Opinion: associations are inescapably collective, a place to show up and participate in something, across political and social divides
Could it be that associations are an antidote to populism? That when we show up and participate in a trade union, a GAA club, a charity, or other local association, we are strengthening the quality of our democracy and making it a little bit less susceptible to decay? Alexis de Tocqueville, French political scientist, made this point in the 1830s. Any society that plans to base its system of government on democracy, he thought, must be careful to ensure that it also cultivates a vibrant associational life and civil society, with lots of people participating in various kinds of associations:
"In democratic countries, the science of association is the mother science; the progress of all the others depends on the progress of that one. …
In order that [people] remain civilised or become so, the art of associating must be developed and perfected among them..."
The problem with democracy, according to Tocqueville, is that it systematically individuates people. Individual voters become important authority figures in the system, and they are encouraged to make up their own mind about all manner of political, economic, social and moral questions.
Every voice is equally valid at the ballot box, no matter how affected by the problem, no matter how informed and thoughtfully engaged on the topic, no matter how willing to take responsibility for finding solutions, and no matter how disinterested, uninterested, or self‑interested. Unlike politicians and judges, individual voters are not required to disclose – never mind explain or justify – their conclusions. They operate individually, answerable only to themselves.
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From RTÉ Radio 1's This Week, small communities come together in rural Ireland to combat isolation and rural decline
Associations work in exactly the opposite way: they are inescapably collective. People pursue their particular interests and goals in common. They get to know each other at the same time as they pursue their shared goals, cooperating within a relational context, building trust and common ground over time.
Everything that is said and done is said and done in a collective context. Instead of voting anonymously to abdicate responsibility to somebody else, they participate to share and shoulder responsibility among themselves. For this reason, for Tocqueville, associations are not optional extras, but intrinsically necessary as a counterbalance to democracy. Almost two hundred years after Tocqueville's famous Democracy in America, Paul Kahn wrote Democracy in Our America, (subtitle: Can we still Govern Ourselves?) revisiting these ideas in light of the current political landscape in the United States, but also in the context of his experience of local associations in his hometown of Killingsworth, Connecticut.
Three significant insights can be taken from his reflections:
Associations are sites of sustainable cooperation:
Tocqueville had argued that civilisation and democracy depend on "the art of associating" coming to perfection in us, and that the lessons we learn by participating in local associations can have positive spillover effects on leadership and politics at national level.
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Kahn develops this point even more, noting that it is in local associations that the skills and practices of consensus-building, compromise, non-toxic disagreement, teamwork and leadership are learned and taught. The reason that associations are such successful training grounds for these political virtues is that they provide environments in which the connection between the goal we pursue and the people with whom we cooperate is most obvious: we know that we cannot have one without the other.
Instead of incentivising short-sighted strategic and divisive alliances based on short-term interests, associations are sites of sustainable cooperation that encourage us to collaborate over time.
Associations can help to break down the "us v. them" divide:
People who join associations generally start by having something in common. They have volunteered to give up their free time to pursue a specific goal. Their shared interests and values can help them to feel enough of a sense of connection to build a reliable basis for cooperation and even a sense of team and identity and belonging.
But for all that they have in common, it’s also true that they disagree, and sometimes vehemently so. Disagreements may arise because of personality clashes or group dynamics. Tensions may result from different perspectives on how to reach stated goals or even on the precise identification of what those goals should be. And, of course, they may arise because of conflicting values and perspectives on the world.
From TED-Ed, The rise of modern populism
When associations can hold space for that disagreement while still pursuing their purpose, uniting people across a political or social divide, then they become a vitally important antidote to populist tendencies in the wider society. In his book, Kahn reflects on the ways in which, in his hometown, Democratic and Republican neighbours work to resolve specific issues in the community together, "taking responsibility for creating and maintaining a public ethos of care" that transcends the political divide.
Associations allow us to take responsibility for our communities:
When civil society is vibrant, people, through their associations, take initiative to contribute to the common good in tangible ways, building their community, and solving the problems in their lives. At national level, politics is organised around the principle of representation, but at the local level, in associations, it is organised around the practice of participation.
Read more: Forget Caesar! Why we need to listen to Cicero
This heightened experience of contribution and responsibility means that people are less likely to feel disempowered, less likely to long for a political hero to rescue them from the challenges of their lives, and therefore less likely to want or permit a form of government based on executive dominance. Moreover, since associational involvement is not always pretty or easy or fun, and there are many moments of tension and exasperation, we have many opportunities to see what real leadership looks like, to begin to be able to recognise it in others and to want to develop it in ourselves.
The oldest defence of freedom of association is that associations are valuable to us because they enhance the quality of our democracy. That’s not the only reason they are valuable to us, but it is a good starting-point.
This reflection is based on a longer article exploring the value of local associations, published as part of the Societās project "Exploring the Value of Freedom of Association".
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
