"If You Don't Do it, Nobody Else Will": Active and Token Contributors to Local Collective Action

It is commonly assumed that people participate more in collective action when they believe others will. But local activists often say: I did it because nobody else would. Investigation of the differences among 1456 Detroit residents who were nonmembers, token members, or active members (either currently active or past leaders) of their neighborhood associations reveals that active members were significantly more pessimistic than token members about the prospects for neighborhood collective action, a finding explained by recent theoretical work on collective action by Oliver et al. (1984). Other findings are that active members are more highly educated than token members; that past leaders know more people and have higher interest in local problems; and that currently active members have more close ties in the neighborhood, like the neighborhood less, and are less likely to be homeowners. Contrasts between members and nonmembers are similar to those found in previous research.