This book has developed a theory of volunteer participation that is based on citizen ideas of governmental and individual responsibility and the practices of governmental and societal institutions. The second chapter explored the ways that citizen ideas of governmental and individual responsibility for dealing with social problems in different countries influenced the types of organizations prevalent in a country. The fourth chapter identified ways in which the practices of governmental and societal institutions influence different rates of volunteer participation. This chapter ties both ideas and practices together to develop a model predicting the types and the rates of volunteer participation in communities. This model intends to help answer some of the pressing questions addressed in this book: Why do some communities have more of certain types of volunteer organizations and fewer of others? Why are some communities more civically engaged than others? How do communities motivate and organize volunteers to provide services that the government also provides?

The chapter begins by outlining the model and explaining how ideas and practices fit together to determine the type and rate of volunteer participation in communities. Unlike previous chapters in which ideas and practices were analytically isolated from one another, this model highlights the connection between the two, showing the ways that changes in citizen ideas can alter the practices of governmental and societal institutions and vice versa. The model is then applied to the cases of Kashihara, Sakata, and Sanda that were examined in Chapter 4.