Daniel Melo (ICS-UL, Portugal) daniel.melo@isc.ul.pt Renato Miguel do Carmo (CIES-ISCTE, Portugal) renato.carmo@iscte.pt Social capital, the third sector, and local development: which link is missing? Abstract : This working paper will focus on the relationship involving social capital, the third sector and the local development interventions that are being developed in the context of European Union regional policies, through the analysis of the case-study of Portugal. First, it introduces a theoretical approach concerning these three concepts, by using the most recent conceptual perspectives in specialized literature. Second, it presents a brief historical study of the evolution of the voluntary associations and its relationship with public institutions and agencies. This framework will give special emphasis to the impact of some regional and local programs and its consequences in the national territory. Finally, we will propose a multi-scalar model indispensable for the interpretation and articulation of these three dimensions. Keywords : Social Capital; Third Sector; Local Development; Public Policies; Regional Policies; European Union; Portugal. Introduction In this working paper we propose a critical analysis of the relations between the third sector and local development politics in Portugal over the last decades and in the light of the concept of social capital. We consider that the questioning around this triade is central in order to evaluate the impact of the public policies and, indirectly, the state of democracy in a given country, in a deep and relevant fashion. Although the third sector is a relatively wide social space, we will focus on associations with a civic and socio-cultural nature, namely on those which are exclusively dedicated to the communitarian intervention and to local development 1 . To that effect, the text presents a previous theoretical intervention to define the fundamental dimensions of the concept of social capital and their main implications. This is followed by its verification in the Portuguese case, starting with a historical contextualization that considers the impact of the change of regime to the relationship between the state and the social society as well as in the configuration of the associative 1 We have adopted a wide definition of third sector, which identifies it with the civil society, i.e., the sector situated between the state sphere and the domestic sphere. The voluntary associativsm corresponds to the third sector, except the component of private initiative with mainly lucrative purposes (see Maloney & RoBteutscher, 2007: 56-57 and passim, and Franco et al., [2005]: 5-7). In this sense, our meaning is closer to the concept of third system, because it doesn’t exclude the mutualities and the cooperatives, although these also seek profit (but not as a priority) (see Moreno, 2007: 71). 1