It should also be said that even pure mailing-list organizations can be effective political actors, thereby freeing members to perform other civic tasks. In general, today's associations offer relatively few opportunities for local leadership and deliberation. The past twenty-five years have seen a marked decline in the share of people who belong to committees and serve as officers of local groups, a trend that parallels declines in such forms of local political activity as attending school board meetings and participating in political parties. Recent scholarship suggests complex links between associational activities and key political variables such as political participation, social trust, and confidence in government. By urging fellow members to support particular candidates or causes, citizens can multiply their political power.
Most studies find that associational membership is also linked to trust in other people.
But researchers differ on the strength ofthe relationship and on the direction of the causal arrow between the two. A recent poll of Philadel- phians by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press showed no strong direct link between trust and participation in voluntary activities. Interpersonal trust and confidence in government tend to go together. Some research suggests that disenchantment with official institutions is an important cause of wariness toward other people. When political leaders let us down, we draw negative conclusions about human nature in general.