Social Capital and Associative Democracy: A Relational Perspective

Robert Putnam has presented an emblematic version of the relationships between associational democracy and social capital. But his studies, and those of his followers, are far from being satisfactory. The main shortcoming of Putnam’s theory lies in identifying the concept of social capital with civic culture. The Author argues that the three concepts of civic culture, associative democracy and social capital are co-related but distinct. They influence each other and combine together in many different ways depending on social contexts and dynamics. A new sociological paradigm needs developing, which may be able to express a generalized theory of social capital and its connections with civic culture and civil associations. The paper puts forward a new paradigm, called ‘relational’, which has been tested in a series of empirical surveys on the Italian population, which are briefly summarized here. By studying social capital, and its effects, through social networks we can explain and understand the emergent associational realities, endowed with sui generis powers, which are not seen by those studies which focus on individuals and sociocultural structures as the followers of Putnam usually do.