Now it is time to wrap up your investigation and to consider future investigation of social capital. In the final section of Bowling Alone, "What Is to Be Done?" Putnam places the decline of social capital in historical context and presents a challenge to Americans to restore community and social capital in America. On page 403, Putnam writes that this is both a "collective and individual initiative" and avoids "proclaiming any panacea." However, what Putnam has done is to initiate a "concerted nationwide conversation modeled on the intensive interchange among scholars and practitioners in the Progressive Era" called the "Saguaro Seminar: Civic Engagement in America." The ongoing results of the "Saguaro Seminar" are available on a continuously updated Web site.
Read Bowling Alone, Chapters 23-24
Answer Questions 1-3
As part of Putnam's initiative with the "Saguaro Seminar," he coauthored the following book: Putnam, Robert D., Lewis Feldstein, and Donald J. Cohen. 2003. Better Together: Restoring the American Community. New York: Simon & Schuster. Read this book.
Answer Question 4
In 2002 with the Institute for Women's Policy Research, Robert D. Putnam and Amy Ciazza wrote "Women's Status and Social Capital Across the States. " Read this article.
Answer Question 6
Read the following June 2006 article in The Washington Post, "Social Isolation Growing in U.S., Study Finds: Many Americans Have Less of a Safety Net of Close Friends and Confidants."
Answer Question 7
About the Site - Introduction - Social Capital - Datasets - Exercises