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COPYRIGHT NOTICE:For COURSE PACK and other PERMISSIONS, refer to entry on previous page. Formore information, send e-mail to permissions@pupress.princeton.eduUniversity Press. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any formby any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or informationstorage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher, except for readingand browsing via the World Wide Web. Users are not permitted to mount this file on anynetwork servers.is published by Princeton University Press and copyrighted, © 2004, by Princeton
Robert Wuthnow: Saving America?
 
1
 Why “Faith-Based”? Why Now?
The question offaith-based social services emerged as a major policy debatein the waning months ofthe twentieth century. The debate started in themid-1990s as part ofthe Clinton administration’s efforts to reform the so-cial welfare system. The resulting 1996 welfare reform legislation includeda provision known as Charitable Choice. This provision made it possiblefor churches and other religiously oriented service organizations to receivegovernment funds more easily. As a result ofthis provision, service agen-cies and government officials started paying more attention to the possi-blecontribution that religious organizations could make to the needs of lower-income families and other disadvantaged or at-risk persons. Duringthe 2000 presidential campaign, the discussion intensified. The Bush ad-ministration subsequently set in motion a number ofinitiatives to furtherhighlight and support the role ofreligious organizations in social welfareprovision.The questions raised by the debate about faith-based social welfare pro-vision focus chiefly on what faith-based organizations are doing, how wellthey are doing it, and whether their activities should be supported with gov-ernment funds. Few solid answers have been given. The more researchershave tackled these questions, the more they have come to realize that im-portant conceptual and empirical issues must be addressed before definitiveanswers will be forthcoming. We need to know more clearly what we mean when we talk about “faith-based” organizations. We need to know what therelevant comparison groups are. And we need to be clear about how we areassessing organizations’ effectiveness in carrying out their programs.The recent discussion about faith-based social services, though, is part of a larger debate about the future ofcivil society in the United States. Thatdebate focuses on the quality ofour life together as citizens. It concerns
 
 whether the American public is willing to do its part to help one anotherand it includes questions about the role oftrust and compassion in publiclife. Above all, it is a debate about inequality: whether civil society only  works well for the affluent middle class or whether it also works well forlower-income families. Religion is an important part ofthis debate. TheUnited States has ten times as many houses ofworship as it does post of-fices. Far more people participate in religious organizations each week thanin any other civic association. Nearly all Americans attest to believing inthe supernatural and at least five ofevery six Americans claim to have a re-ligious preference. Religion is increasingly being looked to by public offi-cials to help solve community problems. Possible remedies for poverty,crime, drug abuse, homelessness, and many other social concerns havebeen linked to faith communities. Yet we have few answers about what re-ligion is actually doing or what it may be capable ofdoing.In this volume I present new evidence from more than a half-dozenmajor research studies that I and others have conducted in recent years.This evidence addresses many ofthe questions that have remained unan-swered about the role ofreligion in providing social services and in turncontributing to the well-being ofcivil society. How many local congrega-tions have formal programs to assist needy families in their communities? What kind ofprograms are these? How much money is spent on them?How well do congregations take care oftheir own? Do members developpersonal relationships that help them in times oftrouble? Are they chal-lenged to help others? When people
are 
challenged, do they get involved involunteer activities? What kind ofvolunteer activities are these? Who isserved and what social ties are forged by volunteers? How many specializedfaith-based service agencies are there? How are they organized? What roledoes faith play in them? Which ones are most effective? Do lower-incomefamilies have connections with religious organizations? Who seeks helpfrom faith-based organizations? How do they feel about the help they re-ceive? Are religious organizations helping to promote trust? Are they help-ing to spread messages about love and compassion?The answers that emerge demonstrate that American religion
is 
playinga positive role in addressing the needs oflower-income families and that itis, more broadly, contributing to the strength ofcivil society. Yet it wouldbe an exaggeration to conclude that religion can save America from theproblems it presently faces in providing social services to those who need2
CHAPTER 1
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