Become part of the movement for unbiased, accessible election information. Donate today.
Scott Rasmussen's Number of the Day for April 24, 2017
The Number of the Day columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.
April 24, 2017: It’s national volunteer week, a chance to express our appreciation and celebrate the accomplishment of 62.6 million Americans who do volunteer work through a variety of nonprofit organizations. On top of those official volunteers, of course, tens of millions more volunteer informally to help family, friends, and neighbors through the challenges of life.
Using our freedom to work together in community is an American tradition dating back to the 1630s. A 2014 Heartland Monitor Poll showed that most Americans “think that their day-to-day life would be more positively affected by an increase in community volunteerism than having a President that agrees with them on the issues.”[1]
A third of all volunteers (33 percent) give most of their time through religious organizations. Another 25 percent are primarily focused on educational or youth-related service. But all find ways to serve their communities.
Adults aged 35 to 54 are somewhat more likely than others to participate as volunteers, but it’s a practice that truly cuts across all demographic and geographic lines. Perhaps surprising to some is the fact that volunteering is not a hobby for those with idle time. Two-thirds of all volunteers (68 percent), a total of 43 million people, also have a job.
The official statistics suggest that there has been a modest decline in volunteering recently. Bowling Alone author Robert Putnam believes that “Americans in massive numbers began to join less, trust less, give less, vote less, and schmooze less.”[2]
Columbia University law professor Philip Hamburger believes that the decline has been caused by the dramatic growth of the Regulatory State. He believes that such unchecked power "corrupts not only rulers but also the ruled.” The end result is that “It accustoms an otherwise self-governing people to a regime of potentially pervasive control, and it thereby … gradually deprives them of their capacity for self-rule.”[3]
(Note: Recent Numbers of the Day have highlighted the growth of regulatory agencies and regulators.)
Other contend that there is no real decline in volunteerism, just a change in the way people work together to create a better community. In this view, the statistics are flawed because they were developed prior to the digital revolution and suited more for an earlier time.
Community problem solving is a major theme in my forthcoming book, Politics Has Failed: America Will Not. The book explains how I can be so optimistic about America’s future despite being extremely pessimistic about our dysfunctional political system. The synopsis explains it like this:
Community problem solving, fueled by the digital revolution and inspired by the Millennial Generation, is poised to overcome our failed system of politics and government. We may not be able to make government work better, but that won’t stop us from making society work better.
- April 21, 2017 656.4 billion dollars spent in restaurants and bars in 2016; tops grocery spending for first time ever
- April 20, 2017 2,226 solid Republican counties won by McCain, Romney, and Trump
- April 19, 2017 449 solid Democratic counties won by Obama twice and by Clinton; Clinton earned bigger margins but smaller share of vote
- April 18, 2017 70 billion dollars: Annual spending on federal regulatory agencies
- April 17, 2017 29.6 billion dollars spent annually on tax preparation fees and software
- To see other recent numbers, check out the archive.
Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day is published by Ballotpedia weekdays at 8:00 a.m. Eastern. Click here to check out the latest update.
The Number of the Day is broadcast on local stations across the country. An archive of these broadcasts can be found here.
Columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.
Ballotpedia is the nonprofit, nonpartisan Encyclopedia of American Politics.
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ Heartland Monitor, "Allstate/National Journal Heartland Monitor XX Key Findings," April 28, 2014
- ↑ Putnam, R., et al. (2004). Better Together: Restoring the American Community. Simon & Schuster.
- ↑ Hamburger, P. (2015). Is Administrative Law Unlawful?. University Of Chicago Press.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
