CIVIC CULTURE AND DEMOCRACY FROM EUROPE TO AMERICA

In this study we explore the extent to which the civic cultures of Eur opean immigrants to the United States persist in their contemporary de scendants. Analyses using data from the World Values Survey and the cu mulative General Social Surveys indicate that the civic attitudes of c ontemporary Americans bear a strong resemblance to the civic attitudes of the contemporary citizens of the European nations with whom they s hare common ancestors. The Americans who descend from nations with hig hly civic populations tend to hold relatively civic attitudes, while t hose who descend from nations with less civic populations tend to hold relatively less civic attitudes. The significance of these findings f or democracy is discussed.