Community Quotes by Robert D. Putnam

“We all know that the way to get something done is to give it to a busy person.”

— Robert D. Putnam

Our national myths often exaggerate the role of the individual heroes and understate the importance of collective effort.

— Robert D. Putnam

What really matters from the point of view of social capital and civic engagement is not merely nominal membership, but active and involved membership.

— Robert D. Putnam

Young Americans are dropping out of religion at an alarming rate of five to six times the historic rate.

— Robert D. Putnam

How well you do in life shouldn't depend on how well your parents did.

— Robert D. Putnam

“Financial capital - the wherewithal for mass marketing - has steadily replaced social capital - that is, grassroots citizen networks - as the coin…

— Robert D. Putnam

Busy people tend to forgo the one activity - TV watching _ that is most lethal to community involvement

— Robert D. Putnam

Unequal Democracy is the sort of book to which every political scientist should aspire--it is methodologically rigorous, conceptually serious, and above all, it addresses…

— Robert D. Putnam

Community connectedness is not just about warm fuzzy tales of civic triumph. In measurable and well-documented ways, social capital makes an enormous difference in…

— Robert D. Putnam

None of the people watching 'Big Brother' will bring you chicken soup if you get sick.

— Robert D. Putnam

A society that relies on generalized reciprocity is more efficient than a distrustful society, for the same reason that money is more efficient than…

— Robert D. Putnam

“{The Progressives] outlook was activist and optimistic, not fatalist and despondent. The distinctive characteristic of the Progressives was their conviction that social evils would…

— Robert D. Putnam