CIVIC GROUPS BATTLE LOSS OF MEMBERSHIP IN PAST YEARS

JACKSON -- In November, the Jackson Jaycees began a membership drive that so far has doubled the organization's membership from 25 to 51. But the Jaycees and other organizations are fighting a trend, the decrease in civic participation that has occurred throughout America since the 1950s.

The country's decreasing voter participation is well-documented, and in a 1995 national study, membership in the Lions Club was off 12 percent since 1982, in the Elks off 18 percent since 1979, and in the Jaycees off 44 percent since 1979.

"Social capital" is a term social scientists use to describe the level of trust and participation in the community. No one is quite sure what to do about America's dwindling social capital though there are ideas about what's causing it.

In "Bowling Alone: America's Declining Social Capital," Robert D. Putnam enumerates the forces that have reduced civic participation since the 1950s. They include movement of women into the labor force, increased mobility and the proliferation of technological leisure activities.

Bowling alone is Putnam's symbol for this decline. While the number of people bowling increased by 10 percent from 1980 to 1993,, membership in bowling leagues declined by 40 percent during the same period. More people are bowling solo, signaling the decline in social interaction.

People who live in Jackson are more civic-mined than most, officials insist. "People are interested in the community," says Ken Parrett, executive director of the Jackson Chamber of Commerce. "They know the more we get involved in it the better it's going to be."

But getting people to volunteer to help with activities is difficult for organizations everywhere, he said.

Parrett wrote a graduate school paper titled "The Vanishing Civic America" while attending Webster University in St. Louis. In it he blames the instant gratification of television for the loss of social capital.

"It individualizes you when you sit home and watch TV," he said. "They don't feel the need to be out and be involved in anything."

Filling vacancies on Jackson city boards is never a problem, Mayor Paul Sander said. Some have waiting lists.

"Where we're seeing more civic decline the same in Jackson as everywhere else is today's two-career marriages trying to take care of two or three children at the same time," he said. "There are only so many hours in a day and making hours to devote to civic organizations is getting tougher and tougher for people to do."

Membership in the Jackson Chamber of Commerce has increased from 259 to 325 since Parrett became the executive director a few years ago. His approach has been to make sure the chamber provided its members with services.

"If they invest with membership you make sure they get something back," he said.

He is concerned that the generation coming up has much less social interaction on a personal level than previous generations did and may be even less willing to get involved.

"In the summer, you never see a bunch of kids just having a sandlot baseball game anymore," he says.

The Internet adds to his concerns, Parrett says.

"You can sit on the Internet and order groceries," he said. "In-store shopping is going to go down. There is no personal interaction."

Used in moderation, the effect of the Internet is positive, he said, "but we need to get back into the community programs, civic clubs and ways to better the community. I wish I had an answer how to do that."

Randy Sander, the Jaycees president, said fun was the strategy behind the membership drive.

"The leadership of the chapter had let some of the fun go out of the chapter," he said. "If people are not having fun when they volunteer their time, they're not going to stay around."

He said the Jaycees will continue to do their annual projects at Fourth of July, Christmas, Easter and other times, but are interspersing them with social events.

Nearly 100 invitations to the chapter's social this weekend were sent to prospective members. A first-ever Jackson Jaycees golf tournament and a swimming party also are being planned.

"A lot of younger people see the need for civic involvement but they want to have fun doing it," Sander said.

The Jackson Jaycees at one time had 170 members, he said.

"When I joined, if you were a business person or an accountant or a lawyer you belonged to the Jaycees if you were under 39," he said. "Over the last couple of years that had been lost. We want to be the organization for young people in Jackson."

He thinks the fast pace of life is contributing to the decline in civic participation, but he can't imagine the Internet replacing social interaction.

"If a person who wants to hole up wants to do that, that's fine," he said. "I'm not much for surfing on a computer for hours. I want to get face-to-face with people."