Essay on The Theory of Social Capital

Unlike the national government, state governments encourage and support religious activities’ that inculcates virtue in the citizens (Bryner, Public Virtue and the Roots of American Government, 1987). Hence, in a small republic (state), there is a higher probability of finding true natural aristocrats with wisdom, talents and virtue to be representatives of the state. Being virtuous and wise, the representatives practice self-restraint to act in their own self-interest. For instance, corruption causes the funds to be diverted away from establishing a better society through the upgrading of facilities, provision of education and healthcare services. Furthermore, representatives in a small republic are a clear reflection of the citizens’ interests (Lim, 2014). Elections are held every few years to select the best representatives for the state. During the period of campaigning, the candidates have direct contact with the citizens through to organization of rallies and walkabouts where they interact with the electorate and understand their concerns. Hence, the electorate has an idea of whether the potential representatives are truly virtuous. Since these representatives are highly talented, they will also have the knowledge to implement appropriate laws and policies to manage the concerns of the

Robert D. Putnam, a political scientist and professor, contends in his essay titled “Bowling Alone: America's Declining Social Capital” that there has been a decline in the social capital over the last several decades. He names that are different factors to explain this, including changes in the workforce, mobility, demographics, and technology. However, mostly it is a change in the

Italy’s problems started with the fact that it didn’t have one main ruler, but two people and a concept, resulting in a different approach to the unification. Gulseppe Mazzini had a radical program focusing on a centralized democratic republic based on universal suffrage and the will of the people. Vincenzo Gioberti, who was a catholic priest called for a federation of existing states

This factor is often overlooked as a reason impacting voter turnout but it is important nonetheless. The term “social capital” has been subject to various definitions over time. Basically, what this term refers to is the variety of social ties between individuals, and the differing connections that arise between individuals as a result of participating in various activities and organizations. "It should be noted that membership in civic organizations has steadily declined since the late 1950s. This decline in social capital means that people participate in group activities less, trust others less, and are generally more cynical, just to name a few of the symptoms.

Whoever ignores this love of the individual regions of Italy will always build on sand.” (DOC 2) People believed the diverse social classes and power would not make for a unified country. Count Camillo Benso di Cavour, a politician from Piedmont-Sardinia, said, “Active power resides almost exclusively in the middle class and part of the upper class, both of which have ultraconservative interests to defend.” (DOC 4) Daniele Manin, a politician from Venice, wrote, “Peoples who have different origins and customs should not be forced together, because otherwise civil war will follow the war of independence.” (DOC 6) People against unification felt that bringing the diverse states together would cause more problems and do more harm than good. There were obvious pros and cons to the unification if Italy, but some civilians were on the fence.

Social network and social connectedness are important to the health of not only individual human beings but also the community and even the entire society. However, the connection among people had been declining for years. As Robert Putnam analyzes in his “Bowling Alone: America’s Declining Social Capital,” America’s national election turnout declines, possibly implying the decline in civic engagement and even the democracy. He stresses the importance of the traditional, face-to-face interactions among people as the fundamental means to build up social connectedness. Besides the reasons he gives in his article, I think the decline in social networking also ties to the city constructions (idea inspired by the video “The Social Life of Small

Robert Putnam's basic thesis is that there is a decline in civic engagement in urban cities. He goes on to explore different probable factors that are causing the decline in civic engagement. First off, he dichotomizes civic engagement into two categories: machers and schmoozers. Machers and schmoozers are people who engage in formal kinds of civic engagement (following politics) and informal kinds of civic engagement (hanging out with friends) respectively.

When I think about a political community, I usually associate it with elections, politicians, and advertisements that bad mouth candidates from the different political parties. Politicians try to persuade citizens to vote for them by making promises that they may never fulfill. But a political community is more than that. A comparison of Aristotle and John Locke’s nature and purpose of a political community has given me a new insight. I learned that, even though the political community is responsible to provide security, its main purpose is aimed for the highest good of all its citizens, which is virtue and happiness.

Geographically, Italy is comprised of a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, as well as two large islands. The shape of Italy has been depicted as a ‘boot’ in many cartoons and drawings for years. The country covers over 116,000 square miles, making it approximately the combined size of Florida and Georgia. (Killinger, 2002) Italy is a democratic republic that has a current population of around 60 million people, making it the twenty-third most populous country in the world. Italy

Italy, positioned in southeastern Europe, is a beautiful country that is faced with high unemployment, corruption and massive debt. Although it appears to be one of the most developed countries in Europe, Italy is somewhat of a laggard in globalization. Ranking twenty-third in world population, Italy stands at 56,126,212 people as of July 2009. The north and south seem to be split in economic terms with the north being well developed industrially and the south facing high unemployment and poverty. Italy is a democratic republic that replaced a monarchy back in 1946. Although it ranks seventh in world GDP and public debt and attracts millions of tourists every year, its current debt to GDP ratio continues to skyrocket. World economists

Involvement is evident in the P. A.L program through the many activities that they offer to the kids so that there is something for everyone. The program offers things ranging from “arts & crafts, computer classes, culinary arts, dances, field trips, gymnastics, jewelry making, tutoring and personal development; as well as local, state and national tournaments in basketball, golf, karate, soccer and softball.” ("Pasadena pal program," 2012) With all these activities available to the kids, it is no doubt that some of the kids participate in more than one of

one essential conviction, expressed in the word democracy itself: that power should be in the hands of the people. Although democracy today has been slightly inefficient in this idea, with the wealthy, elite class challenging this right, “it nevertheless claims for itself a fundamental validity that no other kind of society shares….” To completely understand the structure of democracy, one must return to the roots of the practice itself, and examine the origins in ancient Greece, the expansion in the Roman Empire, and how these practices combined make what we recognize as today’s democratic government.

As a result of how Italy was created but not fully unified, the new Italian state suffered from a variety of weaknesses which the new liberal state was unable to tackle these. This made Italy susceptible to the appeal of fascism, and therefore aided Mussolini’s rise to power.

This paper will critically evaluate the methodology used in Robert Putnam’s Making Democracy Work. By relying on what the methodological arguments that were taught this semester, this paper will discuss and evaluate in detail the various methodological strategies employed by the author. For the ‘Theory’ theme, this paper will examine casual mechanisms (and methodological individualism) topic, closely referencing the course reading Social Mechanisms by Peter Hedstrom and Richard Swedbeg. Next, for the ‘Measurement and Data’ theme, this paper will specifically examine the measurement validity and reliability topic, and will closely reference “Measurement validity: A Shared Standard for qualitative and Quantitative Research” by Robert Adcock and David Colllier. Finally, for the ‘Testing Theory with Data Theory’, this paper will be examining the history as an explanation topic, closely referencing “The Study of Critical Junctures: Theory, Narrative and Counterfactuals in Historical Intuitionalism” by Giovanni Capoccia and Daniel Kelemen, as well as the relevant topic, Quantitative versus Qualitative Methods. The paper will start by summarizing the readings relevant to the topics of the themes, then delve into the pertinent methodology in Putnam’s book.

Obviously, the newly united Italian state was greeted with much celebration. Unfortunately, it was also only a start. In truth, fundamental problems still plagued the country and had to be addressed if complete hegemony was to be achieved: firstly, the new Kingdom of Italy suffered from extreme backwardness and secondly, it was still deeply divided. The new Italy was split between north and south, between cities and countryside, between regions, between cities and localities,