Question

Putnam, Robert. 1995 “Bowling Alone: America’s Declining Social Capital.”

Journal of

Democracy

6(1)65-78.

1)

Define the concept of “social capital”. Why is it so important to the functioning

of the American social and political system?

2)

Do you agree with Putnam’s argument that we are suffering a crisis in civic

engagement? Why or why not?

3)

How involved are you in your community, at KU, at home? Are you politically

engaged in anyway? Why or why no

Answer 1

1).

Social Capital

The term social capital refers to a positive product of human interaction. The positive outcome may be tangible or intangible and may include useful information, innovative ideas, and future opportunities. It can be used to describe the contribution to an organization's success that can be attributed to personal relationships and networks, both within and outside an organization. It can also be used to describe the personal relationships within a company that help build trust and respect among employees, leading to enhanced company performance.

Social capital allows a group of people to work together effectively to achieve a common purpose or goal. It allows a society or organization, such as a corporation or a nonprofit, to function together as a whole through trust and shared identity, norms, values, and mutual relationships. Put simply, social capital benefits society as a whole through social relationships. As such, the study of how social capital works or fails to work pervades the social sciences.

Social capital is important because it represents the productive benefits of sociability. The importance of social capital cannot be understated since it relates to every benefit of living in society rather than as a hermit. Social capital has been described as both a glue and lubricant – a glue that holds societies together without which collaboration and cooperation would not be possible; and a lubricant that facilitates getting things done. Without social capital, humans could not work together. This is because social capital is the shared values, norms, trust, and belonging that makes social exchange possible. Our society, economy, institutions, and political system could not exist without social capital. The definition of social capital defines its importance. The importance of social capital has been investigated in relation to regional development, educational attainment, public health, economic and business performance, career success, innovation, and organizational performance. These are just some of the benefits of social capital.

2).

The vast majority of democratic theory, and deliberative democratic theory in particular, either implicitly or explicitly assumes the need for widespread citizen participation. It requires that all citizens possess the opportunity to participate and also that they take up this opportunity. But empirical evidence gathered over the past half-century strongly suggests that many citizens do not have a meaningful opportunity to participate in the ways that many democratic theorists require, and do not participate in anything like the numbers that they believe is necessary. This paper outlines some of the profound changes that have been experienced by liberal democratic states in the 20th and early 21st Centuries, changes which are still ongoing, and which have resulted in declines in citizens participation and trust, the marginalization of citizens from democratic life, and the entrenchment of social and economic inequalities which have damaged democracy. The paper challenges the conventional wisdom in rejecting the idea that the future of democracy lies in encouraging more widespread participation. The paper takes seriously the failure of the strategies adopted by many states to increase participation, especially among the poor, and suggests that instead of requiring more citizens, we should in fact be requiring less of them. Instead of seeking to encourage more citizen participation, we should acknowledge that citizens will probably not participate in the volume, or in the ways, many democratic theorists would like, and that therefore we need an alternative approach: a regime which can continue to produce democratic outcomes, and which satisfies the requirements of political equality, in the absence of widespread participation by citizens.

Deliberative democrats connect insights among Anglo-American political philosophers working in the egalitarian tradition about the association between socioeconomic and political inequality with analyses produced by political scientists about changing patterns of political participation in democracies around the world. In doing so, they infuse normative debates about the future of liberal democracy with an awareness of hard empirical data and contribute to the wider search for solutions. Deliberative democracy is appealing to many liberal egalitarians as it folds a critique of markets, and defense of egalitarian redistribution, into arguments for democracy. Democracy, for deliberative democrats, is not separate from social justice: social justice is required in order for democracy to function as it should.

hence I agree with Putnam’s argument that we are suffering a crisis in civic engagement.

3).

As a citizen am very much involved with my society, each and every problem that my society facing is mine too, thus am responsible to be part of finding a solution to the problem. Because today or tomorrow it may affect me and my family, before that finding solution for the problem that affecting my community is also my responsibility.

Also am responsible for my family, because I value my family. thus I try to carry democracy in my family atmosphere. it gives members involved in every action taken to the family.

When it comes to politics, Am not residing with any political parties. Americans have become pretty pessimistic. People don’t trust political parties. Voter turnout is mediocre. Cynicism and polarization are rampant. But this pessimism belies a truth: Individual Americans have more political power than they realize. From the Tea Party on the right to the Trump resistance on the left, citizen activism has helped change American politics in recent years. If politics is a conversation, every American has a voice.