Abstract
Purpose. The purpose in doing this study was to provide a description of the supra-construct of civic culture on the attitudinal and behavioral dimensions, within a gated residential community. Knowledge of the data patterns for a community's civic culture adds another cognitive device to the academic's and administrator's decision making repertoire. Methodology. This exploratory and descriptive research was based on the case/field study methodology. Constructs selected for study were identified by concurrently reviewing pertinent literature while also conducting three in-depth interviews with active members in such a community. Data from the literature review and the three pilot case studies were combined with the results of thirty-five personal interviews and surveys of the residents of the selected gated community. The identified constructs were combined to form the supra-construct of civic culture which was the object of further investigation. The principle analytic procedure was a series of 2 x 2 exploratory data tables used to univariately describe the population while also exploring for potential bivariate association. Stratified percentages and descriptive graphs were used to explore for attitudinal and behavioral data patterns within the population. Findings and conclusion. The civic culture constructs were; religiosity, trustworthiness, formal volunteering, informal volunteering, and politicization. Specific patterns of occurrences for each of the constructs indicated that when religiosity served as the substratum the percentages for the others generally increased. This was found to be true for all constructs on the attitudinal dimension, while behavioral activities were mixed when so stratified. It may be stated that, in general, when the constructs were stratified on higher levels of religiosity, percentages of those traits generally associated with a positive civic culture were found to increase. Recommendations. Findings indicated there that were identifiable patterns of occurrences for those cultural attributes under investigation. Reasonable explanations for the observed patterns were offered while additional research to test for statistical significance was advised. Recommendations for the use of this study's findings revolve around how communities could be improved while also providing legitimacy for government by increasing citizen engagement.