We would like to acknowledge the support of the Pew Charitable Trusts, which made this project possible.
Few contemporary topics have had such an impact on America' s intellectual community as social capital. The study of social capital and its correlatestrust, civic engagement, volunteerism, and communitarian values-has occupied political and social scientists to such a degree that a literature review alone would be a substantial undertaking. Seemingly all at once, the term has come into vogue in the popular media and been identified as the critical element in democratic stability, while its decline has been mourned as America' s newest shortcoming. It is clear that, as both a concept and a facet of American political and social life, social capital is important.
What is less clear is exactly what social capital is. In sociologist James Coleman' s original conceptualization, social capital was defined as "a social resource for 'getting things done'" 1 that may or may not be put to use. Coleman believed that social capital is an inherent aspect of any social interaction that provides the foundation by which some future social action is initiated. Another conception holds that social capital pertains to attributes of individuals that favor their civic engagement. On this account, social capital is a kind of civic resource. This latter notion reflects Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam' s substantial narrowing of the original concept, since he clearly attaches normative value to an initially normatively neutral term. Further, social capital for Putnam is best reflected in the quality and density of associational lifea view rightly described as neo-Tocquevillean. Putnam' s pathbreaking Making Democracy Work set forth the understanding of social capital most widely used. Putnam' s argument, writ small, is a simple one. Focusing on the experiences of northern and southern Italy in attempting to implement democratic accountability, Putnam suggested that Italian history offers a lesson that "both states and markets operate more efficiently in civic settings." 3 For Putnam, social capital is best identified in formal associational membership and high levels of interpersonal trust.