Future Hindsight – "Be a Joiner: Pete Davis"

Release Date: March 6, 2025
Host: Mila Atmos
Guest: Pete Davis (author of Dedicated, co-director of Join or Die, founder of Democracy Policy Network)

Episode Overview

This episode examines why joining clubs, associations, and other civic groups is crucial for both the health of American democracy and individual well-being. Guest Pete Davis unpacks the theory and data behind “joiner” culture, discusses the crisis of declining civic engagement, and offers actionable solutions for reigniting solidarity and collective participation in American public life.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Stakes: Why Does Joining Matter?

• Civic Groups as "Classrooms for Citizenship"
  Civic organizations teach people to engage, collaborate, and resolve differences—skills essential to a functioning democracy.

  • Quote: “They are the classrooms for our citizenship. They’re the places we learn how to get things done, work out differences.”
    — Pete Davis (02:26)

• Dire Consequences of Disconnection
  Social isolation isn't just sad—it's dangerous to individuals and society alike.

  • Quote: “Joining a single group cuts your likelihood of dying in the next year and a half... Social isolation is as big a risk factor for death as smoking.”
    — Pete Davis (04:27)

• Solidarity Defined
  Solidarity is the web of relationships connecting people. High-solidarity societies have trust, idea-sharing, watchdogging against corruption, and less violence.

  • Quote: “A country is more solidaristic if there are more loving relationships between the members... When you have high solidarity, more good things happen.”
    — Pete Davis (07:36)

Robert Putnam’s Research & "Bowling Alone"

• Italy’s "Natural Experiment"
  Putnam’s 20-year study of Italian regional governments found social capital (connections and trust) directly correlates with good governance.
  • Effective regions weren’t richer or smarter; they had stronger networks: clubs, newspapers, bocce leagues.
  • Quote: “It wasn’t necessarily economics... What it was, was choruses and bocce clubs and football teams and local newspapers and the amount of people talking to each other in the street... correlated with effective government.”
    — Pete Davis (10:55)

Causes of Decline: How Did America Become "Unjoiners"?

• From Membership to Management
  Political and civic organizations have shifted from mass participation to top-down management, focusing on fundraising over engagement.

  • Quote: “So many... political organizations... have moved from mass membership models to models where you ask... simply dollars and votes and the occasional letter writing campaign.”
    — Pete Davis (14:46)

• Consumer Logic vs Civic Logic
  Modern capitalist culture turns us into consumers or hierarchical employees, not co-creators of society.

  • Quote: “Civics is a third way... where we are not just putting money in and getting services out. It’s co-creating society together.”
    — Pete Davis (16:44)

• Cultural & Structural Barriers
  Decline in communal activities like picnics—not just because we’re busy, but because opportunities and encouragement for these have diminished.

Practical Steps: Reclaiming Solidarity & Membership

• Changing Institutions and Individual Action
  Society should make it easier to join in, e.g., through parks, libraries, or clubs—but individuals must also take initiative.

  • Quote: “Everything in public life is a dance between us as individual agents and the institutional order that is presented to us.”
    — Pete Davis (20:27)

• The Local Dimension
  Local democracy is where engagement happens most meaningfully. Cities should nurture membership through neighborhood associations, civic development offices, and orientation rituals for new residents.

  • Quote: “The most important venue for democracy is our local democracy.”
    — Pete Davis (26:51)

• Membership vs Belonging
  Belonging is an individual feeling; membership involves communal structure—rituals, expectations, shared fate.

  • Quote: “Membership is a communally constructed idea... Through this school, we’re going to plan out futures together... That makes you feel a sense of membership.”
    — Pete Davis (31:25)

Young People & Identity

• Community Shapes Individualism
  Joining doesn’t smother individuality—community involvement helps young people discover identity, purpose, and even heroism.
  • Quote: “You develop your individualism through community... The stuff that makes up who you are is usually through your participation in something bigger than yourself.”
    — Pete Davis (34:39)

Envisioning the Future

• Blur the Insider-Outsider Divide
  Deepening democracy requires demolishing the wall between “insiders” and “outsiders.”
  • Quote: “The only answer is to blur the line between insiders and outsiders, invite more people in and open up more windows and doors...”
    — Pete Davis (39:03)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Solidarity:
  “When we see each other's dreams as part of our own... more good things happen... segregation is what often leads to violence because you start not understanding each other.”
  — Pete Davis (07:36)

• On Civic Decay:
  “The logic of so much of consumer society is antithetical to civics.”
  — Pete Davis (16:44)

• On Restoring Civic Life:
  “As long as there is an unmet demand, there is some path forward to get them together... I feel the same about civic life. The only time when it's over is if [people] don't want it anymore.”
  — Pete Davis (21:22)

• On America’s Hopeful Future:
  “Everything that we dream for the world already exists in piecemeal, spread out in millions of experiments... The only challenge is to blow on those sparks, spread those seeds, foster them and connect them and grow them.”
  — Pete Davis (46:03)

Key Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment | |---------------|-----------------------------------------------------| | 02:26 | Civic groups as classrooms for democracy | | 04:27 | Individual and societal dangers of not joining | | 07:36 | Definition and power of solidarity | | 10:55 | Putnam’s Italian study and social capital | | 14:46 | Civic organizations: from participation to donors | | 16:44 | Consumer vs civic logic in American society | | 19:22 | Decline in communal activities (picnic crisis) | | 20:27 | Institutions vs individuals in building the commons | | 26:51 | Building city membership and local engagement | | 31:25 | Belonging vs membership in communities/schools | | 34:39 | Community as a venue for personal heroism | | 39:03 | The need to blur insider/outsider barriers | | 41:43 | Civic Spark: advice on joining & reinhabiting | | 46:03 | What makes Pete hopeful about the future |

Action Steps ("Civic Spark")

“Join a club. Any type of club—an association, a league, a union, a cooperative, a commission, art scene—anything where you’re connected with real people in the real world, doing things together.”
— Pete Davis (41:43)

• Special Practice: "Reinhabitation"
  • Take conscious steps to "reinhabit" your community: Learn how your local systems (trash collection, public schools, etc.) work, study your block’s history, write and share a report about some slice of public life.
  • Quote: “The practice of taking the time to learn about the world around you and how it works... That is part of the practice of inhabiting the world, of becoming a member of the world, because getting to know someone is how you build a relationship with them.”
    — Pete Davis (41:43)

The Takeaway

American democracy flourishes when people join together—literally. Solidarity isn’t an abstraction: it’s forged through everyday connections, civic rituals, clubs, and shared problem-solving. To renew democracy, Davis urges us to start “joining” at the local level, reclaiming a culture of trust, participation, and collective agency. The challenge, and hope, is to turn the many sparks of civic life into a bright, interconnected blaze for the future.

Further Reading & Resources

• Join or Die (Documentary film, co-directed by Pete Davis)
• Democracy Policy Network: City Membership Kit

End of Summary