Volunteerism, Charitable Giving, and Religion: The U.S. Example

Vol. 7, No. 3 (Fall 2009)

Brett Scharffs Thursday, 10 September 2009

Since Alexis de Tocqueville's prescient observations about American society in the 19^th century, it has been well known that the United States has quite a high rate of volunteerism and charity. A variety of cultural and structural characteristics of the United States have played a role in fostering this high rate of voluntary contribution to the common weal. In this article I will limit the discussion to one particularly important cultural factor (namely, the strength and diversity of religion) and one particularly important structural factor (namely, the legal framework for nonprofit organizations).

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