Is Social Capital Declining in the United States? A Multiple Indicator Assessment
1999/07/01 by Pamela Paxton · 1,646 citations
Social Sciences · #Capital (architecture) #Demographic economics #Development economics #Economic capital #Economic growth #Economics #Geography #Human capital #Individual capital #Social Capital and Networks #Social and Cultural Dynamics #Social capital #Social mobility #Social reproduction #Social science #Social status #Sociology #Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies
paper · doi:10.1086/210268
published in American Journal of Sociology 105(1), 88-127 (University of Chicago Press)
openalex publication_date 1999/07/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Abstract
Despite a great deal of interest in a possible decline of social capital in the United States, scholars have not reached a consensus on the trend. This article improves upon previous research by providing a model of social capital that has explicit links to theories of social capital and that analyzes multiple indicators of social capital over a 20‐year period. The results do not consistently support Putnam's claim of a decline in social capital, showing instead some decline in a general measure of social capital, a decline in trust in individuals, no general decline in trust in institutions, and no decline in associations.
Citations
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