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Expanding the energy–stability–area model: density dependence in voluntary membership associations in the early twentieth century

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Abstract

Recent research applying the energy–stability–area (ESA) model to politically oriented, federated voluntary membership associations in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries has found that these organizations had additional capacity for membership. Yet, this approach does not tell us whether associations’ organizational densities restricted the growth and formation of new federated chapters because of density dependence, a finding common in modern ESA studies. Furthermore, it is not clear whether other voluntary associations, such as fraternal orders, faced similar challenges. Here, we begin to explore these questions by examining whether federated, political and non-political voluntary associations faced density dependence in both membership and the number of affiliated organizations at the state level. We find evidence that density dependence was a common concern for voluntary associations of all types. Both in terms of the number of local-level federated groups and, to a lesser extent, membership, these groups were so successful that environmental resources eventually limited their growth during this pivotal era for the development of pressure groups and civic participation in the USA.

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Notes

  1. The Masons, the most established and elite of the fraternal orders, did not maintain national records of state-level associations.

  2. The 1910 report is missing from our dataset.

  3. For a more complete explanation of these measures, please see Chamberlain et al. (2019a).

  4. While we could exclude the black population, as African Americans were excluded from these associations, there were parallel black orders of the Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias.

  5. There is no theoretical reason to believe that partisan control would affect fraternal organization formation. Testing fraternal association models with the Ranney Index reveals no significant relationship.

  6. Log–log models (not shown) that transform the similarly right-skewed constituent variables also find no evidence of density dependence, mirroring the linear regression models but without the heteroskedasticity concerns.

  7. The KoP’s relatively strong presence in the South, where state governments spent less, likely explains this relationship.

  8. Even for the Grange, the predictors are signed in the appropriate direction and approach, but do not reach, statistical significance.

  9. Furthermore, women’s clubs could choose not to federate with the state and/or national association directly.

  10. It could also help to centralize efforts at retaining members, as membership turnover in federated voluntary associations was a consistent issue (see Chamberlain et al. in press).

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Chamberlain, A., Yanus, A.B. & Pyeatt, N. Expanding the energy–stability–area model: density dependence in voluntary membership associations in the early twentieth century. Int Groups Adv 9, 57–79 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41309-019-00075-8

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