There certainly is research—not this research, because as I said, it's kind of blinkered in that it looks only at electoral participation—that shows positive correlation between community involvement and civic engagement of all types. If you are involved in a community ratepayers organization, you are more likely to vote or to belong to a political party. If you are a regular church attender, you're more likely to be involved in some other kind of charitable organization. People who fall into groups that you might call community leadership groups are more actively engaged, and at the other end are those who are detached.
On June 19th, 2007. See this statement in context.