ABSTRACT
For the last two decades, the idea of social capital has been identified as a remedy for many, if not most, of the ills and woes of states and societies. The field of democratization is no exception. In 1993, Robert Putnam, whose book Making Democracy Work today has the status of a ‘modern classic’, showed how the concept of social capital could be successfully applied on a broad scale. He states:
Democratic government is strengthened, not weakened when it faces a vigorous civil society. … without norms of reciprocity and networks of civic engagement, the Hobbesian outcome of the Mezzogiorno – amoral familism, cientilism, lawlessness, ineffective government, and economic stagnation – seems likelier than successful democratization and economic development.
(Putnam 1993: 182–183)