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Voluntary Group Prevalence Among U.S. States: Factors Affecting the Distribution of Intercultural Understanding Groups (Sister City Programs)

Department of Sociology, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02167-3807, U.S.A.

Burt R. Baldwin

Department of Sociology, Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, Connecticut 06050, U.S.A.

U.S. Sister City Programs (SCPs) are transnational, cooperative, volunteer ventures between cities in the U.S. and another country. They aim at fostering better inter-cultural understanding. This paper finds that the distribution of such SCPs per thousand population among the 50 U.S. states can be explained (R² = .49) by the volume of exports of manufactur ing and by the number of registered motor vehicles—both per 1000 population. The results con firm a voluntary group prevalence, involving the factors of communication-transportation net work development, goal and interest differentiation and collective action orientation (including resources).

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