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Cited by 14,037Social Capital and NetworksPolitical Theory and DemocracyElectoral Systems and Political Participation

Bowling Alone: America's Declining Social Capital

Putnam, Robert D·1995·Journal of Democracy
DOI 10.1353/jod.1995.0002
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Abstract

Bowling Alone: America’s Declining Social Capital Robert D. Putnam (bio) Many students of the new democracies that have emerged over the past decade and a half have emphasized the importance of a strong and active civil society to the consolidation of democracy. Especially with regard to the postcommunist countries, scholars and democratic activists alike have lamented the absence or obliteration of traditions of independent civic engagement and a widespread tendency toward passive reliance on the state. To those concerned with the weakness of civil societies in the developing or postcommunist world, the advanced Western democracies and above all the United States have typically been taken as models to be emulated. There is striking evidence, however, that the vibrancy of American civil society has notably declined over the past several decades. Ever since the publication of Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America, the United States has played a central role in systematic studies of the links between democracy and civil society. Although this is in part because trends in American life are often regarded as harbingers of social modernization, it is also because America has traditionally been considered unusually “civic” (a reputation that, as we shall later see, has not been entirely unjustified). When Tocqueville visited the United States in the 1830s, it was the Americans’ propensity for civic association that most impressed him as the key to their unprecedented ability to make democracy work. “Americans of all ages, all stations in life, and all types of disposition,” [End Page 65] he observed, “are forever forming associations. There are not only commercial and industrial associations in which all take part, but others of a thousand different types—religious, moral, serious, futile, very general and very limited, immensely large and very minute. . . . Nothing, in my view, deserves more attention than the intellectual and moral associations in America.” 1 Recently, American social scientists of a neo-Tocquevillean bent have unearthed a wide range of empirical evidence that the quality of public life and the performance of social institutions (and not only in America) are indeed powerfully influenced by norms and networks of civic engagement. Researchers in such fields as education, urban poverty, unemployment, the control of crime and drug abuse, and even health have discovered that successful outcomes are more likely in civically engaged communities. Similarly, research on the varying economic attainments of different ethnic groups in the United States has demonstrated the importance of social bonds within each group. These results are consistent with research in a wide range of settings that demonstrates the vital importance of social networks for job placement and many other economic outcomes. Meanwhile, a seemingly unrelated body of research on the sociology of economic development has also focused attention on the role of social networks. Some of this work is situated in the developing countries, and some of it elucidates the peculiarly successful “network capitalism” of East Asia. 2 Even in less exotic Western economies, however, researchers have discovered highly efficient, highly flexible “industrial districts” based on networks of collaboration among workers and small entrepreneurs. Far from being paleoindustrial anachronisms, these dense interpersonal and interorganizational networks undergird ultramodern industries, from the high tech of Silicon Valley to the high fashion of Benetton. The norms and networks of civic engagement also powerfully affect the performance of representative government. That, at least, was the central conclusion of my own 20-year, quasi-experimental study of subnational governments in different regions of Italy. 3 Although all these regional governments seemed identical on paper, their levels of effectiveness varied dramatically. Systematic inquiry showed that the quality of governance was determined by longstanding traditions of civic engagement (or its absence). Voter turnout, newspaper readership, membership in choral societies and football clubs—these were the hallmarks of a successful region. In fact, historical analysis suggested that these networks of organized reciprocity and civic solidarity, far from being an epiphenomenon of socioeconomic modernization, were a precondition for it. No doubt the mechanisms through which civic engagement and social connectedness produce such results—better schools, faster economic [End Page 66] development, lower crime, and more effective government—are multiple and complex. While these briefly recounted findings require further confirmation and perhaps qualification, the...

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  • In 1995, Robert Putnam diagnosed that citizens in established democracies are questioning the effectiveness of their public institutions and that democratic disarray may be linked to a broad and continuing erosion of civic engagement that began a quarter-century earlier.

    “In 1995, Robert Putnam famously diagnosed that, 'in the established democracies, […] citizens are questioning the effectiveness of their public institutions' and 'there is reason to suspect that this democratic disarray may be linked to a broad and continuing erosion of civic engagement that began a quarter-century ago' (Putnam, 1995, p. 78).”

    From Make Social Media Social Again: How Platform Interoperability Can Fix Social Media and Future‐Proof Democracy (2025) · cites this paper as Putnam, 1995

  • Smartphones influence well-being by replacing other activities (the displacement hypothesis).

    “According to the displacement hypothesis [16], screen time-regardless of whether it is on a desktop, TV, or phone-influences psychological outcomes by replacing other activities (c.f., Bowling Alone ; [17]).”

    From The effects of smartphones on well-being: theoretical integration and research agenda (2020) · cites this paper as [17]

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Authors
Putnam, R. D.
Corresponding author
Putnam, Robert D
Venue
Journal of Democracy
Publisher
Project MUSE
Published
1995-01
Volume
6
Issue
1
Pages
65-78
ISSN
  • 1045-5736 (ISSN-L)
  • 1086-3214
DOI
10.1353/jod.1995.0002
OpenAlex
W2157619495
Cited by
14,037
References
18
Citations by year
2026: 243 · 2025: 290 · 2024: 389 · 2023: 406 · 2022: 475 · 2021: 763 · 2020: 548 · 2019: 649 · 2018: 666 · 2017: 613 · 2016: 612 · 2015: 680 · 2014: 734 · 2013: 685 · 2012: 631
FWCI
483.91
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
Journal of democracy (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social Capital and Networks
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Political Theory and Democracy
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Electoral Systems and Political Participation
Keywords
social capital, civil society, citizen participation, social networks, social norms, Alexis de Tocqueville, social bonds, social capital theory

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