Abstract

Robert D. Putnam's Making Democracy Work has stimulated an important scientific debate among social scientists researching on Italy. In this debate scholars proposed significant critiques, that problematize three aspects of Putnam's research: the representation and interpretation of regional cultural contexts, the relevance of path dependence to explain regional differences, and finally the controversial role of the Italian state, which is largely neglected by Putnam. These 'Italianist' critiques on Making Democracy Work have an international relevance, since they problematize the interaction between civil society, social capital and governmental efficiency.

How to Cite:

Huysseune, M., (1999) “Putnam interpreteren vanuit een Italiaanse context”, Tijdschrift voor Sociologie 20(3-4), 283–300. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/sociologos.86477