Maine’s civic health currently is strong, according to Maine’s first Civic Health Report from Colby College’s Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs, Public Engagement Partners, and the Maine Community Foundation.
Released on October 23, this report showed that 70 percent of Mainers are hopeful about the state’s future, but suggested that “there are reasons to be concerned that this is a fragile, rather than a stable or growing, working consensus.”
To gauge the state’s civic health, the study incorporates findings across a number of different categories, including: Civic Trust; Belonging and Mattering; Community Climate; The State of Civic Knowledge; Voting; Volunteering, Group Participation, and Giving; Civic Participation and Awareness; and Hope for the Future.
A little over half of Mainers “almost always or mostly” trust their local government, while only 37 percent trust the state government, and just 17 percent trust the national government.
As is the case across many of the civic health markers measured in this survey, older, wealthier, and more highly educated Mainers are more likely to be trusting of government at all levels.
Nearly six in ten Mainers believe they can trust “most people” to be “fair” in their community rather than “take advantage of them,” and nearly the same amount feel that most people throughout the state would treat them fairly.
In comparison, only 30 percent had this same sense of trust toward most Americans nationwide.
Again, older, wealthier, and more highly educated individuals appeared to be more trusting than their younger, lower-income, and less educated counterparts.
To address this gap in trust, the report suggests “cultivating a better understanding of their concerns and trust dynamics” at play in the state.
“One hypothesis for the significant difference in trust levels is that trust will tend to be lower for those citizens who are out of power politically and disadvantaged economically, which is almost by definition the case for lower-income folks,” the report states. “To the extent the above hypothesis holds up, finding ways to ensure that the economic and political concerns of these Mainers are well represented and responded to in public and policy debates might be helpful.”
The survey also sought to measure the degree to which Mainers feel they belong and matter, suggesting that recent research has shown that “a greater sense of belonging is associated with increased trust in government and in Americans overall, greater levels of civic engagement, and stronger ‘community efficacy.'”
Fifty-seven percent of Mainers said that they feel they “truly belong” when interacting with others in their community, and 51 percent said they feel welcome and included in community activities.
Although a majority (59 percent) said they did not feel like they are treated as “less than” by others, those who are less educated or between the ages of 35 and 54 were more likely to feel excluded.
Only 30 percent of Mainers “unambiguously feel they can influence decision-making in their community,” while 30 percent feel “clearly that they cannot,” while the others were somewhere in between or unsure.
Sixty-two percent of respondents indicated that they feel comfortable expressing their opinions within their community, with those who are older and wealthier being more likely than others to have this level of comfort.
For example, 74 percent of those making over $100,000 annually were comfortable sharing their opinions, while only half of those making under $30,000 felt the same way.
About six-in-ten Mainers agree with the sentiment that “while people might not always have the same opinion, we are still able to find common ground.” Only 13 percent expressed disagreement with this statement, and 27 percent said were in the middle.
It was also revealed that Mainers rarely speak to those with political beliefs that are different than their own.
Thirty-nine percent said they talk to people who hold different political beliefs “never or rarely,” with an additional 19 percent doing so a “few times a year” and 23 percent doing so a “few times a month.”
Just 13 percent have these conversations a “few times a week,” and only 7 percent do so daily.
This report also found that more than a third of Mainers do not have confidence that the the votes in the upcoming presidential election will be counted accurately.
Nearly nine-in-ten Democrats believe that the votes will be counted fairly, compared to just 44 percent of Republicans and 45 percent of Independents.
The survey also showed that Maine has the highest attendance rate at public meetings, coming in at 19 percent, ten points more than the national average of 9 percent.
Interestingly, the study showed that Mainers are significantly more hopeful for the future of the state than they are for the future of the county or democracy.
While 70 percent of respondents said they were hopeful for the future of Maine, just 45 percent are hopeful for the future of America and 47 are hopeful for the future of democracy.
Despite this, nearly six-in-ten Mainers believe that “young people will need to leave their community in search of economic opportunity ‘almost always or most of the time,'” a sentiment that is more widespread in the northern part of the state (65 percent) than the southern part (51 percent).
“This study and the resulting report is the first time we’ve done a deep dive in terms of evaluating the quality of civic life in our state,” Nicholas Jacobs — assistant professor government at Colby College and faculty associate director for the Goldfarb Center — said in a statement.
“It provides important information about indicators that assess that state of healthy civic life and democracy in Maine and highlights our unique strengths and weaknesses,” Jacobs added.
“Overall, Maine exhibits considerable civic strengths,” commented Quixada Moore-Vissing, director of Public Engagement Partners. “Its citizens vote at levels significantly above the national average, the state ranks first in the nation for public meeting attendance, residents feel safe where they live, and six in 10 believe that ‘while people might not always have the same opinion, we are still able to find common ground.’”
“However, there are some red flags for Maine, including the fact that most Mainers feel youth will have to move away for opportunities, trust in both state and national government is low, and many Mainers do not feel they matter to their local community,” Moore-Vissing explained. “And, while most Mainers have confidence that their vote in the upcoming election will be fairly counted, over one-third have concerns.”
“The Maine Community Foundation was proud to be the primary sponsor of this important research into Maine’s civic health,” said the foundation’s CEO Deborah Ellwood.
“Our own recent statewide Needs Assessment showed strong civic health as an essential prerequisite for our ability to work together to address challenges such as climate resilience, affordable housing, and economic opportunity,” said Ellwood. “Congratulations to Colby College’s Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs for an important contribution to Maine.”
Click Here to Read the Full Report
Change the headline to read Only 37% of Democrats……
Boxcar, exactly !!!! I would not trust any of them to watch my cat. they really don’t care about Maine and its people.
Well that’s weird, “older, wealthier, and more highly educated individuals appeared to be more trusting than their younger, lower-income, and less educated counterparts”. This is how stupid Augusta is. These older, wealthier, and more highly educated individuals are the people they’re driving out of state. Morons.
WOW there are that many state employees
Common sense has always suggested that the closer government is to the people, as in Maine’s earlier traditional town meetings, the more engaged they are and the more trustful they are, and the more power accrues at the expense of the municipal to the county, the state and the federal government, all of which distances people from their political overseers, the more alienated and mistrustful they become. To build confidence and greater participation we must find ways to reverse this trend. Statements quoted here by the sponsors of this study suggest they are comfortable with the status quo, perhaps the biggest red flag of all.
This state has been bought and paid for. and continues to be… until the next governor… hopefully a better one… Simple as that.
I’m surprised the number is as high as it is !
With Janet , Sheena and Rachel in control , who can trust ANYTHING that comes out of Augusta .
Too many bored woke women in Maine government .
It will never change until they are voted out of office .
All democrats need to go !
Save our flag . Save our state . Vote Republican on the 5th .