L5: Macro questions about changes in social cohesion via cohorts

Question 1

Tocqueville (1835)

Answer 1

• Participation in intermediate groupings is an indicator for degree of social cohesion

Question 2

• Tuning in, tuning out (1995)

Answer 2

discusses trends in social capital in America

Question 3

• Bowling alone (1995/2000)

Answer 3

Differences between states in social capital

Question 4

Putnam 2000: Micro trends in US civic engagement

Answer 4

• Participation in many conventional voluntary associations has declined
• The time we spend in informal socializing and visiting is down
• Many measures of collective (political) participation have fallen sharply
• Group membership has fallen in all sorts of groups, at all levels of education, and among both men and women

Question 5

Putnam trends 1974 to 1994

Answer 5

• Increase time pressure – refutation: has not increased and busy people are more active
• Increased residential mobility – refutation: not greatly increased over the study period
• Suburbanization – refutation: social capital is actually somewhat greater in the suburbs than in the inner cities where growth would have been expected to occur
• Increased labour market participation of women – refutation: social capital is actually positively correlated with labour market participation, with the largest reduction in social capital found in housewives.
• Breakdown of family relationships followed by individualization: more singles with less social capital – some of the decline is probably attributed to this, but the causality is unclear
• Growth of welfare state – refutation: internationally, no evidence seems to point to crowding out (initially examined using only bivariate analyses but now also multi and no evidence)
• White flight – refutation: decline of social capital has occurred across all ethnic groups

Question 6

Putnam’s paradox:

Answer 6

Older people are consistently more engaged yet we do not become more engaged as we age

Question 7

Cohort explanations according to Putnam:

Answer 7

• The war
• Television
• Lack of great collective events

Question 8

Which people have more membership: (same for participation except age)

Answer 8

• Men
• Middle aged
• Married
• High educated
• White-collar workers and managers
• Protestants
• Frequent church-goers