I aimed to adopt a well-rounded approach to understanding both the rural-urban divide in America and the role that religion or faith-based organizations can play in democratic participation. Throughout my research, I discovered a few distinctions in the ways urban and rural communities live their lives. I selected three ways of measuring community success or well-being: economic stability, healthcare access, and social cohesion. I picked these categories to follow up on the results of democratic participation; how are communities interacting?
First, I selected measuring community success through economic stability. By analyzing economic indicators of different community types, I aim to highlight the progress and disadvantages that may promote or hinder democratic participation. I found that urban and rural communities face very different economic conditions. After the 2008 recession, we see diverging economies for each community type. Urban communities experienced significant business growth, while rural communities continued to suffer from a decline in businesses following the recession. Similarly, we can look at wage differences, where urban workers average a salary of $49,000 and rural workers average $35,000. The stagnation in rural communities can have a detrimental effect on democratic participation. Economic disparity causes rural disillusionment with the political process, as they are not seeing the same prosperity that urban communities are experiencing.
Healthcare access is another measure of community success. Urban and rural communities face different challenges to healthcare that may affect democratic participation. Rural residents face barriers to healthcare due to their geographical location, with distance, time, and financial constraints limiting their access to healthcare. This may result in health conditions that may prevent voters from going to the polls. Urban areas, despite being denser, still have their own problems. Some urban residents face a lack of affordable healthcare. This may hinder democratic participation once again. Good health is a strong indicator of a frequent voter.
Ultimately, social cohesion serves as a key indicator of community success. Rural America exhibits high rates of social cohesion, as evidenced by multiple statistics. Rural residents are more likely to help their neighbors, ask for help themselves, and organize together for the greater good. Urban areas famously lack social cohesion. In densely populated areas, it can be hard to trust and organize with so many people. Social cohesion effectively reveals the level of closeness within a community; while it is not the only indicator of success, it provides valuable insights into community relationships.
Now that we understand some key characteristics of urban and rural communities, we can examine how faith-based organizations can play a role in promoting democratic participation. Faith-based organizations, or FBOs, often step in to provide community support when the government fails to do so. FBOs in both rural and urban areas can step in and offer job opportunities, career coaching, and other resources to community members facing economic instability. FBOs may also connect community members with healthcare resources, helping allocate travel, pay for expenses, and obtain diagnoses. Moreover, arguably above all, FBOs serve as the center of civic life. FBOs can provide a community and support system for all citizens, sometimes providing more comfort than any government program or policy change can provide.
By analyzing characteristics of urban and rural communities, we can see some shortcomings of the government in modern society. Economic instability, inadequate access to healthcare, and poor social cohesion foster social unrest and unhappiness. FBOs often step in and provide resources for communities when the government fails to do so. For some, this may create the mindset that the government has left them behind; thus, the only community they have left comes from religion. This is not all bad – finding a community comes with numerous positives for the individual. However, the disconnect between individuals and the government may intensify, leading to less democratic participation.
Author: Reese Kimmi