National Civic Review articles from June 1997

National Civic Review archives from June 1997

Social capital and the cities: advice to change agents.
June 22, 1997... The term social capital is in danger of becoming a victim of its own success. It has taken on a circus-tent quality; all things positive and social can be piled underneath. While academic purists might disdain this usage as intellectual...

Building social capital without looking backward.
June 22, 1997... Social capital is a wonderfully elastic term, and we can all thank Robert Putnam for ushering it into public conversation. Interestingly, the term was first used in the 1970s, when Glenn Loury coined it to help explain racial inequality He...

Building community with social capital: chits and chums or chats with change.
June 22, 1997... We often say in politics, it is not what you know, it is who you know. We say that disparagingly, recognizing that key players are often connected only to small inner circles, effectively excluding whole parts of the community and whole segments...

Democracy, diversity, and social capital.
June 22, 1997... What we seek - at every level - is pluralism that achieves some kind of coherence, wholeness incorporating diversity. . . . To prevent the wholeness from smothering the diversity, there must be a philosophy of pluralism, and an open climate for...

The age of the civic entrepreneur: restoring civil society and building economic community.
June 22, 1997... Across America, a new type of leader is building communities for a new economy. Civic entrepreneurs are helping communities collaborate to compete in the information age. Coming from all walks of life, civic entrepreneurs are a new generation of...

Healthy Boston and social capital: application, dynamics, and limitations.
June 22, 1997... This article is an exploration of the findings of Putnam's concept of social capital as observed in Italy and findings from the evaluation of the Healthy Boston initiative, using social capital as the lens through which to view the Healthy Boston...

Partnerships, community building, and local government.
June 22, 1997... Increasingly, government officials and private citizens are turning to comprehensive community initiatives such as coalitions and partnerships as a strategy to rebuild civic capacity, invigorate voluntarism, and more effectively address social...

Cooperation among local governments.
June 22, 1997... In general, the more knowledge that is necessary to run a contemporary society, and the more specialization that is a consequence, then the more need of and potential for horizontal rather than vertical cooperative arrangements. - Dwight Waldo...

Conservation, community, and rural economic development.
June 22, 1997... From Ecotrust's office in a renovated red-brick building on the banks of the Willamette River in Portland, there is a view of Broadway Bridge and Union Station. The office is an open, high-ceiling room decorated with plants, photos, maps, even a...