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    Bowling Alone

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    Meredith Kaletski

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    ne ar Fava eA RAUL Yok aye 1 01 w (5-2 coors 108 nator Endowment ir Docc andthe Jone Hoping Unver pointe top ity Press. Al igs reserved Journal of Democracy 6.1 (1995) 65-78 ‘Access provided by University of Alabama @ Birmingham As featured on National Public Raalo, The New York Times, and in aber major med, we offer tis Saltau, much-ciseussed Journal of Detnacracy ale by Reber Putnarn, “Bowilng Alone,” You cor aso tnd ivormation at DemocracyNet about the Journal of Democracy wd is sponsor, the National Endowment for Domexracy. Bowling Alon : America's Declining Social Capital Robert D. Putnam An Interview with Robert Putnam. Many stents of the new democracies thst have emerged over the pest decade and a half have emphasizes the importance of w sreng and Bete civ Boel) fo he consslaaton ot demas Especall with regerd to the posicommunist counties, scholars and democrat aeivets afte have lamented the absence or obliteration of traditons ef independent civic engagement and a wiceeoreed tendency toward passive reliance on be sits. To those concemed wity he weskeas oF el soceas in the developing or postcommunist word, tho sdvanoed Wiestem democracies and adove ol the United States have typically been taken as mocels to be emulated. There i siiking evidence, however, that the virency cf American cil society has notably decined over the: post sever Ever sinco the publication of Alesis de Tocquevile's Democracy in America, the United States has Played a cental role in systematic stules of tha inks between demeceracy and cl sosty, lous thsi in part because trends in American Ie aro often regarded aa heroingers of social movemizaton, 1s also because America has tradiionely been considered unusually “ove” (e reputation Met as We ‘shal biersee, has not 2een entvely unjustified}. \Whon Tocquevite vised the Unted Stas inthe 18206, it wos the Americans’ propensity for cv ‘association thet most impressed him as the key to Mel unprecedented asily lo make denocroey ‘work “Americans of all ages, al stations in Ite, and all types of dspostion [end Page 86) he bserved, “are forever forming associalons. There are nt only commatia anc indsstal sssocatons in which all tke part but others of = thousand diferent Ypee~ralgius, mora, serious, flo, vey general and very limited, immensely large and very minute. Netting, in my View, deserves mare ‘tenon than te intelectual and mora associations in America 2 Recent, American social scientists of 2 neo-Tecquovitean bent have unearthed @ wide range of fempircal evidence thatthe qually of publ fe ané the performance of socal istuione (aad a oy In America) afe indeed powerluly infuenced. by nocms and networks. of lve’ engagement Researchers in such tes 8s education, uroan poverty, uramployment, the contol of chive ae Gg {abuse and even health have discovered that sussesfu oltoomes ara nor likely In val engages ommuntes. Siar, research onthe varying economic aliainments of diferent etonic grouparn we Unies States has demonstrated the importance of socal Bands within each group. Thess recut ae ‘tip:y/musejhu.edufournals/journal of demacracy/'v006/6.Itnam hrm) sone wane aa or 1v Sierra Cub is ess the the Lond between ary two members of a gadening Club and more lice the bond between any two Red Sox fans (or perhaps any two devoted Honda owners) they 100 fr the same team and they share some ofthe same interests, but fey ae unaware ofeach cfr existence. THe tos, in short, ere to common symbols, common leadar, and perhape common ils, bal hat ta one another. The theory of social capital aguas ‘hal associational membership should for oramole increase social tust, but this prediction ig much lose svaightfoward with recard to membership {ectary associations. From the poh of view of social connectedness he Envonmertal Defense Fan ‘and @ bowing league are jus not im the same catogary If the growth of trary organizations represents one potential (bt probably not real) counterexample to my thesis, a second countecrend 1s represented by the growng” prommence of nowort ‘Styanizatons, especialy nonprot sence agencies. This socalied thre sector mages eventing ‘tom Oxfam snd the Metopotian Museum of Ato the Ford Foundation and the Mayo Cine ir ote. words, aihaugh most secondary associations are nonptafis, mosl nonoreit egencios: we, ot Secondary associations, To deny trends In the size of the ronproft aecior wth wonds in sol connectedness would be another fundamental conceptual mistake, A third potential countertrend is much more relevant to an assessment of social copia and civic engagement. Some ebie researchers nave argued thatthe lat few cocades have wiiressed a ad ‘expansion in “support groupe" of various sorts, Raber Wutnnow feperta tel fuly 40 percent of al ‘Americans claim to be “curentyinvoived in a] smal group that meets regularly and provides support of caring for these who participate in R" 8 Many ofthese groups are relijousiy aflited, but [End Page 71] many others are not For example, roay § percent of Wuthnow' national eampla sla partcinate regularly ina "sal-halp" group, such as Aeaholos Anonymous, and neatly te many {hey belong to book-dscussion groups and hobby clube, ‘The groups described by Wuthnows respondents unquestionably represent an important form of sock ‘copia, and they need to be accounted forin sn serous reckoning of tends in socal comnucsednese On the otter hand, they do not typical play the tame role ee traditonal eve eesoctations, As Wathnow emphasizes, ‘Small groups may nat be fostering community as efectvely es many oftheir proponents would ke. Some smal grouns merely provide aecasions for ndvivas to focus on {hemaeives in the presence of aher, The socal correc binding members togethe ‘asserts only the weakest of obligations. Come i you have time, talc you fel Ike. Respect everyones opinion. Never eile. Leave quiety i you becomne desalted ‘We can imagine that [nese smal groupe realy subst a amis, nelghbormecds, ‘2nd bread commun atachments thal may demand Welong commitments, whe, it fact, they donot. ® Al thes of hese potential countertends—tertay organizations, nonprofit organization, and support groups—need somehow io be weighed against the ecsion of conventonal tive ergenzaions One ‘way of doing 0 Isto consul the Ganeral Soca! Survey. Winin el educations catagories, total associational membership declined signifcanty between 1857 ‘and 1999, Among the colege-elucated, ta average number of group memberships pet person fall ftom 2.8 to 20 (a 26-pereant decine); among high-school graduates, te number fel Fors St 1.2 (G2 percent) and among those with fewer than 12 years of education, the nurmbe fl om 44 to 41 (28 percent) n other words, at al educational (and hence saci!) levels of American socioty, ad ouriing a sorts of group memberships, the average numbor of associational membersiss hs fen Dy about fourth aver tho last quarter-century. Wihost conto for educetonal levels, the trends not ‘eay 20 clear, but the contal point Is this: more Amercons ihan ever before. are in sola! ‘Sreumstanoes that fester associational involvement (higher education, mide age, and so or), but nevertheless aggregate associstonalmmbership appoars tobe stagnant or decing. Broken dow by type of group, the downward trend Is most marked for church-sited group, fo labor unions, for fraternal and ‘veterans’ organizstons, and Yor echoolaemvce groups, Conversely, ‘embsrship in professional essociatons has rison over these years, ahough less Pan might has ‘tpsrmuse jh. eduljouralsfjoural_of democracy ¥006i6. tna. html snanaog srayeo ot 4u been predicted given sharply rising educational and eccupational levels. Essential the same ends {a8 event for both men and women Inthe sample In short the avelable survey evenee [End Page, 72} confims our earier conclusion: American social capial In the form of evis eavoclatons hex ‘Sinicanty eredes over the last generation Good Neighborliness and Social Trust | noted eater thet most readly avelleble quanitatve evince on trends in social connectedness Invo'ves formal settings, such a5 the voting Booth, the union hall orthe PTA. One glaring excepion 50 widely ciscussed as to require ite commant here: he mos! fundamental for of socal cota {he famiy, and the massive evidence ofthe loosaring of bonds within the aml (Oath entered and fuels) fs well known, This tend, of caus, le quite consistent wilh-and may help lo expai-Out ‘heme of social decaptaizaton. ‘second aspect of informal social capital on which we happen fo have reasonably reliable time-series data involves neighboriness. in each Goneral Socisl Survey sinea 1874 respondents have Seen asked, "How offen do yau spend a social evening witha neghbor? Tha proporton of Americans who socialize wit their neighbors mors than once a Year has slowly bul steady decined over te st Mo decades, fom 72 percant in 1874 to 61 percent in 1990. (On the ofr hand, sosalzing wit ands wo do not ive in your neighornood” appears fo be on the incase, a trend that may rote! De ‘rowth of woxkpace-ased socal connections} Americans ar also less trusting, The proporton of Americans saying that mast people can be trusted follby more than a tin between 1960, when 88 percont chose that ltnaive, ang 1003, when aly 37 percent di. The same tend ls apparent in el educalona! groups: indeed, because sécla Vist & also corelstes wih educaion and because educational levels have riscn’sherly, the Overall ‘decrease in social tus is even more apparent I we contol or ecucaion. (Our discussion of trends In sarial connectadnest and cive engagement has tot assumed that a the forms of social capital that we have discussed are themseles coherent conlted acre Individuals, This is in fact tue, Membars of assoclatione ate much more icely than nonmemiers fs Pertcipae in pois, to spand tire wth neighbors to express social us, and o on ‘The close coneaton between socal tust and asseciaional membership iste not any across time tend across individuals, but also across counirles. Evidence from the 1961 Word Values Suny femonstates tre following: 12 4. Aeross he 35 counties in his survey, social ust and civic engagement are strongly ‘orelated the greater the density of sssociatonai mambersip n'a sodely, the mere busting i ctizens. Trust and engagement are two ‘cots of he eae underyng factor social capital [End Pago 73} 2. Amer stl ranks relatively high by cross-national standards on both these dimensions of socal capt Evon inthe 1980s, after caveral decades erosion, Americans are more Wuating ‘and more engaged than poopie mast other counts of the wold 8. The tends ofthe past quarter-century, However, have apperenty moved bs United States signifoanty lowerin the itemalonal rankings of savial caital. The recent deterorston in ‘enercan Socal capital has been suticenty great hat (Tne eer county changed *s poson in the meantime) anather quarter-century of change atthe same rate woud bring the Utes ‘States, roughly speaking, othe midpoint amng a these count, oughly equvalent to South Kore, Belgum, of Eston tocay. Two generations decine at he seme rate woul leave the United States athe lovel of today's Chile, Portugal, and Slovenia, Why Is U.S. Social Capital Eroding? ‘As we have seen, something has happened in America in the last two or tres decades to diminish dive engagement and socal comectednes. What couk! tal someting” be? Here are, saver possible explanations, along wih some Ins evidence on each, hugpfause ji edufjournalsjjournal_of_ democracy/v006/6.tpatnam.html sn2no08 + aval vs Veuvanty 0.4 wage # or ww ‘The movement of women into the labor force. Over these same two oF three decades, many milfons of Ameroan women have moved out of the home info paid employment. Tis isthe pena, TLR ‘ot the sole, reason why the weekly working urs of the average American Rave, ireased Significant during these years. It saems Nigh iausile that ths sect revolution shoule have Feduced the time and energy avalabie for bulding social capital, For cerain oxganizaline, sich es the PTA, te League of Women Voters, the Federation of Women's Chibs, an the Red Grose, thes ‘almest cerainly an important part of the sory. The sharpest dectine in wome's Ghic paripaion ams ip have come in the 1970s; membership in such "women's" organizations as Vese has Deen Viualy hahes since the late 1860s. By contrast, mast of the devine in partcpaton fh man's ‘organizations eccured about ten years later, the tots! docine to date nos been aperonrtey 25 percent forthe fypical organization. On the ether hand, the survey data imply hat the aagregate Secines for men ara vitally a5 great as those for women. tis logically posse, of course fhe he male dectines might represent the knock-on eect of women's liberation, as dishwashing crowed Out the lodge, but time budget studies suggest that most husbands of working wives have ascumed only & minor part of he housework. n short, something bases the women's fevuuton seu foe behind {he erdalon of social capt ‘Mobity: The ‘r-poting” hypothesis. Numereus stusies of organizatonal volvement have shown tat residential steily and such related phenomane as homeownership are cleary aasccleted. wilh areoir [End Page 74] civic engagement. Mobi, Ike Trequent re-poting of plans, tones fo csvust "Rat sytoms, end i takes tie for an uprooted vidual fo put down new roots. It seems pisuSIe ‘at the automobile, suburbanizalion, and the mavement to the Sun Bet have reduced he sot fpotedness of the average American, but ons fundamental fcc wih his hypothesis fs appsrent the best evidence snows that residential stay and homeownership in Amorice have ean modestly since 1985, end are surely higher now than during the 1850s, when chic engagement and socal ‘connectedness by eur measures was caftly higher. (ther demographic transformations. A range of addtional changes have transformed the American family Snce the 1960s~fewer marriages, more dress, fewer children, lewar real wages, and se on ech ofthese changes might acount for some ofthe slackening of cv engagement sbice marin ‘idle Gass parents ere generally mare secaily solved than athe: people Wereover te chong Scale that have swept over the Amertcan economy In thete yeare-itreted by the replacement the come: grocery by the suparmarket and now paras of the supermarket by electors shopping at home, oF the replacement of communiy-besed enlerpsas by outposts of distant mstnatonl fit ‘may perhaps have undermined the matoral and even psa basis force engagement ‘The technological transformatian o sure. Thee is reason to believe thet deep seated technological lwonds are receally “privatizing” or “ndvdualzing” our use of lesure time end thus dsruping mony ‘opportunites for social-captaformaton. The most covlus and probably the most powertl turer of his rvolufon i television. Time-budget studies in the 1950s showed that tha growth inte spent watching television dwarfed all other changes in the way Americans passed their days and nights, Tetvsion nas made our communities (er, rather, what we experienes as out communities) wider and shallower. in the language of economics, alecronle technology enables Indvidual tastes Tobe ‘sstisfed more fly, bul atthe cost ofthe postive socal extemaiee associated with more primitive forms of enterainment. The same logic apples fo the replacement of vaucevile by the movies an now of moves by the VCR. The new Wrtual realy" reimets that we wl soon don tobe entrained total isolation ere merely the latest extension of ths ren Is tecnnolgy thus driving @ wedge betwaen, ur incvcual interests and our collective interests? Its question that seems worh expiring more ‘systematicaly, What Is to Be Done? ‘The last reluge of a sociarscintiic scoundrel i to call for mote research, Nevertheless, | cannot {forbear from suggesting sore furtner ines of inquiry. [End Page 78), * We must sort out the dimensions of socal cali whlch clays nt uniiensional ‘concept, despite tanguage (even inthis essay thal implies the contrary. What types of ‘organizations and networks mos effectively ambocy or generate coca captain the sense ‘of mutual eclprecty, te resolution of clammas of colective acon, and te broadening of hup//ause jhuedujoumnalsfjoumal of democracy/¥006/6,loutnam.html anapone ‘np: /imuse.jhu.edujjourals/journa, ‘social dentiies? inthis essay | have emphasized the densly of associational ie. n etl Work I stessec the stucture of networks, afgung that "horizontals represented more productive social captal than veical te, 3! + Another set of mporiant issues involves macrosotoiogicl crosscurents that mightintersect wah the tends described here. What wil bs the impact, for example, of elettonic networks on Social capt? My hunch i that meeting in an electronic forum i not the equivalent of moatng in.abowing alley-or oven ina saloon-but hard empiroal esaarch i nese. Whos about ie {levelooment of socal capital inthe werkolace? is growing mn counterpoint to the devine of {vi engagement, reflecng some socal anaiogu of te fat aw of thermodynemics soca ‘apis neither created nor destroyed, meray rectstibuted? Or co the ends Gescribed in es8ay represent a deadweight ose? ‘+ Arounded assessment of changes in Amesican socal capt over he last queter-centuy ‘needs fo count the costs as well asthe benefits of community engagament We must not fomantize smallioun, misde-class cvs fe nthe Ametea ofthe 7950s, in ation "othe deleterious ends emphasized in his assay, revent dooades have winessed a subetantl decin in intolerance and probably aisoin over ciserminaton, and thoes Benelcet tenes ‘may be related in complex ways lo the erosion of adional socal capa. Moreover, a balanced accounting eth socia-captl books would nead to econo the insights of this ‘apprsch with the undoubted insights ofeed by tfancur Olson snd others who stess that cfosel kt social, economic, ad pftcal organizatons are prona to ieficentcatelizaion and to what poltical economist erm “ent seeking” and orahary man and worn cal compton, Finally, end perhians most urgent, we need to explore creatively how puile policy impinges on {or might impinge on) soca-captal formation. In some wel-knoum fetances, pubic polioy hee Aestroyed highly effecive social networks and norms. American slum-cearanc potty a the 1950s ard ‘860, or example, renovated physical captal End Page 76] bit a very igh ‘costo existing sccial capa. the conseedaion of county pottoffees and emall soc! diaries has promised sdminisvatve and fnncialefflences. but ul-cost accounting fr the effects ofthese poicies on social capital might produce a more negative verdict On he ahee hand, such past inflatves asthe county agricukural-agont system, commun coleges, and tax \ecuctons for charitable contrbutlons itustrste at goverment ean encourage social capital formation. Even a recent proposal in San Lule Obispe, Calor, to toque bala new houses, ave front porches iustrates the power of gavernmont te inluance whe ag how networss formed The concept of ‘ivi sociey" has played a canta role in the recent global debate about the preconditions fr democracy and democraizaton. n the newer demacraces this phrase has properly focused attention on the need to foster a vivant cis te in sol tradilonaly inhosptbie fo elt government In the estabished democraces, ionicaly, growing numbers of ellzens are quastionng the effectiveness oftheir public insiutons at the very mamert wren liberal democracy hes swept the itleelc, both Ideclopcaly and geopoticaly. In Amotca, al least there is reason 0 suspect hel hhis democratic disarray may be Inked fo a Broad and cantinung erosion of civ engagement that began a quarter-century ago. High on our scholsy agenda should be the question of whether a comparable erosion of socal capita! may be under way in olher advanced democracies, perhaps in alert instutional end behavioral guises. igh on America's agenda ehould be tne question of oa! fo reverse these acverse trends in Social connectecnass, thus Tesiorng ele engagement and chit rut obeit DPulnam is Dilon Professor of Intrational Aas and dector ofthe Canter for Intemational ‘Mars at Harvara Unversty. His most recent books are Double-Edged Dipiotnacy Intematonal Bargaining and Domestic Polis (1899) end Making Democracy Work: Civic Tratons fm Modern Hai (1998), which is reviowed elscurere in his isu. He fs now completing a study ofthe revitalization of Avercan democracy ‘Commentary and writings on related topics: aye © ony 1 democracy !v006/6. 1 puinam tml 3/12/2008, cote = uated Uh RADHA OA age ¥ of 1U + Neholas Lemenn, Kicking in Groups, The Atta Monty (Ap 1996) + Mary Ann Zehr, Getting lnvolved in Givi Life, Eaundation News and Commentary (Mey/June 1996). The Foundation News and Commentary is @ publication of ine Council on Raundatons Notes 4. Ales de Tocquevil, Democracy in Americ, e¢. JP. Male, tans. George Lawrence (Garden Cy, Nz Anchor Books, 1969), 13-47 2. On social networks and economic gr in he developing wort, sae Mito J. Esmen ard Norman Uphof, Local Organizations: intermediaries in Rural Developmen thaca: Cornel Univerly Press 198), e=p. 16-42 and 99-180, and Alber O, Hschman, Geltng Ahead Calecively” Gressroais Experiences in Latin America (Eimsford,NY.: Pergamon Prose, 102d), exp. 42-77. On East Asa, ace Gustav Papanet, “The Now Asian Capitalism. An Economie Portrait" in Petr L. Besger ana Hse, Huang Michael Hsiao, eds, In Saarch of an East Asian Development Mode! (Now Brunsuck, Ne ‘Transaction, 1987), 27-80; Peter B, Evans, "The State as Problem and Solon: Predation, Embedded Autonomy end Stricture! Change” in Stephan Haggard end Robert R. Kauiman, eds, The Folios of Economie Adjustment (Princeton: Princeton Universly Press, 1862), 13981; and Gaty &. Hamilon, Wiikam Zete, end Wann Kim, “Network Structure of East Asian Economies." in Stewart R. Clegg and 8, Gordon Reding, eds., Capaism in Contrasting Cures (Havithome, NY: De Gray, 1050), 105-28, See also Gary'G. Hamilton anc Nicole Woolsey Bigger, “Markel, Culture, and Author: A Comparative Analysis of Maragement and Organlzaton in the Far East" American cura! of Secioiogy (Supplement) 94 (1088) S52-S04; and Susan Greenhalgh, “Familes and Networks ‘Taiwan's Economic. Development,” in Edwin Wincsler and Sugen Gieenhalgh, ods, Contonlng ‘Approaches tothe Poltcal Economy of Taivan (Armonk, NY: ME. Sharpe, 1867), 22646, 4. Robert D. Putnam, Meking Democracy Werk: Cie Traction in Modern italy (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1090) 4. lames 5. Coleman deserves primary cect fr developing the “social capita theoraticalamoworc Sea his "Social Captain the Cretion of Human Cepia: sAmencan Journal of Sacology (Supplement) 4 (1986): $05-5120, as well as his The Foundations of Social Theory (cambridge: Hewaré Universtiy Press, 1800), 300-21. See also Mark Granovetter,“Esonome action end Social Stuctue, THe Problem of Embeddadness," American Journal of Sociology 91 (1985): 481-810; Glenn. Louy, "Wry ‘Should We Care About Group Inequally?" Social Phiosophy end Poly § (1887); 248-74,and Reet D. Puinam, “The Prosperous Community: Sootal Captal and Publo Lie American Pragpoct 13 (1889): 85-22, To my knowledge, the tit schoar to use tha term “social captain ts curent nse Was Jane Jacobs, in The Death and Life of Great Amencan Clee New York: Random House, 1663), 138. 5. Any simpisticaly polical interpretation of the calapse of American unionism would need to confront the fee thal he steepest decline bagan more than sb years before the Reagan admin‘straion's altack ‘on PATCO. Data from the Goneral Sela! Survey shaw a roughly 40-pereent decine in reported union tmombership between 1075 and 1691 6, Data for te LWW are avaiable over a longer tine span and show an interesting pattem: a sharp slump dung the Depression, a song and sustained ree after World War I that more than tipled ‘membership between 1945 ans 1960, and then the post-1956 decsne, which hes eready erased ‘rally all the postwar gains end continues si. This fame historical pale appl fo those ments frateral organizations fer which comparable daa are avasable~steady inereases forthe res oaven ocades ofthe century, interrupted only by the Great Depression, followed by a callapse nthe £9708 and 1980s tat has alady wiped out ost of te postwar expansion and continues apace. 7, Ct Losier M. Salamon, "The Rise ofthe Nonprft Sector Foreign Affaks 73 (July-August 1994: 100-22. See also Salamon, “Partners in Puble Serves: The Scope and Theoty 97 Goverment Nonproft Relations," in Walter W. Powel ed, The Nonpreft Sector A Research Handbook (New Haven: Yale Univrsty Press, 1987), 89-117. Salamon's emolcal evidanoe dose not sustain hs broad bhspitimuse,jhu.edufourals/iournal of democracy/v006/6,tputnam.html ar77900R t= ai vk Aredia 8 rage vor claims about @ globel "associational revolution" comparable in signicance to the rise ofthe nation= ‘Sale saveral centuries ago. 8B. Robert Wthnow, Sharing the Joumey: Support Groups and America's Naw Quest fr Community (Weu Vert: The Froe Press, 1994), 46, ibid, 96, 10, | 2m grateful to Ronald Inglehart, who crects ths unique cross-national projec, fr sharing these ‘ighly useful data wit me. See his "The Impact of Culture on Economic Gevelooment. Theo, Hypotheses, and Some Empirca! Tesi” (unpublished manuscip, Univers of Michigan, 1994) 11. See my Making Democracy Work, esp ch. 6. 12, See Mancur Olson, The Riso and Decine of Nations: Economic Growth, Stagfation, and Socal Figifos (New Haven: Yale Unverely Press, 1082), 2 apa Jncadaouraaual hitpvimusejbu.edu/jounalsjournal of democracy/v006i6, | putnam, 3/12/2008, bu Whig LUGE LELER == FAIL LM age 1014 ~ Move to FREE Checking. 2 Mon bCtes ee rae {eckio Ate cheap BOWLING TOGETHER yRiard Sng Rollover, Alexis de Tooqueville. The oft mentioned (but less frequently red) oth century French seribe a being. {invoked by every dime-store scholar and publi figure these days to bemoan th passing of whet the Frenchman described. as one of America's distinctive virtues eve partlpation, "Americans ofall age, ll eonitions and all, dispositions," he famously wrote, ‘constantly frm astocations."In Franc, Toequevlle observed, soc ‘movements instigated by the government, in England bythe nobility, but a Amerea by an association ‘Tocqueville and small d democrats from Ben Franklin (who started a volunteer ire brigade) to Jolin F. Kenny (ko told Americans not to ask but to do) have warned thatthe heath of Ameiean demoeraey depends on vigorous civic participation. “Thats why Robert Petoam’s 2995 essay "Bowing Alone" touched a national nerve, Putnam, a Harvard professor of government, used the catchy image of more Americans bowling by themselves and fewer in leagues to asset that traditional eve engagement in Ameria has been on Tong, low desine forthe past 25 year. Citing diminished participation in organizations like the PFA and the League of Women Voters, Putnam's esay seemed torelnforcea widespread feling that cv fein Ameria just waset what it usedit tobe, The nation’s

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