The Social Science Journal 39 (2002) 489–501 Book reviews Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community Robert D. Putnam; New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000, 541 pages Professor Putnam’s much celebrated tome on the decline of social capital is an important, path-breaking work. His scholarship is social science at its best. Putnam asks the “big questions” about things that matter: Have Americans’ engagement in civic life fallen in the last 30 years? If so, why? What effect does it have? And, finally, what can we do about it? The introductory chapter discusses the concept of social capital, which he defines as “con- nections among individuals.” Membership in dense social networks, he argues, is a civic virtue and increases the productivity of individuals and their communities. However, Putnam, a po- litical scientist by training, recognizes that not all social capital is beneficial. In its “bonding” form, social capital directs connections inwards and often excludes minorities from the civic life of the community. On the other hand, as a “bridging” connection, social capital is inclusive and yields links to external assets. These “weak” ties provide access to information and social circles that may prove more important than “strong” ties. In the text’s second section, Putnam examines the decline of social capital over the last generation or so. He shows an abatement in political, civic, and religious participation; mem- bership in work-related associations; informal social connections; altruism; and generalized reciprocity. This exhaustive exploration may be tedious for some readers, but he thoroughly documents the deterioration of nearly all forms of civic engagement among Americans. For example, this depreciation occurs in political campaigning, union membership, and while vis- iting with friends and neighbors. In short, we are more likely to “bowl alone” than with a team in league play. His data suggest only a few exceptions to the overall drop in social capital: a rise in volunteering among young people, an increase in religious activities by evangelical con- servatives, and a growth in the use of telecommunications, especially the Internet. Moreover, he finds that Americans’ level of social capital has been on a marked decline since sometime around 1970. Putnam carefully explores alternative measures and controls for intervening variables. For example, he distinguishes between simple “membership” in an organization, which has re- mained relatively stable in some organizations, and participation as measured by attendance at meetings or service as an officer, which has declined tremendously. In this massive undertaking, he systematically examines innumerable sources of data, including membership and attendance records from many national associations and also extensive reviews of multi-disciplinary stud- ies. Besides the traditional survey research data sets used by social scientists (i.e., GSS and NES), Putnam mines two heretofore undiscovered treasures of survey research data: the Roper Social and Political Trends archive and the DDB Needham Life Style surveys. Each has a 0362-3319/02/$ – see front matter © 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Inc.