1
What’s the matter with civil society? The declining effect of civic involvement on civic
identity among Czech adolescents
Jan Šerek
Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University
serek@fss.muni.cz
Published in Youth and Society: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0044118X16637883
This version is an original submission to the journal with revisions after peer review accepted
by the editor.
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Abstract
This study shows that the beneficial impact of adolescents’ involvement in civil society on
their civic identity cannot be taken for granted. Employing the case of the Czech Republic, it
is shown that this effect has vanished since early post-communism to the present day. Survey
data from two different generations of Czech middle adolescents were analyzed: the postcommunist
generation (collected in 1995; n=1,127) and the current generation (collected in
2010; n=976). While participants’ associational involvement and volunteering predicted their
stronger civic identity (i.e., psychological connection and sense of responsibility to fellow
citizens) in 1995, no such effect was observed in 2010. Simultaneously, both associational
involvement and volunteering were determined by the economic situation of adolescents’
family in 2010, but not in 1995. The most likely reason for the vanishing impact of civic
involvement is the advancing professionalization of civil society.
Keywords: adolescents, civic identity, civic involvement, civil associations, postcommunism,
professionalization, volunteering
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Introduction
A large body of research has underscored the importance of young people’s
involvement in voluntary activities that take place within civil associations, including
churches, youth organizations, but also less formal clubs or groups. The most visible effects
of voluntary activities are their practical outcomes such as helping the needy, improving
living conditions in the communities, or more generally contributing to a public good.
However, involvement in voluntary activities has also its less visible “extra” effects on young
people’s civic socialization. By associating with others and working together for communal
goals, young people create psychological connections and a sense of responsibility to their
fellow citizens (Atkins & Hart, 2003; Youniss, McLellan, & Yates, 1997). This sense of
connection and responsibility, sometimes labeled as civic identity (Youniss et al., 1997),
enables young people to perceive their commonality of interest with other citizens and, in
turn, boosts their further civic involvement (Atkins & Hart, 2003).
Nevertheless, the effect of participation in voluntary activities on civic identity is not
unconditionally positive. Recently, a considerable amount of voluntary work has been
professionalized, which means that many civil associations rely on a small professionallytrained
staff, and as a result, they tend to adopt market logic, labor specialization,
centralization and lower organizational democracy (van Deth & Maloney, 2012). Although
these changes in the internal aspects of associational life might improve associations’ ability
to reach their formal goals, the effects on members’ civic identities seem to be less positive.
Professionalization suppresses many associational features that have been identified as
beneficial for youth civic development, such as friendly interactions between members or
members’ equal status (Dekker, 2009; Flanagan, 2004). To say it with an exaggeration, if the
work for a civil association becomes organized similar to the work for a private corporation,
its impact on individuals’ civic identities easily can be lost.
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Post-communist central European countries provide an extraordinary opportunity to
study the consequences of the professionalization of civil associations. Shortly after the
transition towards liberal democracy and capitalism, the emerging civil society of the 1990s
was largely informal and spontaneous. Over the next few years, however, it began catching up
to western civil societies in terms of its professionalization. Together with increasing
international and national funding, a large amount of voluntary work has become
professionally managed and a new class of experts on issues such as fundraising or strategic
planning has emerged within many civil associations (Císař, 2008; Císař & Vráblíková 2010;
Frič, 2015). Hence, it might be expected that youth civil involvement in early postcommunism
had different socialization effects than it does today. Specifically, the conditions
of civil associations in the1990s can be expected to be more favorable for the development of
young people’s civic identities than the conditions of the 2010s. Even though this hypothesis
can be deduced from what we know about the professionalization of civil associations and the
development of post-communist civil societies, it has never been verified empirically.
Therefore, employing the case of the Czech Republic, this study aims to test whether the
positive effect of young people’s involvement in civil society on their civic identity decreased
over the last two decades. At the same time, potential confounding factors, such as
socialization effects of family and school, are considered.
The role of civil associations in civic identity development
Youth voluntary work within various civil associations is regarded as a way to build
psychological ties to their fellow citizens. Compared to their uninvolved peers, adolescents
who have been involved in such organized activities are more likely to be politically and
civically active when they reach adulthood (Beck & Jennings, 1982; Fredricks & Eccles,
2006; McFarland & Thomas, 2006; Quintelier, 2008; Smith, 1999; Verba, Schlozman, &
Brady, 1995; Zaff, Moore, Papillo, & Williams, 2003). One reason for this effect is that
5
certain psychological dispositions are developed through voluntary work (Beck & Jennings,
1982; Smith, 1999; Verba et al., 1995). Different authors put emphasis on different
dispositions such as social trust (Putnam, 2000), internalized civic norm (Smith, 1999) or
interest in public affairs (Verba et al., 1995). Nevertheless, all these concepts share an aspect
of felt connection and responsibility to other citizens, which indicates that civic identity is
being formed in young people (Atkins & Hart, 2003; Youniss et al., 1997).
The positive effect of voluntary work on civic identity has been acknowledged from
different theoretical perspectives. Social capital theory posits that one’s involvement in civil
associations, which are formed of people from diverse social backgrounds, creates so called
bridging social capital. This type of social capital manifests through persons’ stronger prosocial
norms and greater social trust that is not bound to one’s particular social group (e.g.,
ethnic, religious, professional) but apply to the wider society (Putnam, 2000). Further, from a
social psychological perspective, the emergence of pro-social norms and social trust can be
explained in terms of the contact hypothesis (Stolle, Soroka, & Johnston, 2008; Stolle &
Harell, 2013). This hypothesis assumes that, under certain conditions, direct cooperation on
shared goals helps people from diverse social groups to develop a common superordinate
identity, and thus to dissolve group boundaries and mitigate inter-group tensions (Al Ramiah
& Hewstone, 2013; Allport, 1958; Gaertner, Rust, Dovidio, Bachman, & Anastasio, 1994;
Pettigrew & Tropp, 2006; Sherif, Harvey, White, Hood, & Sherif, 1961). Hence, through
voluntary work within civil associations, young people can develop broader identities that
encompass various subgroups of the citizenry. Stronger helping norms and a greater social
trust of fellow citizens are natural consequences of this superordinate civic identification (Al
Ramiah & Hewstone, 2013).
From the developmental perspective, civic identity is formed particularly in
adolescence. During this life period, many young people explore and create their identities in
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various domains (Erikson, 1968; Marcia, 1966) and are open to external influences on their
sociopolitical attitudes (Krosnick & Alwin, 1989; Sears & Levy, 2003). Consistent with this
idea, previous research has confirmed that voluntary work within civil associations, similar to
socialization experiences in families and schools, provides young people an important
opportunity to develop their identities and relations to different aspect of civic life (Kirshner,
2009; Hansen, Larson, & Dworkin, 2003; Hardy, Pratt, Pancer, Olsen, & Lawford, 2011;
Pearce & Larson, 2006; Youniss & Yates, 1996) by exposing them to various normative civic
practices and ideologies (Youniss et al., 1997).
Civic identity in professionally managed civil associations
The impact of voluntary work within civil associations on adolescents’ civic identity
is far from universal. There are certain associational features that support the development of
adolescents’ identities (Flanagan, 2004). If these features are lacking, voluntary work might
still have some beneficial consequences for young people (e.g., development of specific skills
or meeting new people) but the positive effect on their civic identity is limited.
Professionalization’s transformation of certain associational features causes this limiting
impact on their capacity to produce civic identity.
First, professionalization is usually characterized by increased labor specialization
and centralization (van Deth & Maloney, 2012). This means that young people in
professionalized associations are assigned to specific roles and tasks, usually set by the
professional management. In contrast, in non-professionalized associations, a person’s status
and the content of work are less prestructured and often must be negotiated with other
members. The latter associational environment is more supportive of members’ horizontal
direct interactions and facilitates mutual friendly relationships, which help them to broaden
their perspectives, better understand other people’s positions, and empathize with others (Al
Ramiah & Hewstone, 2013; Mutz, 2002). Consequently, non-professionalized associational
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contexts might create more opportunities than professionalized ones to develop the sense of
connection and responsibility.
Second, a limited organizational democracy, which is typical in professionally
managed associations (Dekker, 2009; van Deth & Maloney, 2012), makes the status of
members more unequal. For instance, it is common for important decisions to be made by a
limited circle of associational management, while other members are excluded from the
decision-making process. Previous research repeatedly has shown that the development of
common superordinate identities in people is much easier when they are treated equally than
when their status is unequal (Al Ramiah & Hewstone, 2013; Allport, 1958; Pettigrew &
Tropp, 2006; for a study on adolescents’ negative perceptions of inequality in civil
associations, see Gordon & Taft, 2010). Hence, a limited development of civic identity in
professionalized associations might further stem from greater inequalities in their everyday
functioning.
Finally, professionalized associations tend to create more homogeneous groups in
terms of members’ demographic backgrounds. Generally, young people from families with a
lower socioeconomic status are less involved in associations and voluntary work because they
lack resources (Hart, Atkins, & Ford, 1999; Lenzi et al., 2012; McNeal, 1998). This effect,
however, is even more pronounced in professionalized associations because people with
limited resources or skills are less desirable in organizations that value market logic and
efficiency (Skocpol, 2003; 2004). As shown by the social capital research, if the associations
tend to attract people with similar socioeconomic profiles, their potential for generating civic
outcomes vanishes (Stolle, 1998; Stolle & Rochon, 1998).
In sum, labor specialization and centralization (implying fewer opportunities for
friendly interactions among members), limited organizational democracy (implying a more
unequal status of members), and unequal access to associations (implying a greater
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associational homogeneity) constitute likely reasons why a greater professionalization of civil
society is not beneficial for the individual development of civic identity.
Professionalization in the post-communist society
The post-communist transformation in central Europe provides a remarkable
opportunity to assess the impact of professionalization on the development of civic identity in
adolescents. Specifically in the Czech Republic, the civil society has been evolving since
1989 toward greater professionalization without any fundamental external disturbances (e.g.,
compared to former Yugoslavia or some post-Soviet countries). A relatively well-developed
pre-1989 informal and dissident civil society provided a basis for the civil society after 1989.
Therefore, a large part of civic involvement in the early 1990s could be characterized as
spontaneous informal “hobby” activities, often initiated by strong individualities (Pospíšilová,
2011). Due mostly to international and national funding, Czech civil society began to
professionalize during the 1990s (Císař, 2008; Císař & Vráblíková 2010; Frič, 2015). An
increasing number of professional employees, the growing popularity of project management,
and a greater formalization of the associational environment are clear indicators of this trend
(Frič, 2015; Šťovíčková Jantulová, 2005). Hence, adolescents’ civic involvement during early
post-communism and today has taken place in two different civil contexts: the former
characterized by a low and the latter by a high level of professionalization.
The changing context of Czech adolescents’ voluntary work is well illustrated by the
1999 Civic Education Study (Torney-Purta, Lehmann, Oswald, & Schulz, 2001) and the 2009
International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (Schulz, Ainley, Fraillon, Kerr, & Losito,
2010). The rate of participation in “a group conducting voluntary activities to help the
community,” which can be understood as a rough indicator of rather informal civic
involvement, decreased from 22 to 13% among 14-year-olds. In contrast, there were increased
rates of participation in more formal (and often probably professionalized) associations, such
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as charity (18 to 29%), environmental organizations (13 to 21%), human rights organizations
(2 to 9%), or political party youth and unions (1 to 4%). Consistent with these trends, current
Czech youth (age 15-30) is typically involved in voluntary activities related to charity (38%),
education, sport or training (36%), and environment or animal welfare (28%) (Eurobarometer,
2015). Concurrently, associations providing services (e.g., charities) and to a lower extent also
associations related to the new social movements (e.g., environmental) belong to the most
professionalized ones, judging by their reliance on professional employees (Frič, 2015).
The present study
This study tests whether the positive effect of youth involvement in civil society on
their civic identity has changed in the Czech Republic from early post-communism to the
present day. Considering the advancing professionalization of Czech civil society, the
presumably positive effect of civic involvement on civic identity is hypothesized to decrease
from the 1990s to the present (Hypothesis 1). Because civic identity results from an active
participation rather than formal membership in associations, associational involvement and
voluntary work are distinguished in the analysis. It is expected that voluntary work mediates
the effect of associational membership on civic identity.
The increased professionalization of civic associations should be indicated by greater
socioeconomic differences between those who do and do not participate. Hence, the negative
effect of family economic hardship on associational involvement and voluntary work is
expected to be greater in the present than in the 1990s (Hypothesis 2).
This study will control for two other socialization influences that might affect both
civic identity and associational involvement or volunteering. First, because adolescents often
learn civic orientations from their parents (Pancer & Pratt, 1999), perceived pro-social
parenting (i.e., parents taught adolescents pro-social values) will be considered. Second, civic
identity is known to be enhanced by a democratic climate in school that puts emphasis on the
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openness and respect to students (Flanagan, Cumsille, Gill, & Gallay, 2007; Lenzi et al.,
2012; Wilkenfeld, 2009); hence, school democracy will be another control variable in this
study. The inclusion of these two controls also will enable determining whether the expected
changing effect of civic involvement on civic identity is accompanied by broader social
changes, which would manifest through the changing effects of other socialization influences
(i.e., family and school).
Method
Participants and procedure
Data comprised two samples, the first one was collected in 1995 (n = 1,127, 48%
females), the second one in 2010 (n = 976, 52% females). Both samples were composed of
eighth-graders (lower secondary school) and tenth-graders (higher secondary school). Mean
age of participants was 16.04 (SD = 1.65) in 1995 and 15.43 (SD = 1.22) in 2010.
Respondents completed paper-based questionnaires capturing their personal beliefs,
associational involvement, and perceptions of society, family and school. Wording of the
items was identical in both samples.
Data collections were done in the South Moravian region that is typically close to the
national average in terms of basic socioeconomic indicators (Czech Statistical Office, 2012,
2013). Cluster sampling of school classes was employed in 1995, questionnaires were
administered in schools. Due to changes in the legislature, it was not possible to replicate the
same cluster sampling procedure in 2010. Therefore, a quota sampling was used (replicating
age and educational structure of the 1995 sample) with individual administration at home.
Data collection was carried out by the academic institution in 1995 and by the professional
research company in 2010.
Measures
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Civic identity. Three items measuring civic identity were used (Flanagan, Bowes,
Jonsson, Csapo & Sheblanova, 1998; Flanagan et al., 1999): “When you think about your life
and your future, how important is it to you personally to” (a) “help the other ones, who had
been less lucky” (b) “do something to improve community” (c) “to help your own country?”
Respondents answered using a five-point scale ranging from “not important at all” (=1) to
“very important” (=5).
Voluntary work. Participants were asked whether they participated in any voluntary
work beneficial to the community (a dichotomous yes (=1) / no (=0) response scale was used).
Associational involvement. Respondents were asked whether they were involved in
any civic, school-based, extracurricular, religious, sport or music association (dichotomous
yes/no response scales). Then, they were divided into two categories: those who were
involved in at least one association (=1) and those were involved in no associations (=0).
Pro-social parenting. Parental transmission of pro-social values, reported by
adolescents, was measured by three items (Flanagan & Tucker, 1999): “My parents have
taught me to pay attention to other people’s needs, not just my own” “My parents have taught
me to be helpful to others, especially those who are less fortunate” “My parents have taught
me to be aware of other people’s feelings and needs.” A five-point response scale ranged from
“completely disagree” (=1) to “completely agree” (=5).
School democracy. Three items measured perceived openness and responsiveness of
the school environment (Flanagan et al., 1998): “Teachers want students to express their own
opinions, even if they disagree with teachers” “Students are encouraged to engage in
leadership and management” “Teachers listen to students’ opinions regarding the way how
the hours should be improved.”
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Family economic problems. Adolescents’ perception of economic hardship in their
family was measured by the item: “My parents frequently worry how to pay bills.” A fivepoint
response scale ranged from “completely disagree” (=1) to “completely agree” (=5).
Other indicators of family socioeconomic status. Participants indicated whether
they lived together with their biological mother, stepmother, biological father or stepfather,
whether their parents worked, and what the highest education of their parents was. Based on
this information, two indicators of family socioeconomic status were computed: the number
of employed parents living in the household (parental employment) and the number of parents
with university degrees living in the household (parental education). In 1995, 3% lived with
no employed parent, 25% with one employed parent, and 73% with two employed parents;
69% lived with no parent with university education, 20% with one parent with university
education, and 11% with two parents with university education. In 2010, 3% lived with no
employed parent, 29% with one employed parent, and 68% with two employed parents; 74%
lived with no parent with university education, 18% with one parent with university
education, and 8% with two parents with university education.
Data analysis
A preliminary analysis was conducted to test measurement invariance of civic
identity, parenting and school democracy from 1995 to 2010. A multigroup confirmatory
factor model (comprising three latent variables and their indicators) showed a good fit to the
data even when all factor loadings and intercepts were set to be identical in 1995 and 2010
(χ2
60 = 149.31; CFI = .98; RMSEA = .04; SRMR = .03). Standardized factor loadings of all
items were higher than .50 and factor determinacy coefficients (correlations between factors
and factor score estimates; Brown, 2006; Grice, 2001) were relatively high (>.80) for all
variables at both times. Hence, all three variables were well represented by the items and the
measurement was invariant between 1995 and 2010.
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Multigroup structural equation modeling was used for the main analysis. The model
presented in Figure 1 was freely estimated for the 1995 and the 2010 subsample. Civic
identity, parenting and school democracy were treated as latent variables, while voluntary
work, organizational involvement and family economic problems as manifest ones. The
model also included four control variables (age, gender, parental employment, and parental
education) that were set to predict all six variables presented in Figure 1 ( inter-correlations
between control variables were not allowed except the correlation between parental
employment and education). Because the model included two dichotomous endogenous
variables (organizational involvement and voluntary work), a mean- and variance-adjusted
weighted least squares estimator (WLSMV) and theta parametrization provided by Mplus 6.1
were used. Within this estimation procedure, dichotomous variables were predicted using
probit regression.
To test whether the effects between variables changed significantly from 1995 to
2010, a set of chi-square differences tests was used. For each test, the tested effect was
constrained to be identical between 1995 and 2010 and the fit of the resulting model was
compared with the fit of the unconstrained model. If the fit dropped (i.e., chi-square
significantly increased), it indicated a significantly different effect between 1995 and 2010.
Considering a large sample size, the .01 significance level was used primarily to test
all effects and differences. Indirect effects were assessed using 99% bias-corrected
standardized confidence intervals obtained though bootstrapping (one thousand random
samples with replacement).
Results
Descriptive statistics and correlations between all variables are presented in Table 1.
Absolute levels of most variables did not change substantially from 1995 to 2010. The most
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obvious changes were an increase of school democracy and fewer people doing voluntary
work.
The multigroup structural model (depicted in Figure 1) was an acceptable fit to the
data (χ2
154 = 304.97; CFI = .96; RMSEA = .03; WRMR = 1.16). Standardized effects for both
generations are presented directly in Figure 1. For better readability, effects of control
variables are shown separately in Table 2. In Table 3, chi-square difference tests are
presented. These tests indicate whether the studied effects were significantly different
between 1995 and 2010.
Hypothesis 1: Effects of associational involvement and volunteering on civic identity
Results suggested that the relations among civic identity, voluntary work and
associational involvement changed significantly from 1995 to 2010. Whereas doing voluntary
work predicted stronger civic identity in 1995, no such effect was present in 2010. Due to this
change, the effect of associational involvement on civic identity changed as well. In 1995,
associational involvement had a positive indirect effect on civic identity, mediated by a
greater likelihood of volunteering (99% CI = [.01; .11]). Fifteen years later, volunteering was
unrelated to civic identity, hence no indirect effect of associational involvement through
volunteering was possible (99% CI = [-.08; .06]). These findings supported Hypothesis 1.
Results also showed that the relation between associational involvement and doing
voluntary work became stronger from 1995 to 2010. While this relation was significant but
weak in 1995, it became significantly stronger in 2010.
Hypothesis 2: Economic determination of associational involvement and voluntary work
The effects of family economic situation on civic outcomes changed as well. Family
economic hardship had no impact on adolescents’ associational involvement and voluntary
work in 1995. Fifteen years later, adolescents who reported more economic problems in their
families were less likely to be involved in associations and do voluntary work. The effect of
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economic problems on volunteering operated both directly and indirectly through adolescents’
lower involvement in associations (99% CI = [-.15; -.02]). Thus, Hypothesis 2 was supported.
Effects of parenting and school
Socialization experiences in families and schools predicted civic identity in both
generations. Specifically, greater pro-social parenting and greater school democracy had
positive direct effects on civic identity. These became even stronger from 1995 to 2010,
though the change was significant only for the effect of parenting.
No substantial changes were found regarding the effects of parenting and school on
associational involvement and volunteering. Pro-social parenting had stable but rather small
positive effects on volunteering and associational involvement. The differences in these
effects between 1995 and 2010 were non-significant. School democracy was consistently
unrelated with associational involvement and had a small positive effect on voluntary work.
Again, these effects were not significantly different between 1995 and 2010.
Effects of other control variables
Control variables (age, sex, parental employment, and parental education) had no
substantial effects on civic identity, voluntary work or organizational membership. The
strongest effects in the main model were that girls were slightly less involved in organizations
than boys in 1995 and children of more educated parents did slightly less voluntary work in
2010 (controlling for parental employment and family economic problems). However, small
effect sizes prevent any conclusive interpretations of these results.
Differences between association types
A more in-depth look at different types of associations showed that the overall
profile of associational involvement remained almost unchanged from 1995 to 2010, with the
exception that extracurricular involvement was to some extent replaced by school-based
involvement (Table 1). Correlations between associational involvement and voluntary work
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changed only for school-based (z = 2.60, p < .01) and sport (z = 2.96, p < .01) associations as
involvement in these associations became more strongly connected with voluntary work.
Correlations between associational involvement and civic identity remained generally low,
suggesting that mere associational membership had no effect on civic identity. Only the
correlation between school-based associations and civic identity was somewhat higher in
2010 (z = 2.37, p = .02).
Discussion
Interpretation of the findings
Using data from the Czech Republic, this study raises questions about the beneficial
impact of associational involvement and voluntary work on adolescents’ civic identities and it
calls attention to the quality of youth experience in these settings. According to the results,
young people’s involvement in civil society implied their stronger psychological connections
and sense of responsibility to their fellow citizens in the 1990s. However, no such effect can
be observed today. Similar to recent findings on cross-national differences in the correlates of
youth civic involvement (Lenzi et al., 2012), this study disrupts universalistic claims,
according to which civic involvement automatically generates civic identity in young people.
It seems that even within a single sociocultural context, the positive psychological effect of
civic involvement might disappear between two subsequent generations.
What exactly happened with the civil society in the Czech Republic? The most likely
“suspect” is the advancing professionalization. By limiting the opportunities for friendly
interactions, increasing inequality among members and making associations more
homogeneous, professionalization creates conditions that are psychologically unfavorable for
the development of civic identity. Although no direct measure of professionalization was
employed in this study, there are several indirect indices suggesting the presence of this trend.
A first indicator of growing professionalization is that both associational involvement and
17
volunteering were determined by the economic situation of adolescents’ family in 2010,
which was not the case in 1995 (despite there was no dramatic increase of economic
inequality in Czech society from 1995 to 2010; Kahanec et al., 2012). Furthermore, while the
overall level of associational involvement did not change, the level of volunteering decreased
and the link between associational involvement and volunteering became stronger from 1995
to 2010. These changes suggest decreasing occurrence of less formal voluntary activities that
are done beyond the associations (similar to findings by Torney-Purta et al., 2001, and Schulz
et al., 2010), which can be regarded as another indicator of increasing professionalization.
Although the degree of professionalization is probably different for different segments of civil
society, the changes at the overall level seem to be substantial.
Thus, the results of this study expand our knowledge about the negative
consequences of the professionalization of civil society. Besides more distant and formal
relationships among members or organizations’ lower openness to a wider public, which were
described by previous studies (Císař & Vráblíková, 2010; Frič, 2015; Šťovíčková Jantulová,
2005), this study proposes that voluntary work within professionally managed associations,
compared to less professionalized associations, also loses its positive impact on adolescents’
civic identities. Such finding is compatible both with the social capital theory, suggesting that
professionally managed associations create so called bonding rather than bridging social
capital (for definitions, see Putnam, 2000), and with the contact hypothesis, suggesting that
some important conditions for the development of superordinate identities (such as equality)
are not met in professionally managed associations.
However, despite the vanished effect of associational involvement and volunteering
on adolescents’ civic identity in 2010, the average levels of civic identity did not substantially
differ between the two generations. Associational involvement and volunteering, of course,
are not the exclusive (and perhaps in many cases not even the primary) sources of
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adolescents’ civic identity. Hence, a probable explanation is that the missing effect of civic
involvement was compensated for by a greater effect of other socialization influences,
especially of adolescents’ parents. There were also several changes taking place in schools:
not only did school environment become more democratic but also school-based associational
involvement started to provide more opportunities for voluntary work and civic identity
development in 2010. It seems that school-based opportunities for civic development have
somewhat different character and are subject to different trends than opportunities through
other civil associations. Beyond the effects captured in this study, the missing effect of civic
involvement on civic identity might have also been compensated for through various online
activities (e.g., adolescents’ membership in online communities) that were not available in
1995.
Alternative explanations
Of course, professionalization of civic society is not the only possible explanation for
the decreasing effect of civic involvement on civic identity. There are several alternative
explanations that cannot be entirely ruled out. However, based on the present data, the
professionalization story seems to be the most convincing.
First, it is possible that some contextual change within the civil society, other than
professionalization, is responsible for the vanishing impact of civic involvement on
adolescents’ civic identity. One contextual change consists in the development of information
and communication technologies that might alter the interactions in associations or among
volunteers. However, despite a massive increase of online communication between 1995 and
2010, online communication per se does not seem to have a detrimental effect on one’s
exposure to diversity, civic involvement and other precursors of civic identity (Kahne,
Middaugh, Lee, & Feezell, 2011; Wellman, Haase, Witte, & Hampton, 2001). Ethnic
polarization of the society or some form of radicalization could represent other kinds of
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contextual changes, making civil society less inclusive and tolerant. Nevertheless, despite its
transition between two different economic systems, no such contextual changes happened
within Czech society by 2010, as indicated, for instance, by its lasting ethnic homogeneity
(Czech Statistical Office, 2014) or a very low public support for far-right political parties
(Kahanec et al., 2012). On the contrary, Czech civil society in the 21st century can be
regarded as one of the most developed among other post-communist countries (Celichowski,
2008; Heinrich, 2007), which supports the assumption of increasing professionalization.
Second, people’s understanding of civic identity could have changed from early postcommunism
to the present day. In other words, the survey items could have different
meanings and measure qualitatively different constructs at 1995 and 2010. Hence, it would
make no sense to talk about decreasing effects of civic involvement because the outcome
variables in both generations were different. However, the data did not provide much support
for this alternative explanation. Both the good measurement invariance and the similar pattern
of associations between civic identity and pro-social parenting or school democracy suggested
that the meaning of civic identity remained the same in both generations of adolescents, so
identical construct was measured.
Finally, the data was cross-sectional, hence a reversed causal link between civic
involvement and civic identity cannot be ruled out. It is possible that a stronger civic identity
causes a greater involvement but not vice versa. The problem then would not be that civic
involvement fails to produce civic identity but rather that civic identity fails to induce
adolescent involvement in civil society. Although social capital literature often understands
the relation between civic orientations and participation as a bidirectional self-reinforcing
“virtuous circle” (Putnam, 2000), empirical tests suggest that the effect of participation on
civic orientations is much more salient than the reverse (Shah, 1998; Quintelier & van Deth,
20
2014). Therefore, the causal order suggested by this study seems to be plausible, even though
a longitudinal analysis would bring more stringent results.
Limitations and conclusions
In connection with the above mentioned considerations, some limitations of this
study and suggestions for future studies must be pointed out. First, dichotomous measures of
adolescents’ associational involvement and volunteering are very broad. A more fine-grained
measurement, capturing their specific contents and extents, would help to clarify the
processes by which professionalization negatively affects the development of civic identity.
Specifically, it would be important to measure not only memberships but also voluntary work
in different types of associations that vary in the degree of their professionalization. Second,
longitudinal data would bring a clearer picture of the causal order between variables. Third,
data from more than two generations would provide a higher certainty of the long-term trends
in the impact of civic involvement on civic identity. Finally, these processes also could be
better understood by a measurement of adolescents’ other civic orientations such as social
trust.
Despite these limitations, however, the study brings clear evidence that the positive
impact of adolescents’ civic involvement on their civic identity cannot be taken for granted.
When promoting young people’s associational involvement and their voluntary work in order
to boost their civic identities, we must carefully consider in what context does their civic
involvement take place. It is actually possible that civic involvement under some conditions
has no formative effects on civic identity. The professionalization of civil associations and the
related professional organization of voluntary work are among the most likely reasons why
the current civil society has partially lost its socializing function. Some features of
professionally managed associations, such as labor specialization or limited democracy,
probably do not allow young people to obtain valuable experiences that help build their civic
21
identities. This unwanted outcome of professionalization should be taken seriously when
making practical policies to encourage youth civic involvement.
22
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30
Figure 1. Structural model predicting civic identity in 1995 and 2010.
Note. Standardized effects from 1995 (before the slash) and 2010 (after the slash) are presented. Underlined effects are significantly different. For
greater readability, control variables are not displayed in this figure. † p < .02. * p < .01. ** p < .001.
31
Table 1. Descriptive statistics and correlations.
Descriptives Correlations
M1995 SD1995 M2010 SD2010 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1. Age 16.04 1.65 15.43 1.22 .03 .00 .00 -.12 .12 -.03 -.05 -.07 -.10
2. Sex (female) 48% 53% -.02 -.04 -.03 .01 .05 .13 -.08 .05 .06
3. Parental employment 1.70 0.51 1.66 0.53 .04 .01 .13 -.02 -.09 -.05 -.01 -.01 -.03
4. Parental education 0.42 0.68 0.33 0.61 .06 .04 .20 .01 -.13 .05 .00 -.01 -.04
5. School democracy 2.58 0.75 3.00 0.83 .11 .06 .07 .09 -.02 .09 -.02 .14 .21
6. Family economic problems 2.66 1.03 2.87 1.19 -.09 -.01 -.22 -.20 .00 .02 .02 .04 .01
7. Pro-social parenting 3.56 0.64 3.52 0.71 -.01 .06 .07 .11 .26 .07 .11 .16 .35
8. Associational involvement 67% 65% .01 -.05 .07 .12 .03 -.18 .08 .12 .04
9. Voluntary work 46% 28% .03 .02 .04 .01 .13 -.16 .15 .25 .30
10. Civic identity 3.51 0.60 3.47 0.64 .00 .07 .03 .05 .35 .06 .48 .09 .13
Voluntary work Civic identity
Type of associational involvement 1995 2010 1995 2010
Civic 11% 13% .14 .16 .04 .09
School-based 14% 26% .10 .21 .06 .16
Extracurricular 40% 29% .14 .17 .05 .01
Religious 11% 6% .14 .13 .09 .10
Sport 37% 41% .08 .20 -.01 .04
Music 8% 8% .04 .08 .03 .02
Note. Correlations from 1995 are presented above the diagonal; correlations from 2010 are presented below the diagonal.
32
Table 2. Standardized effects of control variables in 1995 and 2010.
Outcome
Civic identity Voluntary work Associational
involvement
Pro-social
parenting
Family economic
problems
School
democracy
Generation 1995
Age -.04 -.05 -.07 -.03 .12** -.15**
Sex (female) -.01 .05 -.14** .15** .05 .02
Parental employment .00 .02 .01 -.07 -.07 -.03
Parental education -.08 -.03 -.01 .07 -.12** .02
Generation 2010
Age -.03 .00 .00 -.01 -.09* .13*
Sex .04 .03 -.07 .06 -.01 .08
Parental employment -.04 -.02 .00 .07 -.19** .07
Parental education -.06 -.13* .11 .12* -.16** .09
Note. Inter-correlations between control variables were not allowed except the correlation between parental employment and parental education
(r1995 = .14**; r2010 = .21**). * p < .01. ** p < .001.
33
Table 3. Significance tests of the differences between effect in 1995 and 2010.
Outcome
Associational involvement Voluntary work Civic identity
Predictor Δχ2
Δχ2
Δχ2
Voluntary work - - 24.47**
Associational involvement - 11.19** 4.43
Pro-social parenting 1.26 1.00 8.82*
Family economic problems 16.05** 11.25** 2.18
School democracy 0.45 1.02 1.87
Note. Degrees of freedom = 1 for all tests. * p < .01. ** p < .001.