Social capital in Hong Kong

Contemporary “social capital” debates focus chiefly on the extent to which leading liberal democracies retain secure civic foundations. Putnam’s “bowling alone” or “tuning in, tuning out” analysis looks at the U.S., drawing attention to the “strange disappearance of social capital” there. In so doing, it raises doubts about the vitality of American democracy. Hall takes up the case of Britain, reaching rather different conclusions about both the trajectory of social capital and the prospects for democracy. Pharr and Putnam bring together a collection of essays examining a series of “disaffected democracies,” all of which are among the most established and prosperous in the world.