The Multifaceted Nature of Civic Participation ― A Literature Review

Civic participation is an ideal concept in most democratic societies. In this review, Cnaan and Park document how key writings are limited in scope and are either nonprofit, political science or environmental studies oriented. Cnaan and Park conclude with a call for future research of civic participation to be both comprehensive and sensitive.

Ram A. Cnaan, Ph.D (University of Pittsburgh), is a Professor and Director of the Program for Religion and Social Policy Research at the School of Social Policy & Practice, University of Pennsylvania. He is a Global Eminent Scholar at Kyung Hee University Graduate Institute of Peace, South Korea. Cnaan has published numerous articles in scientific journals on a variety of social issues, and serves on the editorial boards of ten academic journals. He is the author or editor of eight books includingThe Other Philadelphia Story: How Local Congregations Support Quality of Life in Urban America (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006) andCases in Innovative Nonprofits: Organizations That Make a Difference (Sage, 2014) edited with Diane Kaplan Vinokur.Sohyun Park is a PhD student at the School of Social Welfare at Yonsei University, South Korea. Her research interests include philanthropy, management of nonprofit organizations, and collaboration between public and private sector in welfare service. Her articles have been published in the Journal of Korean Social Welfare Research and theKorean Journal of Social Welfare, among others.