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. PutnamLook, we ought to do this for our kids... We ought to have a high school so that every kid who grows up here - they're all our kids - gets a good high school education.
Robert D. PutnamYoung Americans are dropping out of religion at an alarming rate of five to six times the historic rate.
Robert D. PutnamSocial capital may turn out to be a prerequisite for, rather than a consequence of, effective computer-mediated communication.
Robert D. PutnamCommunity connectedness is not just about warm fuzzy tales of civic triumph. In measurable and well-documented ways, social capital makes an enormous difference in our lives...Social capital makes us smarter, healthier, safer, richer, and better able to govern a just and stable democracy.
Robert D. Putnam