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.
Keywords
Social capitalCapital (architecture)Social statusSocial mobilityDemographic economicsIndividual capitalSocial reproductionEconomicsEconomic capitalDevelopment economicsEconomic growthSociologySocial scienceHuman capitalGeography
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Publication Info
- Year
- 1999
- Type
- article
- Volume
- 105
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 88-127
- Citations
- 1621
- Access
- Closed
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Cite This
Pamela Paxton
(1999).
Is Social Capital Declining in the United States? A Multiple Indicator Assessment.
American Journal of Sociology
, 105
(1)
, 88-127.
https://doi.org/10.1086/210268
Identifiers
- DOI
- 10.1086/210268