Channeling Action: How Civic Recreation Organizations Shape Civic Capacity and Engagement

Abstract

In this paper, we examine the individual-level and organizational-level implications of participation in a particular type of civic association—a civic recreation organization. We deploy a small-n comparison group design, comparing data within and across members of a civic recreation organization with varying degrees of involvement to investigate the impacts of participation. Study results suggest that at the organizational level, civic recreation organizations can be a source of civic information, a place to build civic skills, and increase the social capital of participants. At the individual level, degree of participation in the organization did not necessarily indicate the number of civic activities the participants engaged in but rather the scope of activities, with higher degrees of participation correlating to narrower focus of civic activities. Results indicate that civic recreation organizations can serve as a gateway for people with interests outside of policy and politics to become engaged civically.

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