Tuning In, Tuning Out: The Strange Disappearance of Social Capital in America Robert Putnam PS: Political Science and Politics 1995

Social Capital: Definition of Terms Theory and Measures of Social Capital Definition: Social Capital “features of social life -- networks, norms, and trust -- that enable participants to act together more effectively to pursue shared objectives.” Different from Political Participation: “Political participation refers to a relationship with political institutions. Social Capital refers to a relationship with one another.”

Social Capital: Definition of Terms Theory and Measures of Social Capital Other Terms: Civic Engagement “Refers to people’s connections with the life of their communities not merely with politics.” Civic engagement and social trust are strongly correlated (they move together, that is, they go up or down together: Positive relationship). Direction of Causality: Hard to Determine Does civic engagement increase trust or does trust facilitate civic engagement?

Social Capital: Definition of Terms Theory of Social Capital (147) The theory of social capital presumes that…the more we connect with other people, the more we trust them, and vice versa. Correlation: Social Trust and civic engagement are strongly correlated.

Social Capital: Problem/Topic Bowling Alone: Trends in Civic Engagement Evidence of Declining Social Capital - Membership in civic associations is declining (PTA, Red Cross, Elks Club, unions, bowling leagues). - Time Spent Socializing is down (by a quarter since 1965). - Political Participation (including voting, especially among young people) is down

Social Capital: Thesis Bowling Alone: Trends in Civic Engagement Thesis: Social Capital is in Decline “The weight of the available evidence confirms that Americans today are significantly less engaged with their communities that was true generation ago.” (148)

Social Capital: Research Questions Bowling Alone: Trends in Civic Engagement Research Questions: (149) 1. Is true that America’s stock of social capital has diminished? 2. Does it matter 3. What can we do about it? Causes? To answer the third question we need to first understand the causes of the strange malady afflicting American civil life.

Social Capital: Causes Explaining the Erosion of Social Capital ( ) Causes of Social Capital Decline: - Busyness and time pressure - Economic hard times - Suburbanization - Movement of women into paid labor force s: Political Disillusionment/Distrust of Government (ANES data) - Frowth of Welfare state - Civil Rights Movement - Television? - Internet?

Social Capital: Causality Explaining the Erosion of Social Capital ( ) Any potential causes or explanation for the decline of social capital must pass several tests (Conditions of Causality): 1. Correlation 2. Time-order 3. Spuriousness

Social Capital Editing the List of Causes of Social Capital Decline: 1. Education 2. Pressures of Time and Money 3. Mobility and Suburbanization 4. Changing role of women 5. Marriage and family 6. rise of the welfare state 7. Race and the Civil Rights revolution … we need to examine how each has potentially impacted the decline in social capital.

Social Capital: Variables Education (151) Educated people are more likely to be joiners, and to trust people. Education levels have risen in the country, but levels of social capital have not. Education Levels: “Since 1972, the proportion of all adults with…more than 12 years has nearly doubled, rising from 285 to 50%.” Findings: Education matters (it has an impact on social capital) but it is not the primary cause…

Social Capital: Variables Pressures of Time and Money (152) Have longer working hours contrinbuted to declining levels of social capital. Time and Money: “The proportion of us who report feeling ‘always rushed’ jumped by half between the mid-1960s and the mid-1990s.” Much of this is explained by heightened job insecurity and declining wages over this time period. Findings: The available evidence strongly suggests that…longer hours on the job are not associated with lower civic involvement or reduced social trust.

Social Capital: Variables Social Mobility and Suburbanization (153) Scholars have argued (including Putnam) that moving frequently, and not purchasing a home reduces levels of civic engagement. Findings: There is limited evidence to support the idea that levels of civic engagement are negatively effected by residential mobility. People in the US were slighlt more mobile in the 1950s when levels of civic engagement were higher, than in the 1990s when civic participation declined.

Social Capital: Variables The Changing Role of Women A number of scholars have also argued that women entering the workforce in large numbers in the 1970s and 1980s eroded levels of civic engagement in the US. Findings: “It is not easy to find any micro-level data that tie that fact directly to their entry into the labor force.” Though women are less civically involved, studies that show “that the major decline in informal socializing since 1965 has been…concentrated among non-employed women.”

Social Capital: Variables Generation: Do generational changes contribute to declining levels of civic engagement? Findings: The short answer is yes. There appears to have been a long “civic generation” born between 1910 and 1940 who were more civically engaged and trusting. Generation, Not Age: Period More Important than Life Cycle Age does impact civic engagement: Older people belong to more civic organizations. But the impact of age has declined over time. Older people in the 1990s were less involved than the same age cohort in the 1940s. It was a particular generation, not simply older people who increased civic engagement levels in the mid-20 th century.

Generation versus Life Cycle (Age)