Making democracy work : civic traditions in Italy / Robert D. Putnam ... [et al.]
By: Putnam, Robert D
.
Contributor(s): Leonardi, Robert | Nanetti, Raffaella Y.
Material type:
BookPublisher: Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, 1993Description: xv, 258 p. : ill. ; 24 cm. + pbk.ISBN: 0691037388.Subject(s): Regionalism -- Italy | Decentralization in government -- Italy | Democracy -- ItalyDDC classification: 306.2 | Item type | Current library | Call number | Copy number | Status | Barcode | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General lending | MTU Bishopstown Library Lending | 306.2 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | 1 | Available | 00092237 |
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Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
"A classic." --New York Times
"Seminal, epochal, path-breaking . . . a Democracy in America for our times."-- The Nation
From the bestselling author of Bowling Alone , a landmark account of the secret of successful democracies
Why do some democratic governments succeed and others fail? In a book that has received attention from policymakers and civic activists in America and around the world, acclaimed political scientist and bestselling author Robert Putnam and his collaborators offer empirical evidence for the importance of "civic community" in developing successful institutions. Their focus is on a unique experiment begun in 1970, when Italy created new governments for each of its regions. After spending two decades analyzing the efficacy of these governments in such fields as agriculture, housing, and healthcare, they reveal patterns of associationism, trust, and cooperation that facilitate good governance and economic prosperity. The result is a landmark book filled with crucial insights about how to make democracy work.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 207-247) and index.
Introduction: Studying institutional performance -- Changing the rules: two decades of institutional development -- Measuring institutional performance -- Explaining institutional performance -- Tracing the roots of the civic community -- Social capital and institutional success.
Reviews provided by Syndetics
Publishers Weekly Review
Harvard professor Putnam offers an in-depth examination of Italian politics and government. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reservedCHOICE Review
One of the intriguing questions of comparative politics concerns the basic requisites of a democratic political order. What are the key variables that make democracy work? This volume is the result of two decades of empirical research in Italy focusing on the performance of regional governments set up in 1970. It represents a collaborative project involving both American and Italian scholars designed to evaluate the performance of the new regional governments in a variety of policy domains. The key finding: a strong civic culture and civic engagement were major variables explaining effective government. This civic culture was a legacy with deep roots in Italian history. The volume contains numerous tables and charts. Elementary statistics are presented to bolster various arguments and illuminate cultural traditions across Italy. Additional statistical evidence is contained in six appendixes. The material is amply documented. This volume continues a recent tradition first documented by Gabriel Almond and Sidney Verba in The Civic Culture (1963), which was a broad-ranging comparative study of the requisites of democracy in five systems. Graduate; faculty; professional. V. McHale; Case Western Reserve UniversityAuthor notes provided by Syndetics
Robert D. Putnam is the Peter and Isabel Malkin Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University. A leading humanist and a renowned scientist, he has consulted for the last four U.S. Presidents. He has written fourteen books including Better Together: Restoring the American Community, Democracies in Flux: The Evolution of Social Capital in Contemporary Society, and Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis.(Bowker Author Biography)