Civic culture and democracy from Europe to America

Abstract

In this study we explore the extent to which the civic cultures of European immigrants to the United States persist in their contemporary descendants. Analyses using data from the World Values Survey and the cumulative General Social Surveys indicate that the civic attitudes of contemporary Americans bear a strong resemblance to the civic attitudes of the contemporary citizens of the European nations with whom they share common ancestors. The Americans who descend from nations with highly civic populations tend to hold relatively civic attitudes, while those who descend from nations with less civic populations tend to hold relatively less civic attitudes. The significance of these findings for democracy is discussed.