Understanding the American Decline in Social Capital, 1952–1998

Abstract

Social capital describes both the relations across and within families. Loury(1977) emphasized the importance of social capital within the home for the de-velopment of children. These relations between parents and children and organ-izations and individuals are valuable because they increase trust between indi-viduals and allow them to work together to achieve common economic andpolitical goals. Tocqueville (1840/1981, pp.137–141) argued that democraticcountries that lost the habit of association would find their very civilizations inperil because they had no other substitutes for reciprocal action. His contentionthat voluntary associations help democracies function is supported by a largebody of empirical research. For example, Brady, Verba, and Schlozman (1995)argue that skills in political participation are acquired in such non-political in-