Participation in community organizing: Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of impacts on sociopolitical development

This article reports cross-sectional (Study 1) and longitudinal (Study 2) results from analyses of civic behaviors and attitudes among two groups: participants in grassroots community organizing in five US cities and a geographically balanced sample of their neighbors, many of whom were participating with other types of voluntary organizations (e.g., neighborhood-based or school-based groups). This analytic approach allowed for tests of differences between groups, differences within groups over time, and interactions between groups and time on indicators of sociopolitical development including civic behaviors, psychological sense of community, and the emotional and cognitive components of psychological empowerment. Results showed that community organizing, as a particular type of mediating institution, cultivates sociopolitical development by elevating psychological empowerment and civic engagement over time.