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…

— 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…

— 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,…

— 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…

— 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…

— 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…

— Robert D. Putnam

Social capital may turn out to be a prerequisite for, rather than a consequence of, effective computer-mediated communication.

— Robert D. Putnam

School performance, public health, crime rates, clinical depression, tax compliance, philanthropy, race relations, community development, census returns, teen suicide, economic productivity, campaign…

— Robert D. Putnam

Positive people have more friends which is a key factor of happiness and longevity.

— Robert D. Putnam

“If we think of politics as an industry, we might delight in its new "labour-saving efficiency", but if we think of politics…

— Robert D. Putnam

Look, we ought to do this for our kids... We ought to have a high school so that every kid who grows…

— Robert D. Putnam

People may go to the library looking mainly for information, but they find each other there.

— Robert D. Putnam