Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community

Bridging social capital is inclusive and outward looking, with diverse groups of people (22). It creates weaker ties in the form of acquaintances versus friends. However, Putnam deems it the more important form of social capital, as it creates broader identities and encourages reciprocity. The two types of social capital are not mutually exclusive but operate in overlapping dimensions.

A correlation exists when two variables fluctuate in relation to one another. A correlation is positive if the two variables move in the same direction and negative if one variable decreases while the other increases. Putnam uses correlational analysis to explain the decline in social capital and is careful to denote that correlation is different from causation.

Flaming refers to the lack of social niceties and use of extreme language in electronic conversation (176). Putnam expresses concern that the lack of face-to-face interaction and decline of social capital are leading to a more combative and less civil society.

Generational effects bring about societal changes without changes in individuals. One generation adopts different behaviors than another and as that newer generation replaces the older one, society changes. Putnam attributes about half of the decline in social capital to generational effects or succession.

Intercohort change refers to change “detectable only across different age groups” (34). For this reason, this type of social change is slow, with the effects becoming clearer as one generation gradually replaces another. This type of change is a major part, or 50%, of Putnam’s explanation for the decline in social capital.

Intracohort change affects each age group. Individuals change their behaviors. Putnam argues that this type of change has occurred as well since all age groups have experienced a decline in civic engagement. The long civic generation simply has the lowest rates of decline.

Life cycle changes refer to changes in social behavior caused by aging or life-time patterns, such as marriage, parenting, declining levels of energy, and the trajectory of careers (249). Individuals change as they age, but society does not. This type of change does not explain the decline in social capital.

Machers is a Yiddish term for people who spend lots of time in formal organizations and are typically leaders in their community. They are less common in the US than those who make informal connections.

Parallel play is a psychological term for a “primitive stage of social development” (244), such as when two children play with their own toys in a sandbox and not with each other. Putnam notes that television leaves people in this state of arrested development.

Schmoozers are people who “spend many hours in informal conversation and communion” (93). Putnam notes that Americans are far more likely to be schmoozers than machers, but people are informally connecting with one another “less and less every year” (98).

Social capital refers to connections among people, the “social networks and norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness that arise from them” (19). There are two major types of social capital, bridging and bonding. Putnam is documenting the decline of social capital in the late 20th century.

A spurious correlation is a connection between two variables that is caused by chance or a third variable. Putnam attempts to identify and eliminate spurious correlations when he searches for the explanations for the decline of social capital.

Synergistic effects occur when social change has secondary impact. For example, if women working in the paid labor force have fewer dinner parties, those women who are not in the paid labor force might also start having fewer dinner parties. Such effects complicate statistical analysis. This is one reason that Putnam acknowledges that he cannot explain all the reasons for the decline in social capital.

Tertiary organizations are organizations in which membership “is essentially an honorific rhetorical device for fundraising” (156). They are staffed and led by professionals with no active local chapters. These organizations are increasing, with no benefit to social capital, while traditional organizations with local chapters are declining.

Thick trust is found in personal relationships that are “strong, frequent, and nested in wider networks” (136). While important, this type of trust is not as essential for social capital as thin trust. Thick trust is limited to small circles of people almost by definition.