tuning in, tuning out: the strange disappearance of social capital in america robert putnam ps:...
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Tuning In, Tuning Out: The Strange Disappearance of Social Capital in America
Robert PutnamPS: 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 DetermineDoes 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 matter3. 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 (149-150)
Causes of Social Capital Decline: - Busyness and time pressure- Economic hard times- Suburbanization- Movement of women into paid labor force- 1960s: 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 (149-150)Any potential causes or explanation for the decline of social capital must
pass several tests (Conditions of Causality):
1. Correlation2. Time-order3. Spuriousness
Social Capital
Editing the List of Causes of Social Capital Decline:
1. Education2. Pressures of Time and Money3. Mobility and Suburbanization4. Changing role of women5. Marriage and family6. rise of the welfare state7. 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 WomenA 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: VariablesGeneration: 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 CycleAge 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-20th century.
Generation versus Life Cycle (Age)