Since the mid–nineteenth century when French political theorist Alexis de Tocqueville traveled through the U.S., scholars have recognized the significance of voluntary associations as a core component of our thriving democracy. “Americans of all ages, all stations in life, and all types of dispositions are forever forming associations,” Tocqueville wrote in his Democracy in America . 12 Tocqueville observed that people who gather in houses of worship, social groups, and political associations frequently deliberate and make decisions about shared concerns. In this way, voluntary associations can facilitate collective and democratic decision–making.

When we meet voluntarily to deliberate and address community challenges together, we do the basic work of democracy. In turn, people who meet in voluntary associations forge meaningful social relations with others, building social capital, and strengthening our democracy. 13 Furthermore, people who participate in voluntary associations tend to have higher levels of social trust and tend to give back to their communities. 14

But during the past three decades, Americans have gradually retreated from voluntary associations (both community and religious). Attendance at club meetings shows the steepest decline: in 1975, more than 60% of Americans reported that they had attended at least one club meeting within the preceding year. That has dropped by one–third. Today, less than 40% of Americans attend meetings that often. Similarly, in 1975, more than 40% of Americans reported that they had participated in at least one community project a year; today only one quarter do. Finally, Americans attend fewer groups: three decades ago, more than 70% of Americans belonged to at least one voluntary association, while that number has since dropped about 10 percentage points. The decline in club meeting attendance is more pronounced than the decline in group membership, supporting the belief that associations have become less participatory over the last 30 years.

Belonging to religious congregations and attending religious services comprise an important part of the Index. Affiliation with a religious organization is a strong predictor of secular civic habits (volunteering, giving to secular causes, voting, or giving blood) and an important incubator of social capital. Religious affiliation also has likely increased both voter mobilization and political polarization.

Over the last generation, there has been a decline in religious attendance, albeit not as steep as the declines in community and club membership. The declines in religious attendance have come mostly from the people who attend religious services less: there has been an increase over the last three decades both in those going to church weekly , and those never going to church. Young adults attend houses of worship significantly less and have turned away from organized religion. Other evidence not included in our Index shows they have not turned away from faith. 15

Paradoxically, our retreat from civil society has coincided with an explosion in the number of voluntary associations in the United States. Harvard Dean Theda Skocpol points to dramatic changes in the composition and management of civil society organizations in the U.S. Skocpol argues that professionally–managed, “staffled, mailing–list associations” have replaced the traditional chapter–oriented voluntary association. 16 This new crop of “mailing–list” associations may either be a cause or a consequence of Americans getting less involved with group meetings. Skocpol notes, “If a new cause arises, people think of opening a national office, raising funds through direct mail, and hiring a media consultant. Ordinary citizens, in turn, are likely to feel themselves to be merely the manipulated objects of such efforts. They do not feel like participating citizens or grassroots leaders active in broad efforts. And they are right!” 17

In short, despite the growing number of voluntary organizations in the United States, Americans attend fewer club meetings, maintain fewer group memberships, and participate in fewer community projects than ever before. Robert Putnam concludes, “the organizational eruption between the 1960s and 1990s represented a proliferation of letterhead, not a boom of grassroots participation.”