Americans Aren’t Practicing Democracy Anymore – Key Vocabulary

30 vocabulary flashcards covering major terms, figures, concepts, and findings from Yoni Appelbaum’s article on the decline of American civic engagement and its impact on democracy.

Democratic Habit

The learned behavior of regularly engaging in self-governance and respecting majority rule, developed through repeated participation in democratic institutions.

Voluntary Association

A self-organized group whose members adopt written rules, elect officers, and make decisions by majority vote—once central to U.S. civic life.

Civic Participation

Active involvement in community or organizational life (e.g., serving on committees, attending meetings) that teaches democratic skills.

Social Capital

Robert Putnam’s term for the norms of reciprocity and networks of civic engagement that arise from participating in community activities.

Bowling Alone (2000)

Putnam’s landmark study documenting the late-20th-century decline in American civic and associational life.

Robert’s Rules of Order

Henry Robert’s 1876 manual of parliamentary procedure that became a best-selling guide for running democratic meetings.

Knights of Pythias Precedents

A 19th-century fraternal order’s 2,827 compiled rulings, illustrating how seriously associations treated internal checks and balances.

Alexis de Tocqueville

French observer who, in Democracy in America, praised Americans’ early tendency to form associations and learn self-government from childhood games.

James Bryce

British statesman who marveled in 1888 at how quickly and effectively Americans created and ran associations.

Nation of Presidents

Walter B. Hill’s 1892 description of a U.S. culture where nearly everyone held an office in some organization.

School of Self-Government

Arthur Schlesinger Sr.’s phrase for voluntary associations that train citizens to debate, compromise, and obey majority rule.

Civically Disengaged Voters

Individuals who seldom join community groups; they provided much of Donald Trump’s core support in the 2016 GOP primaries.

Trump’s ‘Rigged’ Rhetoric

Campaign message claiming elites use democratic rules to entrench power, fueling distrust in institutions.

Checks and Balances (Associational)

Internal mechanisms—elected executives, deliberative assemblies, independent judiciaries—mirroring U.S. constitutional design within private groups.

Golden Age of Associations

19th-century period when fraternal orders, unions, churches, and clubs thrived and civic engagement peaked.

Cult of Efficiency

Post-1960s trend toward professionalized, centralized management that sidelines member participation in organizations.

Passive Membership

Status of paying dues or carrying a card (e.g., AAA, AARP) without attending meetings or voting, reflecting civic decline.

Two-Income Household Effect

Social change that reduces free time for adults to attend evening meetings, contributing to falling civic engagement.

Automatic Voter Registration

Policy proposal to enroll citizens to vote at age 18, aiming to convert civic habits formed in school into electoral participation.

Student Government Charter

Written rules for school councils; less common in poorer or minority-majority schools, limiting democratic practice for youth.

Extracurricular Participation Impact

Finding that involvement in school activities raises later voting likelihood by 141 %, far surpassing mere civics knowledge.

Social Media Communities

Online networks that can build interpersonal ties but rarely teach procedural self-governance skills.

Labor-Union Decline

Shrinking membership and legal protections that reduce opportunities for workplace democracy.

Salaried Professionals (in NGOs)

Paid staff who run modern charities or associations, replacing member-elected amateurs and weakening grassroots control.

Carl Becker’s Warning

1941 observation that democracy works smoothly only when issues seem minor—polarization strains procedural norms.

Henry Robert (Army Engineer)

Author of Robert’s Rules whose manual symbolized America’s obsession with orderly democratic procedure.

Theda Skocpol

Sociologist noting the transformation of mass-membership associations into professionally managed advocacy groups.

Self-Governance in Schools

Educational approach urging students to write rules, elect officers, and manage disputes as preparation for democratic citizenship.

Outcome-Over-Process Mind-set

Growing attitude, exemplified by Trump and some opponents, that prioritizes winning results over following democratic procedures.

Losing the Democratic Habit

Atlantic article’s central thesis: declining hands-on practice in democratic groups erodes faith in U.S. institutions.