Generating Social Capital : Civil Society and Institutions in Comparative Perspective

The contributors look at the generation of social capital from two directions: society-based approaches and institutional approaches. Using a variety of methods, they indicate how both play a role in generating social capital and point to practical policies that facilitate its development.;Cover; Contents; Acknowledgments; 1 Introduction: Generating Social Capital; 2 The Sources of Social Capital; 3 Democracy in France: Do Associations Matter?; 4 The Importance of Passive Membership for Social Capital Formation; 5 Voluntary Associations and Democratic Attitudes: Value Congruence as a Causal Mechanism; 6 Associations or Informal Networks? Social Capital and Local Development Practices; 7 Rain or Fog? An Empirical Examination of Social Capital's Rainmaker Effects; 8 A Tale of Two Cities: Local Patterns of Social Capital. Cover Contents Acknowledgments 1 Introduction: Generating Social Capital 2 The Sources of Social Capital 3 Democracy in France: Do Associations Matter? 4 The Importance of Passive Membership for Social Capital Formation 5 Voluntary Associations and Democratic Attitudes: Value Congruence as a Causal Mechanism 6 Associations or Informal Networks? Social Capital and Local Development Practices 7 Rain or Fog? An Empirical Examination of Social Capital's Rainmaker Effects 8 A Tale of Two Cities: Local Patterns of Social Capital. 9 Trust, Democracy and Governance: Can Government Policies Influence Generalized Trust?10 Social Capital, Impartiality and the Welfare State: An Institutional Approach 11 Institutions and Their Impact on Social Capital and Civic Culture: The Case of Italy 12 Conclusion: The Sources of Social Capital Reconsidered About the Authors Index. Annotation Social capital--networks of civic engagements, norms of reciprocity, and attitudes of trust--is widely seen as playing a key role for the health of democracy. While many authors have examined the consequences of social capital, there is a pressing need to explore its sources. This collection brings together leading American and European scholars in the first comparative analysis of how social trust and other civic attitudes are generated. The contributors to this volume examine the generation of social capital from two directions: society-based approaches that emphasize voluntary associations, and institutional approaches that emphasize policy Social capital - networks of civic engagements, norms of reciprocity, and attitudes of trust - is widely seen as playing a key role for the health of democracy. While many authors have examined the consequences of social capital, there is a pressing need to explore its sources. This collection brings together leading American and European scholars in the first comparative analysis of how social trust and other civic attitudes are generated. The contributors to this volume examine the generation of social capital from two directions: society-based approaches that emphasize voluntary associations, and institutional approaches that emphasize policy.