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A Variety of Associations

Visit C-SPAN's Tocqueville Web Site

Purchase the Tocqueville video series
Tocqueville Teaching Modules

PEDAGOGICAL GOALS

To reinforce the contemporary applicability of Tocqueville's assertions about the number and variety of association types and operating procedures in America

To hone students' observation and analysis skills

KEYWORD
Associations

COURSES FOR WHICH THE MODULE IS MOST APPLICABLE
American Government
Interest Groups
Political Behavior
Organizational Theory

MODULE DESCRIPTION
Have students READ Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America, Vol. I, Chapter XII "Political Associations in the United States" before class.

LECTURE LAUNCHER
SHOW the developed video described below. DISCUSS the following questions:

What is your impression of the clips you have just seen? Seek responses emphasizing the variations in ways people come together in modern American society. Encourage students to think in terms of types of people, numbers of people, physical settings, levels of interest and activity, etc.

What specific comments of Tocqueville do these clips seem to verify? Seek specific quotes such as: "In no country in the world has the principle of association been more successfully used or applied to a greater multitude of objects than in America." (Vol. I, Chapter XII)

CLASS ACTIVITY
SHOW each of the clips individually. DISCUSS the following questions:

How would you describe the people in this association? Seek responses related to demographics and activity level ("involved," "bored," etc.).

What association does this clip portray? Seek both the correct answer and an explanation of the clues students used in their analysis. Discuss the ways various clues might mislead, (for example, the cameras going for reaction shots at a political convention may focus on members of minority groups even if they are a small portion of the organization).

What is the probable purpose of the association meeting represented by the clip? Seek answers which allow the development of a typology of purposes (decision-making, information transfer, show of solidarity, etc.). Discuss how the physical layout of the gathering supports or undermines the purposes.

Why do you suppose the individuals in this clip attended this meeting? Seek to uncover direct applications of the categories of association membership motivations (coercion, social benefits, altruistic benefits, etc.).

DESCRIPTION OF ASSOCIATED VIDEO
DEVELOP a videotape from existing C-SPAN programming composed of 5-10 short clips (under two minutes) of various types of association meetings. Obvious examples are national party conventions, town meetings, party caucuses, think tank policy forums, national governors' conferences, interest group press conferences, etc. Attempt to be representative. Choose clips which do not indicate the association being shown.

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
For a discussion of motivations to join organizations, see James Q. Wilson, Political Organizations (New York: Basic Books. 1973, Chapter 3).

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