributed to the marked decline in volunteering." "The reasons given for not volunteering have remained relatively constant: lack of time and unwillingness to make a year-round commitment. The survey also indicates that many non-volunteers in Canada have never been asked to volunteer. Many people indicate that they don't know how to get involved in their community. A clear need exists to promote and celebrate volunteerism to help Canadians from all backgrounds become more aware of volunteering opportunities, and to help organizations reach out to potential volunteers." ===== United States Statistics: ======================== Excerpted from "Census Bureau: Volunteerism Down," by Steve Jordahl. Family News in Focus. (2/13/2003) http://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/news/a0024681.html "Government statistics indicate an 11 percent decline in volunteerism over the last two years. Although she questions the results of the study, Pat Read, of the group Independent Sector, said there is cause for concern." ==== Excerpted from "Giving and Volunteering in the United States 2001." Independent Sector. http://www.independentsector.org/programs/research/gv01main.html "INDEPENDENT SECTOR's Giving and Volunteering in the United States Signature Series provides a comprehensive picture of the giving and volunteering habits of Americans. Based on a national survey of more than 4,000 adults, this series of reports explores the why, how, and who behind the extraordinary everyday generosity, both in time and money, of American households. The Signature Series is sponsored by the MetLife Foundation. Key Findings: Giving (households) 89 percent of households give. The average annual contribution for contributors is $1,620. Volunteering (individuals) 44 percent of adults volunteer. 83.9 million American adults volunteer, representing the equivalent of over 9 million full-time employees at a value of $239 billion. (You may order the full report at http://www.independentsector.org/pubs_cart.htm) ==== Volunteering is up in some sectors: According to the article, "Volunteerism on the Rise: President Bush Renews Call to Service," by Patrick Ferraro, Philanthropic Research, Inc.(August 2002) at http://www.guidestar.org/news/features/volunteerism.stm : "Numbers recently issued by the USA Freedom Corps indicate a renewed interest in volunteerism in America. On-line applications to AmeriCorps have increased 90 percent, and visits to the SeniorCorps Web site have jumped 57 percent. More than 66,000 potential volunteers have requested Peace Corps applications - a 40 percent increase - and more than 45,000 individuals have signed up on-line to participate in the Citizen Corps. VolunteerMatch, the on-line volunteer database ..... has experienced a marked upswing in activity this year. In the last quarter alone, matches between volunteers and organizations increased 72 percent compared to the same period in 2001." ===== Corporate Volunteerism - United States: From "Prudential Financial Leads the Charge in Corporate Sponsored Volunteerism." Prudential Financial.(9/30/2002) http://www.prudential.com/productsAndServices/0,1474,intPageID%253D3849%2526blnPrinterFriendly%253D0,00.html (Prudential poll finds American workers' perception of corporate-sponsored volunteerism on national decline.) "Despite a heightened focus on corporate responsibility, a new study released today found that American workers now believe their companies are pulling back just when they should be giving back." "According to a recent national poll conducted by Prudential Financial, more than 80% of employees express a willingness to participate in company volunteer programs. Yet only 54% believe that their employer encourages volunteerism, a 12% decline since 1998. And, only two out of five companies that do provide volunteer programs encourage family involvement." "Many companies offer volunteerism opportunities. But our research shows there is still a gap in mobilizing even more employees," says Arthur F. Ryan, chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial. "We have long believed it's important for employees to take an active part in improving the places they live and work through volunteerism. That's why we sponsor events like Global Volunteer Day. We hope events like this will inspire other companies to develop similar volunteer programs." Other findings in the survey of American workers include: 83% of part-time employees say they would participate in a corporate-sponsored program. Two out of five companies encourage family involvement in volunteer programs. Trend Research: In August 2002, Prudential Financial surveyed nearly 650 U.S. residents on their employers' volunteer involvement. Researchers compared the results to a similar study they conducted in 1998. Here's what they found: 54 percent of respondents say their employer encourages volunteerism, compared to 62% in 1998. The biggest decline was in part-time employees. Less than half of employees report their employer sponsors volunteer programs. There was a 12% drop over the last four years in the number of employees who say their employer sponsors volunteer programs. 80 percent of respondents say they'd participate in a corporate-sponsored program. 83 percent of part-time employees said they would participate in a corporate-sponsored program. Two out of five companies encourage family involvement in volunteer programs. 51 percent of employees in the 35-44 age group say their employer encourages family participation. ====== Volunteer Distribution: An excellent chart, called "Distribution of Volunteers and Assignments, 1998, can be seen in the article: "USEFUL FACTS ON VOLUNTEERISM IN THE UNITED STATES." Bohse and Associates http://bohse.com/html/facts_on_volunteerism.html I have copied the chart information here, though the rest of the article is also very insightful. 14.6% Informal Activity 13.7% Religious Activity 10.5% Youth Activity 10.4% Educational Activity 9.5% Human Services 6.8% Health 6.2% Work-related 5.5% Environment 5.2% Arts 5.2% Recreation 4.7% Public/Societal Benefit 2.8% Political 2.0% Private/Community Foundations 1.5% International 1.3% Other Some other facts from the article: 42% of households with an average income under $20,000 reported volunteering during the year while 68% of households with an average income between $40,000 and $49,999 did so. College graduates were between 50 and 60% more likely to volunteer than those respondents with only a high school diploma. ===== Participation in Specialized Associations - Declining or Increasing? ******************************************************************* Some specific examples: ======================= The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons: Despite Putnam's discouraging data about the overall decline in volunteerism and association participation, the AMOS continues to see active participation in their professional association. "..the AMOS has been fortunate to have Fellows interested in volunteering for a number of projects and committees over the past 70 years. This is a trend we wish to see continue and grow." However, there has been a noticeable decline in voting for committee members. "In Putnam’s book, he notes that there has been a continual decline in the percentage of the U.S. population that votes in each election cycle over the past 40 years. This fact hits home to those of us involved in the Academy, as we have also seen a declining participation in our voting recently. In 1993, 40% of eligible AAOS Fellows voted for the Nominating Committee, but in 2002, this number dropped to 28% of eligible AAOS Fellows." From "The AAOS needs and wants your participation," by Vernon Tolo, MD. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Bulletin. (8/2002) http://www.aaos.org/wordhtml/bulletin/aug02/acdnws1.htm === Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants: "Recent history has shown a decrease in attendance at chapter meetings and a decrease in interest in serving on the FICPA’s committees. There are numerous theories to explain this uncontestable fact of diminishing interest. Several of the hypotheses advanced to explain decreasing participation include: Increased Specialization by CPAs: This development may explain why chapters have difficulty providing services and CPE to the broadest definition of CPA; there are simply fewer and fewer general or sole practitioners. While committee requests are down, attendance at specialized conferences continues to grow, suggesting that the need to participate has declined while the need for information has not. Demographic Trends. The FICPA faces similar trends as other organizations. Its members come from two worker families, have less available time, have other professional development alternatives, have more entertainment and leisure options, etc. Increased Competition: There has been a proliferation of organizations that provide CPE and information. CPAs can get their support through a variety of sources, including other associations, CPA firm networks, the Internet, etc. Volunteerism is Declining: Recent studies have shown that volunteerism itself has declined in the United States in the past twenty years. To resist such a decline, a volunteer organization must increase the value of the services it provides. Technology: As is the case with many professional associations, information and access to trade information have been the hallmark of their existence. Increased computerization and the Internet have turned that information into a commodity. Technology has made the consumption of information without a person-to-person meeting both common and efficient. From "FICPA Restructure Task Force: Draft Recommendations, Committees and Chapters." http://www1.ficpa.org/restructure/chapters.html === The Computer Society: "The society has a strong cadre of volunteers working together to serve the profession. In recent years, however, the society has experienced a dwindling volunteer base. External factors, such as increasing competitive pressures on companies in an increasingly global economy, pressure on employees at work to do more with less, and the time pressures that come from trying to balance work and personal life, all contribute to the problem. Volunteers find they have less time to devote to activities that do not directly address their company’s bottom line. Moreover, many employers who previously supported volunteer activities are now discouraging such activities, or at least are not providing financial resources to support such activities. Most volunteer-driven professional organizations are experiencing a similar situation." "While recognizing the importance of volunteer participation to the society and at the same time recognizing that volunteers are experiencing increasing pressures to reduce volunteer activities, the society has earmarked increasing volunteer participation as one the most critical issues. The society must identify and recruit new volunteers and also find ways to better leverage the scarce volunteer resources it has available today. Also at issue is how to facilitate the transition of a volunteer from one volunteer activity to another. As an example, the society should put into place mechanisms that will help interested editorial board members or technical committee members find out about other volunteer opportunities within the society. The society has a large pool of volunteers serving on editorial boards, technical committees, standards committees, and conference committees, but must create a system that taps this reservoir of volunteers more effectively in the future." Summary: "The future vitality of the society lies with its volunteers, its most critical resource. The society recognizes that the expansion of its volunteer base is one of the key issues that it faces today. It also recognizes that the increasing demands on volunteers at work result in pressures to decrease their volunteer time. To effectively recruit new volunteers, the society should have a systematic method to identify potential volunteers and should establish volunteer recruitment as an important part of the culture. Emphasis on keeping volunteers involved through mentoring and making volunteer task more doable should also become part of the culture. The society must also consider the alternative that it may not get more volunteers nor more volunteer time. Consequently, it must become more efficient in its operation and use technology to optimize the output resulting from volunteer commitment and time. Finally, the society should expand its current activities to ensure that volunteers are recognized for their contributions to the society." Read "Engaging Members as Volunteers." Computer Society. http://www.computer.org/csinfo/plan/sp980001.htm ==== The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.: (Statistics for growth and membership, including South America:) "IEEE membership for month-end May 2002 totaled 339,209. This represents an increase of 6,069 members (+1.8%) over May 2001. At first glance this would appear to be somewhat good news; that is, that despite the continuing uncertain economic outlook, and a fairly significant 2002 dues increase, membership still continues to exhibit positive growth in 2002 (albeit at a slightly subdued pace). "However, if you look underneath the top level numbers, you will find that higher grade memberships are down for the year. Further, this decline in higher grade memberships has worsened from -0.2% in April, to -0.5% in May. It is only due, therefore, to the 13% growth rate in Student memberships that overall membership is showing gains for the year." "On a better note, as previously indicated, Student membership this month is up 7,521 (+13%) over the previous May. Of particular interest is the fact that for the first time in a long time all of our US Regions are posting double-digit Student membership growth. In fact, except for the 28.4% growth occurring in Region 10, US Student growth this year is outpacing the rest of the world." "The CAS student promotion was primarily designed to help increase CAS Student Branch Chapters. To date this program has helped to create four new CAS Student Branch Chapters - two in Columbia, and one each in Argentina and Romania." "IEEE is a volunteer membership organization. Although it maintains a paid staff, it relies heavily on its volunteers in Sections, Student Branches and Chapters to carry out the necessary work of recruiting and retaining members by promoting activities, services and products that benefit members. Volunteers are essential to the continued well-being and growth of IEEE as a membership organization." Read "Membership Development Progress Report May 2002." IEEE http://www.ieee.org/organizations/rab/md/progrep/may02prog.html (also see charts accompanying article) === Disabled American Veterans: "DAV faces a risk of declining membership and decreasing individual member participation. A number of factors contribute to this situation: fewer veterans are eligible for DAV membership; aging members are less able to participate in meetings and programs serving veterans; and younger potential members are less attracted to fraternal organizations than previous generations." Read "Goals, Issues and Strategies." Disabled American Veterans. http://www.dav.org/strategic/goals_print.html ==== American Society for Public Administration: "In this environment, ASPA’s membership fell from 15,600 in 1989 to 9,800 in 1998. During the same period, the biennial membership surveys have shown that ASPA members feel strongly that ASPA needs to change. They think the Society has lost its focus. They believe in the basic purposes of the organization - improve government management and ethics, be an advocate for public service, and provide opportunities for interaction between academics and practitioners - but do not think ASPA is doing enough to advance these causes. They also want more flexible membership and service options." Read "Looking Back." ASPA http://216.239.37.100/search?q=cache:1_9QteBgt1gC:www.aspanet.org/about/stplan.doc+&hl=en&ie=UTF-8 ==== Some very interesting information about participation in various organizations can be found in: "A NATION OF SPECTATORS: HOW CIVIC DISENGAGEMENT WEAKENS AMERICA AND WHAT WE CAN DO ABOUT IT." Final Report of the National Commission on Civic Renewal. (1998) http://www.puaf.umd.edu/Affiliates/CivicRenewal/finalreport/table_of_contentsfinal_report.htm An excerpt from the section titled: "CIVIL SOCIETY: EVIDENCE--Associations and Democracy," at http://www.puaf.umd.edu/Affiliates/CivicRenewal/finalreport/associations_and_democracy.htm follows: Unions: "Members of union households are 8 percent more likely than other people to vote. Though union membership is a relatively weak predictor of overall associational membership,34 unionized workers do join more voluntary organizations and make more charitable contributions than other people do.35 The dramatic decline in union membership over the past 40 years has been exacerbated by factors -- automation, international competition, the relocation of factories to non-union states, and changes in federal labor law enforcement -- that do not directly affect other associations. The United States now ranks near the bottom of industrialized democracies in union membership." Fraternal organizations and women's auxiliaries: ".. have suffered deep losses in membership since 1974. These groups traditionally had deep roots in their communities, and they offered men and women of different classes an opportunity to talk and cooperate more or less as equals -- something that professional associations, which have grown in recent decades, do not do. Today, it is not clear what (if anything) will replace the cross-class local organizations that flourished through most of American history.36 Mailing-list associations: "...from the National Rifle Association to the Children's Defense Fund, have grown since 1970. Members of these groups contribute dues to support professional staff, but they do not donate much time or effort. It seems plausible that writing a check has a smaller effect on the development of civic skills, knowledge, and interpersonal trust than does attending a meeting or organizing a grassroots movement. But mailing-list organizations should not be stereotyped. The Sierra Club, for example, has been described as a group whose members merely write checks and read newsletters. But in one May weekend, the Los Angeles chapter alone organized 39 events, from classes to camping excursions, that were cooperative and participatory.38 Still, a large shift from grassroots groups to national membership organizations provides grounds for concern. The evidence suggests that while levels of group membership have remained fairly constant during the last quarter century, active involvement and leadership have become less common, in part because the kinds of organizations that now predominate offer relatively few opportunities for participation and deliberation. Similarly, there has been a shift from groups that are organized in communities to those that unite people around a profession or interest. Both trends could be expected to lower social capital, even given fairly constant overall membership levels. Indeed, the past 25 years have seen a marked decline in the share of people who belong to committees and serve as officers of local groups, a trend that parallels declines in such forms of local political activity as attending school board meetings and participating in political parties. ==== Excerpts from "SOCIAL CAPITAL: Though some scholars might worry, it's still abundant on soccer fields and in 12-step meeting rooms," by Ed Wojcicki. Illinois Issues (2/2001) http://civic.uis.edu/publish/Essay%20by%20Ed%20Wojcicki.pdf. "Robert Samuelson of the Washington Post examined Putnam's data and found increases, not decreases, in participation among several types of organizations, such as literary and arts groups, professional associations and sports clubs. "Americans mingle across racial, sexual, and ethnic lines more now than ever," he wrote in 1996." ==== Sweden: Declines in Union membership: ===================================== "According to figures published in spring 2001, the total membership of Swedish trade unions continued to decline in 2000, with overall union density down to 79% from 84% in 1994. Losses were recorded among the affiliates of the blue-collar LO confederation, while the white-collar TCO and especially the graduate SACO experienced small increases. Recently published research indicates that unions are failing to attract younger workers." "Spring 2001 saw the publication of the 2000 membership figures for Swedish trade unions The three central trade union confederations - bringing together unions representing university graduates, blue-collar workers and white-collar workers respectively - always make their figures public, even when these are less than impressive. As a whole the trade union movement continues to lose members, even if there are some individual gains among the unions representing professional staff. Swedish trade union density stood at 79% in 2000, compared with 84% in 1994." "The three union confederations are the blue-collar Swedish Trade Union Confederation (Landsorganisationen, LO), the white-collar Swedish Confederation of Professional Employees (Tjänstemännens Centralorganisation, TCO) and the graduate Swedish Confederation of Professional Associations (Sveriges AkademikersCentralorganisation, SACO). LO and its 18 affiliated unions had a total of just over 2 million members as at 31 December 2000. TCO and its 18 affiliates had about 1,250,000 members, while SACO had 492,706 members. All figures include non-active members such as students and pensioners." Read entire article, "Overall union membership declines." EIRO online http://217.141.24.196/2001/06/Feature/SE0106105F.html ===== Europe: ======== Examples of membership of younger people in various types of organizations: "Membership in art, music or educational organisations: ...has also increased in Western Europe (see Figure 3). In Central-Western Europe it increased three-fold, from 8 % to 23 %, in South-Western Europe more than four-fold from 6 % to 27 % and in North-Western Europe it increased from 14 % to 27 %. In the post-communist countries this had also increased, although not so dramatically as in Western Europe. "Membership of professional organisations: ... has also increased, although not by the same amount. In Central-Western Europe, this had increased from 7 % to 10 %, in South-Western Europe from 1 % to 12 %, in North-Western Europe it has remained stable at 7 %. On this variable, there was also a rise in the post-communist countries by a few per cent, although in Russia it has declined from very low to almost nothing at all (see Figure 4). "Membership in charitable organisations (see Figure 5): ... has increased very dramatically, especially in the South-West, where it jumped from about 1 % to 13 % - the biggest rate of increase of all. However, in all other Western European countries, as well as in Central-Eastern Europe, there has been a rise in membership of charitable organisations (although only a small number of the population belongs to such organisations). Furthermore, the active participation has increased even more than the passive participation in these organisations (this is not shown here). Even in the post-communist countries of the Baltic Republics, along with Bulgaria and Romania, there has been an increase. Only in Russia has it declined from already low levels. We could say therefore, that this type of Third Sector activity has been of increasing importance in most parts of Europe. "In voluntary organisations: ...we find that the Central-Western European countries are more or less stable at about 12 % over the 1990s (see Figure 6), whilst the South-West has shot up from 3 % to 13 % and the North-West has stayed in the lead by rising from 12 % to 17 %. In Central-Eastern Europe, such membership has also increased from 4 % to 9 %. However, in the other post-communist regions, we find a decline over the 1990s so that membership of voluntary organisations is now almost negligible among young people. "Membership of environmental organisations: ... has increased in Western Europe, especially in South-Western Europe where it rose eight-fold. In Central-Eastern Europe it also rose, although in the other post-communist regions, it has declined (see Figure 7). This reflects the fact, perhaps, that environmental activism was important as part of the politics of opposition during the perestroika period of the 1980s; now, along with other kind of political activism, this has declined among young people in these regions (Wallace and Kovatcheva 1998). "Membership of labour unions: ... is one variable where there has been a general decline or not much increase, in most countries. Whilst in Central-Western and North-Western Europe, membership has been rather stable (see Figure 8), in South-Western Europe it has risen considerably. However, in all the post-communist regions there has been a dramatic decline in membership of labour unions, reflecting perhaps the fact that these organisations formed part of the communist state administration in the past and this is no longer the case. Therefore membership of labour unions in the past was a duty; now it is not. Read the entire article and see accompanying charts: "Civic Participation among Young People in Europe," by Reingard Spannring, Claire Wallace and Christian Haerpfer. Nordic Youth Research Information Symposia. http://www.alli.fi/nyri/nyris/nyris7/papers/wallace.htm#Figure%204 ============================================================================ Rates of Volunteer Participation in Small Towns versus Large Communities ************************************************************************ (As I said in my introduction, I am not sure this is what you want. You were primarily interested in professional associations and their local chapters) "Towns thrive on volunteerism. Part of the reason towns operate so efficiently is the huge amount of service offered by volunteers. The Town Volunteer Fire Department is more than a proud part of our heritage, with modern equipment and skills volunteers still play a vital role in town government." From "Are Towns Worth Saving." Town of Grafton. (2002) http://www.grafton-town.org/newsletter/spring2001.pdf. Canada: Rural vs. urban: "Small towns and rural areas have a higher rate of volunteering than big cities (37 per cent vs. 29 per cent, 1997 survey)." From "Volunteering in Numbers," by Daniel Schwartz, CBC's The National (2/4/2002) http://www.cbc.ca/news/bigpicture/volunteer/volunteering.html Please let me know if you need further information, or can break down any additional clarification requests into some specific examples that may make for a more definitive search. Also, please advise me if the links do not work. I am happy to be of further help. umiat-ga Google Search strategy +decline +volunteerism +professional associations AND participation decline rates of volunteerism in small versus large towns volunteer participation AND declining OR increasing +professional organizations volunteer participation "South America" +associations decline in membership South american associations