Raw group membership must be measured against eligible-population share.

Evidence

If the total vote rises by 5 percent, while voting-age population is rising by 10 percent, participation has actually fallen. Conversely, if membership in the Grange falls by 5 percent, while the number of farmers is falling by 50 percent, the involvement of the average farmer has actually risen. If membership in the local Parent-Teacher Association has fallen merely because there are fewer parents nowadays, we would not want to count that as evidence of civic decline. Conversely, if the number of lawyers in town doubled, while membership in the bar association grew by only 5 percent, it would be misleading to conclude that lawyers were becoming more active in professional affairs. In short, we generally should consider what economists call “market share”: What proportion of the eligible population takes part in any given activity? — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 1504

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies ‘market share’ as the proportion of eligible population participating in an activity—the standard for judging civic involvement.
• XREF: connects to: Group size determines the moral duty each person owes to another in need. — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality: The…, 102

Broader Connections

• Group size determines the moral duty each person owes to another in need. #complicates (0.75) — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality, 102