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The Growth of Voluntary Associations in America, 1840–1940

The Growth of Voluntary Associations in America, 1840–1940 Journal of Interdisciplinary History, xxix:4 (Spring, 1999), 511–557. Gerald Gamm and Robert D. Putnam GERALD GAMM AND ROBERTIN AMERICA VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATIONS D. PUTNAM The Growth of Voluntary Associations in America, 1840–1940 Americans are a civic people. Next to the mass political party, probably no aspect of American democracy has been more celebrated than the long-standing proclivity of Americans to join voluntary associations. According to Schlesinger, we are “a nation of joiners.” The joining began in the middle of the eighteenth century, it ºourished in the revolutionary committees that undergirded the War of Independence, and it has continued ever since. “Considering the central importance of the voluntary organization in American history there is no doubt it has provided the people with their greatest school of self-government,” Schlesinger writes. “Rubbing minds as well as elbows, they have been trained from youth to take common counsel, choose leaders, harmonize differences, and obey the expressed will of the majority. In mastering the associative way they have mastered the democratic way.”1 Gerald Gamm is James P. Wilmot Assistant Professor of Political Science and History, University of Rochester. He is the author of The Making of New Deal Democrats: Voting Behavior and Realignment in http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Interdisciplinary History MIT Press

The Growth of Voluntary Associations in America, 1840–1940

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Publisher
MIT Press
Copyright
© 1999 Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the editors of The Journal of Interdisciplinary History
Subject
Articles
ISSN
0022-1953
eISSN
1530-9169
DOI
10.1162/002219599551804
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Journal of Interdisciplinary History, xxix:4 (Spring, 1999), 511–557. Gerald Gamm and Robert D. Putnam GERALD GAMM AND ROBERTIN AMERICA VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATIONS D. PUTNAM The Growth of Voluntary Associations in America, 1840–1940 Americans are a civic people. Next to the mass political party, probably no aspect of American democracy has been more celebrated than the long-standing proclivity of Americans to join voluntary associations. According to Schlesinger, we are “a nation of joiners.” The joining began in the middle of the eighteenth century, it ºourished in the revolutionary committees that undergirded the War of Independence, and it has continued ever since. “Considering the central importance of the voluntary organization in American history there is no doubt it has provided the people with their greatest school of self-government,” Schlesinger writes. “Rubbing minds as well as elbows, they have been trained from youth to take common counsel, choose leaders, harmonize differences, and obey the expressed will of the majority. In mastering the associative way they have mastered the democratic way.”1 Gerald Gamm is James P. Wilmot Assistant Professor of Political Science and History, University of Rochester. He is the author of The Making of New Deal Democrats: Voting Behavior and Realignment in

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Journal of Interdisciplinary History – MIT Press

Published: Apr 1, 1999

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