[kakarot]

This is an interesting parallel to what's been happening across America (and possibly other countries) since the late 80's.

The fraction of people who hold leadership roles or at least actively engage in local civil groups is smaller than ever since the boom of the 40-60's.

Less and less people are participating in these groups, yet ironically, group membership around the nation is at an all-time high because of the rise of the mail-order activism group. Americans may be involved in 2x or 3x as many social groups, but the chances of this involvement growing past a recurring donation is increasingly small.

Now, group membership means donating a few dollars in the mail every few months while other people make decisions for you, instead of being involved in the decision-making process yourself.

[eldavido]

Discussed at length in Putnam's "Bowling Alone" under the heading "professionalization of politics".

[kakarot]

Great book, but "at length" is right. I think Putnam's message would have a lot more palatable if a lot of the supporting content was moved into a separate section and the first section presented a more streamlined argument.