Civics or Structure? Revisiting the Origins of Democratic Quality in the Italian Regions

inequality
participation
democracy
Author

Frederick Solt

Published

June 30, 2004

  • Solt, Frederick. 2004. “Civics or Structure? Revisiting the Origins of Democratic Quality in the Italian Regions.” British Journal of Political Science 34(1):123-135.

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    Abstract

    What determines the responsiveness and effectiveness of democratic governments in meeting their citizens’ needs?  Based on his 1993 study of the twenty Italian regions, Robert Putnam argued that ‘civic community,’ a self-reinforcing syndrome of social engagement and political participation, is the explanation.  A re-examination of Putnam’s data reveals little evidence of such a syndrome, but confirms that where more citizens participate in politics outside of networks of clientelistic exchange, more effective democratic government results.  To discern the causes of variation in this self-motivated political participation, I test Putnam’s measures of social engagement against aspects of Italian socio-economic structure.  Economic development and the historical distribution of land, not social engagement, are found to be powerful predictors of self-motivated political participation and in turn democratic quality.

    BibTeX Citation

    @article{Solt2004,
        author = {Solt, Frederick},
        journal = {British Journal of Political Science},
        number = {1},
        pages = {123-135},
        title = {Civics or {S}tructure? {R}evisiting the {O}rigins of {D}emocratic {Q}uality in the {I}talian {R}egions},
        volume = {34},
        year = {2004}}