Civid Engagement and Social Movement in Tocqueville's America

• In Event: Political Participation

Abstract

Tocqueville’s America remains at the center of an ongoing debate between civil society and
political institutionalist theorists about the causes and consequences of civic engagement. The
dominant positions in this debate remain tied theoretically and empirically to Tocqueville.
Unfortunately, these neo-Tocquevillian perspectives draw on misleading assumptions about the
civil and political institutions of antebellum America. They miss, as Tocqueville did, the most
basic features of the emergence of popular voluntary associations in America: early associational
life was often national, relatively detached from political institutions, and very contentious.
Mobilizing new data on civil and religious institutions, this paper demonstrates that the first
homegrown, national associations in the United States emerged on the underpinnings of
evangelical institutions and were part on an emerging social movement. This movement
triggered fierce counter-mobilizations. In these conflicts, contrasting forms of association
clashed over how and what Americans should attach themselves to. This movement and
countermovement unleashed a culture war that transformed civil and political institutions leading
to the Civil War.

Authors

• Noah Hanser-Young, Reed College

• Michael P. Young, University of Texas at Austin