American Sociological Review
Abstracts for February 2009 ASR
Privatizing Participation: Civic Change and the Organizational
Dynamics of Grassroots Lobbying Firms – Edward T. Walker, University
of Vermont
How Have Grassroots Lobbying Firms Changed the Civic Landscape in the
United States?
How have grassroots lobbying firms changed the civic landscape in the
United States? Grassroots lobbying firms became a fixture in U.S.
politics in the 1970s and have grown in number and prominence since.
These firms subsidize civic participation on behalf of corporations,
industry groups, and associations by mobilizing members of the public.
In an article in the American Sociological Review, Edward T. Walker,
of the University of Vermont, describes how these organizations
subsidize political participation in a manner that restricts the
development of social capital and civic skills yet augments the voice
of private interests. Grassroots lobbying firms promote a passive
citizenship—activism through donating money and signing pre-written
letters—rather than more active, face-to-face activism. These firms
have learned how to harness the power of the public on behalf of
private corporations and organizations. They show corporations how to
use new, low-cost communications technologies to influence an
increasingly decentralized government. Changes in the political field,
such as the increasing Republican control of government, also helped
this new field grow. The expansion of grassroots lobbying firms was
not due to declines in civic engagement, but to the explosion of
interest groups and businesses’ recognition that they needed to move
beyond their traditional lobbying repertoire.
Groups Reward Individual Sacrifice: The Status Solution to the
Collective Action Problem – Robb Willer, University of California-
Berkeley
How Do Groups Motivate Members to Participate in Collective Action?
How do groups motivate their members to set aside self-interest and
contribute to collective action? To answer this question, Robb Willer,
of theUniversity of California at Berkeley, conducted a series of
laboratory experiments to test why individuals participate in
collective action and contribute to the public good, instead of free-
riding on the efforts of others. Willer finds that individuals who
contribute to collective action receive social and material benefits
for their efforts. Specifically, these individuals receive improved
status in the eyes of other group members, which is a powerful
motivation to participate. This motivation also elicits further
participation and contributions from individuals in the future.
From Streets to Suites: How the Anti-Biotech Movement Affected German
Pharmaceutical Firms – Klaus Weber, Northwestern University,
Hayagreeva Rao, Stanford University, and L. G. Thomas, Emory University
How Do Social Movements Affect Corporate Decisions?
How do social movements affect corporate decisions, such as the
commercialization of new technologies? A recent study published in the
American Sociological Review examines how the 1980’s German anti-
genetic movement affected six major German pharmaceutical firms’
commercialization of biotechnology. The researchers find that the anti-
genetic movement undermined strong commitments to biotechnology by
threatening the public image and internal status of corporate
advocates and supporters of biotechnology—namely executive managers
and scientists. The movement also heightened perceptions of investment
risk and uncertainty. In response, firms with diversified investment
philosophies invested in alternative lines of business, which reduced
their commitment to biotechnology. Non-diversified firms, on the other
hand, largely pursued investment alternatives within biotechnology.
This study shows how social movements can penetrate and pressure the
relatively closed internal politics of private firms.
----------------------------------------
Tommaso Vitale
Dipartimento di Sociologia e della Ricerca Sociale
Università di Milano Bicocca
via Bicocca degli Arcimboldi, 8
20126 Milano
tel: ++39.02 6448 7477
skype: tomvita
Papers and pre-prints:
http://homepage.mac.com/tommaso.vitale/
