In Making Democracy Work Robert Putnam uses his description of the concept of “social capital” to inquire directly into the successes and failures of democratic governments, on the basis of his case study of regional governments in Italy. This essay will serve to describe this theory of “social capital”, and whether or not it is applicable to all situations within the government of Italy and her regions. I will then show the limitations of the theory using contradictory evidence from within his work to describe the issues beset by the South. I will then discuss how Robert Dahl's theory of inequality of political resources, in Who Governs, to answering the question of whether or not the “social capital” theory successfully explains the conditions for responsive and effective democracy.
II. Definition of “Social Capital”
The theory of social capital, as defined by Putnam, is one which is rehashed over and over in political science, albeit with different names. Putnam's definition, however, is more based on empirical evidence rather than theoretics. At a base level, social capital is best defined as a gauge to measure the mutual cooperation between the electorate and their government. The theory encapsulates the networks created by the civilians and the government, mutual aid, cooperation, and mutual reciprocity between the two parties. The “common good” here is a prevalent aspect of the theory itself. A high level of this social capital indicates high levels of governmental participation by the citizens of the country, and in turn more effective governance due to accountability and vice versa. A low level of social capital consequently means the opposite; mutual distrust, disengagement from political life, and low levels of go...
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...clusions reached in the passage on the paradigm shift in the south may be quite a radical departure from the theories reached by Putnam, introducing Dahl seems to remedy the problems faced by the south in a more pragmatic way. The introduction of this political entrepreneur, at a relatively basic level, could remedy the issues of government failure and lack of social capital. Putnam’s theory of social capital would tie into this due to the fact that the citizens would finally be able to have an approachable leader who is knowledgeable how to barter between the vested interests of the local élites and those of the citizens, and therefore increase their importance in the society. In this sense, the political entrepreneur may be able to reverse the vicious cycle of social capital experienced by southern Italy, and begin the path to accountable and effective democracy.
Mintz Eric, Close David, Croc Osvaldo. Politics, Power and the Common Good: An Introduction to Political Science. 2009. Toronto: Pearson Canada. 15,147,183.
Civic engagement, overall, is on the decline according to Putnam (informal activities in particular, however, are ones that Americans, on average engage in more often). This decline applies to cities because of certain urban characteristics. The city, because of our division of labour, increases our tendency to drop out of community affairs because of busyness. Also, the city's neighbourhoods do not promote togetherness or a distinct "we" feeling because of a city's sheer population to the point that we actually come to view it as a city of strangers (too many to bother making friends with), unlike in the country where your next neighbour will likely be someone you will feel closer to because of time spent together and having no alternative option to socialize with many other people. Also, electronic entertainment (especially TV watching) gives us less incentive to socialize with our neighbours. In sum, these are just some ways his arguments apply to a city.
Throughout history there have been significant debates, theories and agendas set forward as to what the best form of government is. Many of those individuals and groups who have written on the topic have their critics because they offer points that are highly controversial in theory and problematic when put into practice. John Locke and Publius, which is the collective name for Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay, both published essays with regards to the nature of government and largely championed the notion of democracy. With Locke writing on constitutional government in England and Publius writing on and essentially establishing governmental mechanisms in the United States, both parties inspired the rise of liberalism and democratic government in the modern world (Tinder, 67). However, there are questions to be asked of them and indeed comparisons to be made. This essay will examine the arguments set forth by Publius and Locke with a view to proving that they do indeed champion strong government and arguably exclude arbitrary governmental traits that may constrain attempts to do what is best for the individual rather than the people as a whole. In effect, the constraints they put in place in their texts established a balance of power that had its limits and weaknesses but ultimately appeared to be fair.
Becker uses rhetorical questions such as “What are we to think of this sudden reversal in fortune and prestige? How explain it? What to do about it?” (149). these questions are raised by Becker, intended to create thought and leave the reader pondering. Despite the euphoric image that Becker creates for democracy he understands that although grandiose in theory, is highly reliant on the present condition of the citizens. He states that they must be “capable of managing their own affairs” (152). However, Becker provides an enumeration for this rhetoric. In order for democracy to survive, Becker recognizes that certain conditions need to be present, mobility, necessity for economic security, ease of communication and industrial prosperity. (151-152).
Higgs, Robert. "POLITICS & PROSPERITY." POLITICS PROSPERITY. N.p., 01 Sept. 2010. Web. 12 May 2014.
Similar to a well oiled machine, a political system is concerned with processing the demands of a society to then provide the goods and services demanded while ensuring its own establishment (Berg 1). However, considering that the idea of a political system is a social construct, its form is subject to a myriad of complex and conflicting forces. The most palpable force is that of a city’s financial needs. Any locale has the burden of satisfying the demands of its constituents with limited resources. In addition to having limited resources, urban cities are also usually comprised of many diverse ethnic backgrounds with different demands and needs. Equitable distribution of limited resources to different ethnic and social backgrounds could have
To fully understand why social, economic, and cultural capital could lead to success or failure, it is essential to know the difference between the three. Social capital is defined by the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development as “the links, shared values, and understandings in society that enable individuals and groups to trust each other and to work together” (OECD, 2015). Social capital can be multiple things including family members, colleagues, and strangers who have the
Travis Hirschi presented a social bonding theory in 1969. The main idea of the social bonding theory is that each and every individual has a drive to act in selfish and even aggressive ways that might possibly lead to criminal behavior. Social bonding theory is somewhat have similarities with the Durkheim theory that “we are all animals, and thus naturally capable of committing criminal acts” (Tibbetts, 2012, p. 162). However, the stronger a person is bonded to the conventional society, for example, family, schools, communities, the less prone a person is to be involved in criminal activity. The great example of this would be the serial killer Nannie Doss. Since early age she did not have any bonds either to her family with an abusive father or to community she lived in. Most of the time during her childhood she was isolated from any social interactions with her schoolmates or friends.
In making this argument this essay seeks to five things. Firstly, to define democracy within the contemporary context offering the key characteristics of a modern re...
But the good men did not remain good: they began to make money out of that which was the common property of all. And to some such development we may plausibly ascribe the origin of oligarchies, since men made wealth a thing of honour. The next change was to tyrannies, and from tyrannies to democracy. For the struggle to get rich at all costs tended to reduce numbers, and so increased the power of the multitude, who rose up and formed democracies. And now that there has been a further increase in the size of states, one might say that it is hard to avoid having a democratic constitution”
Putnam concluded that the communities with "higher diversity" also experienced "lower social capital" (Jonas,18). Putnam explains that the more diverse a community is the less trusting and involved are its members. This distrust in people is rooted in the concentration on the idea that has been repeated since childhood that focused on what makes people different. Jonas makes the point that in Putnam’s study the seemed to be no connection between distrust
generalizable to the population because the social bonds solely emphasized on typical white families. However, the psychodynamic theory managed to address the weaknesses of the social bond theory because it’s generalizable towards the population to a greater extent. For instance, psychodynamic theory interventions were tested on the African population in Nigeria who were adolescents from the lower class as these psychodynamic interventions were easy to conduct among populations in order to draw inferences (Taiwo & Osinowo, 2011, pp. 627-629).
Jennifer Unger & C. Anderson Johnson, “Explaining Exercise Behavior and Satisfaction with Social Exchange Theory,” Perceptual and Motor Skills 81 (1995): 603-608.
In 1969, Travis Hirschi developed what is known as Social Bond Theory. Hirschi built on the work of other social control theorists and was able to provide a better picture of what social bond is. In Social Bond Theory there are four basic elements that make up social bonds. They are attachment, involvement, commitment, and belief. It is these four bonds that all humans hold and ultimately determine conformity or deviant behavior(Agnew, 1985).
..., Robert D. Putnam’s theory that civic culture is enough to sustain democracy is not accurate because situations like the backsliding of Weimar Germany away from democracy can happen even with the presence of a high civic culture. Instead of focusing on improving the numbers of people that a part of associational memberships, read newspapers and other media outlets, the number of people that turnout for national elections and the amount of informed voters there needs to be a focus on improving the quality of Civic Participation. There needs to focus on eliminating polarized cleavages within society and eliminating media bias in favor of bipartisan coverage in order to achieve the ‘right’ civic participation. There also needs to be a stable economy where people are not worried about not