Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American CommunityOnce we bowled in leagues, usually after work—but no longer. This seemingly small phenomenon symbolizes a significant social change that Robert Putnam has identified in this brilliant volume, which The Economist hailed as “a prodigious achievement.” Drawing on vast new data that reveal Americans’ changing behavior, Putnam shows how we have become increasingly disconnected from one another and how social structures—whether they be PTA, church, or political parties—have disintegrated. Until the publication of this groundbreaking work, no one had so deftly diagnosed the harm that these broken bonds have wreaked on our physical and civic health, nor had anyone exalted their fundamental power in creating a society that is happy, healthy, and safe. Like defining works from the past, such as The Lonely Crowd and The Affluent Society, and like the works of C. Wright Mills and Betty Friedan, Putnam’s Bowling Alone has identified a central crisis at the heart of our society and suggests what we can do. |
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Page 32
... turnout in the twentieth century . Participation in presidential elections has declined by roughly a quarter over the last thirty - six years . Turnout in off - year and local elections is down by roughly this same amount.2 For several ...
... turnout in the twentieth century . Participation in presidential elections has declined by roughly a quarter over the last thirty - six years . Turnout in off - year and local elections is down by roughly this same amount.2 For several ...
Page 33
... turnout in the South and artificially depressed the national average for the next seventy years . Since most standard measures of turnout lump those disenfranchised millions with other nonvoters , those measures understate the effective ...
... turnout in the South and artificially depressed the national average for the next seventy years . Since most standard measures of turnout lump those disenfranchised millions with other nonvoters , those measures understate the effective ...
Page 447
... turnout , see Dalton , Citizen Politics , 45 . 2. Turnout figures here are from the Statistical Abstract of the United States ( various years ) , based in turn on surveys by the Census Bureau . The numbers in figure 1 , based on actual ...
... turnout , see Dalton , Citizen Politics , 45 . 2. Turnout figures here are from the Statistical Abstract of the United States ( various years ) , based in turn on surveys by the Census Bureau . The numbers in figure 1 , based on actual ...
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activities adults African Americans American analysis of DDB Author's analysis average Barry Wellman behavior boomers bowling chapter Chicago church attendance cities citizens civic disengagement civic engagement club meetings cohort community projects compared computer-mediated communication correlated DDB Needham decades decline Democracy demographic economic effects entertainment environmental evidence fewer figure forms fraction friends Gilded Age groups growth half important income individual Internet Journal less levels membership ment mobility National National Election Study nearly Needham Life Style neighborhood neighbors organizational organizations parents participation percent Political Trends surveys poll population predictor Progressive Era religion religious reported Research Robert Roper Social roughly Social and Political social capital social connectedness social networks Social Survey social trust society Statistics Style survey archive television Theda Skocpol tion turnout twentieth century University Press Urban virtually voluntary associations volunteering voting watching women workplace York