Robert D. Putnam

Robert D. Putnam
Putnam in 2019
Born	Robert David Putnam (1941-01-09) January 9, 1941 (age 83) Rochester, New York, U.S.
Other names	Bob Putnam[4]
Spouse	Rosemary ​ (m. 1963)​
Awards	Commander of the PhD)
Thesis	Politicians and Politics[1] (1970)
Academic work
Discipline	Political sociology
School or tradition	Communitarianism
Institutions	University of Michigan Harvard University
Doctoral students	David E. Campbell[2] David Rayside[3]
Main interests	Social capital
Notable works	Making Democracy Work (1993) Bowling Alone (2000)
Notable ideas	Two-level game theory

Robert David Putnam

Putnam developed the influential

His first work in the area of social capital was Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy. published in 1993. It is a comparative study of regional governments in Italy that drew great scholarly attention for its argument that the success of democracies depends in large part on the horizontal bonds that make up social capital.^[12] Putnam writes that northern Italy's history of community, guilds, clubs, and choral societies led to greater civic involvement and greater economic prosperity.^[13] Meanwhile, the agrarian society of Southern Italy is less prosperous economically and democratically because of less social capital. Social capital, which Putnam defines as "networks and norms of civic engagement", allows members of a community to trust one another.^[13] When community members trust one another, trade, money-lending, and democracy flourish.^{[citation needed]}

Putnam's finding that social capital has pro-democracy effects has been rebutted by a sizable literature which finds that civic associations have been associated with the rise of anti-democratic movements.^[14][15][16]

Bowling Alone

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In 1995, he published "Bowling Alone: America's Declining Social Capital" in the

In 2000, he published Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, a book-length expansion of the original argument, adding new evidence and answering many of his critics. Though he measured the decline of social capital with data of many varieties, his most striking point was that many traditional civic, social and fraternal organizations – typified by bowling leagues – had undergone a massive decline in membership while the number of people bowling had increased dramatically.

Putnam distinguishes two kinds of social capital: bonding capital and bridging capital. Bonding occurs among similar people (same age, same race, same religion, etc.), while bridging involves the same activities among dissimilar people. He argues that peaceful multi-ethnic societies require both types.^[17] Putnam argues that those two kinds of social capital, bonding and bridging, do strengthen each other. Consequently, with the decline of the bonding capital mentioned above inevitably comes the decline of the bridging capital leading to greater ethnic tensions.

In 2016, Putnam explained his inspiration for the book, by saying,

We've [Americans] been able to run a different kind of society. A less statist society, a more free-market society, because we had real strength in the area of social capital and we had relatively high levels of social trust. We sort of did trust one another, not perfectly, of course, but we did. Not compared to other countries. And all that is declining, and I began to worry, "Well, gee, isn't that going to be a problem, if our system is built for one kind of people and one kind of community, and now we've got a different one. Maybe it's not going to work so well."^[18]

Critics such as the sociologist

Putnam theorizes a relation in the negatives trends in society. He envisions a uniting factor named social capital; originally coined (no evidence provided) by social theorist Alexis de Tocqueville as a strength within America allowing democracy to thrive due to the closeness of society, "trends in civic engagement of a wider sort".^[19] Putnam observes a declining trend in social capital since the 1960s. The decreasing in social capital is blamed for rising rates in unhappiness as well as political apathy. Low social capital, a feeling of alienation within society is associated with additional consequences such as:

• Lower confidence in local government, local leaders and the local news media.
• Lower political efficacy – that is, confidence in one's own influence.
• Lower frequency of registering to vote, but more interest and knowledge about politics and more participation in protest marches and social reform groups.
• Higher political advocacy, but lower expectations that it will bring about a desirable result.
• Less expectation that others will cooperate to solve dilemmas of collective action (e.g., voluntary conservation to ease a water or energy shortage).
• Less likelihood of working on a community project.
• Less likelihood of giving to charity or volunteering.
• Fewer close friends and confidants.
• Less happiness and lower perceived quality of life.
• More time spent watching television and more agreement that "television is my most important form of entertainment".

Diversity and trust within communities

In recent years, Putnam has been engaged in a comprehensive study of the relationship between

Putnam published his data set from this study in 2001[21]^[22] and subsequently published the full paper in 2007.^[20]

Putnam has been criticized for the lag between his initial study and his publication of his article. In 2006, Putnam was quoted in the Financial Times as saying he had delayed publishing the article until he could "develop proposals to compensate for the negative effects of diversity" (quote from John Lloyd of Financial Times).^[23] In 2007, writing in City Journal, John Leo questioned whether this suppression of publication was ethical behavior for a scholar, noting that "Academics aren't supposed to withhold negative data until they can suggest antidotes to their findings."^[24] On the other hand, Putnam did release the data in 2001 and publicized this fact.^[25]

Putnam denied allegations he was arguing against diversity in society and contended that his paper had been "twisted" to make a case against race-based admissions to universities. He asserted that his "extensive research and experience confirm the substantial benefits of diversity, including racial and ethnic diversity, to our society."^[26]

Recognition

Memberships and fellowships

He has been a member of

He has received honorary degrees from Stockholm University (in 1993), Ohio State University (2000), University of Antwerp (also 2000), University of Edinburgh (2003), Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli (2011), University of Oxford (2018), and University College London (2019).^{[30][28]: 1 [31]}

In 2013, he was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Barack Obama for "deepening our understanding of community in America."^[32]

In 2015, he was awarded the University of Bologna, ISA Medal for Science for research activities characterized by excellence and scientific value.

Published works

External videos
Presentation by Putnam on Bowling Alone, June 7, 2000, C-SPAN
Booknotes interview with Putnam on Bowling Alone, December 24, 2000, C-SPAN
Presentation by Putnam and Lewis Feldstein on Better Together, September 18, 2003, C-SPAN
Presentation by Putnam on Our Kids, March 31, 2015, C-SPAN

• The Beliefs of Politicians: Ideology, Conflict, and Democracy in Britain and Italy New Haven: Yale University Press, (1973)
• "The Italian Communist Politician" in Communism in Italy and France eds. Donald Blackmer and Sidney Tarrow, Princeton: Princeton University Press
• The Comparative Study of Political Elites Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, (1976)
• Bureaucrats and Politicians in Western Democracies (with Joel D. Aberbach and Bert A. Rockman, 1981)
• Hanging Together: Cooperation and Conflict in the Seven-Power Summits (with Nicholas Bayne, 1984; revised 1987)
  • Staying together: the G8 summit confronts the 21st century. (2005, Aldershot, Hampshire, England:
    OCLC 217979297
    )
• "Diplomacy and Domestic Politics: The Logic of Two-Level Games".
  International Organization
  . 42 (Summer 1988): 427–460.
• Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy (with Robert Leonardi and Raffaella Nanetti, 1993)
• ISBN 978-0-7432-0304-3
• Democracies in Flux: The Evolution of Social Capital in Contemporary Society (Edited by Robert D. Putnam), Oxford University Press, (2002)
• ISBN 978-1-4391-0688-4
• Robert D. Putnam (June 2007). "E Pluribus Unum: Diversity and Community in the Twenty-first Century The 2006 Johan Skytte Prize Lecture".
  Wikidata Q55880625
  .
• Clark, Tom; Putnam, Robert D.; Fieldhouse, Edward (2010). The Age of Obama: The Changing Place of Minorities in British and American Society (Illustrated ed.).
  ISBN 978-0719082788
  .
• Putnam, Robert D.;
  ISBN 978-1416566731
  .
• Putnam, Robert D. (2015). Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis (Hardcover ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster.
  ISBN 978-1476769899
  .
• Putnam, Robert D.; Bridgeland, John (October 19, 2017). "America needs big ideas to heal our divides. Here are three". PBS NewsHour. WETA. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
• Putnam, Robert D.; Garrett, Shaylyn Romney (October 13, 2020). The Upswing: How America came together a century ago and how we can do it again (Hardcover) (1st ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster.
  OCLC 1142896590
  .
• Putnam, Robert D.; Babcock-Lumish, Terry (September 28, 2022). "The White House bowling alley is a symbol of what's wrong with US politics". The Boston Globe. Retrieved September 28, 2022.