About this title: Following his acclaimed, bestselling exploration of America's fractured social institutions in "Bowling Alone," Harvard professor Robert Putnam teams with veteran civic activist Lewis Feldstein to provide a fascinating and inspiring book about people who are revitalizing America's civic spirit.
 

Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community



About this title: In a groundbreaking book based on vast new data, Putnam shows how we have become increasingly disconnected from family, friends, neighbors, and our democratic structures--and tells how we may reconnect.

Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy
 

About this title: Why do some democratic governments succeed and others fail? In a book that has received attention from policymakers and civic activists in America and around the world, Robert Putnam and his collaborators offer empirical evidence for the importance of "civic community" in developing successful institutions. Their focus is on a unique experiment begun in 1970 when Italy created new governments for each of its regions. After spending two decades analyzing the efficacy of these governments in such fields as agriculture, housing, and health services, they reveal patterns of associationism, trust, and cooperation that facilitate good governance and economic prosperity. Why do some democratic governments succeed and others fail? In a book that has received attention from policymakers and civic activists in America and around the world, Robert Putnam and his collaborators offer empirical evidence for the importance of "civic community" in developing successful institutions. Their focus is on a unique experiment begun in 1970 when Italy created new governments for each of its regions. After spending two decades analyzing the efficacy of these governments in such fields as agriculture, housing, and health services, they reveal patterns of associationism, trust, and cooperation that facilitate good governance and economic prosperity.
 

Democracies in Flux: The Evolution of Social Capital in Contemporary Society
by Robert D. Putnam (Editor)

About this title: Social capital--good will, fellowship, sympathy, and social intercourse--is vitally important for the health of communities. In his new work, the author of "Bowling Alone" presents a panoramic look at the strength of civil society in eight advanced democracies. 50 line illustrations.
 

Double-Edged Diplomacy
by Harold K. Jacobson (Editor), Peter B. Evans (Editor), Robert D. Putnam (Editor)

About this title: This original look at the dynamics of international relations untangles the vigorous interaction of domestic and international politics on subjects as diverse as nuclear disarmament, human rights, and trade. An eminent group of political scientists demonstrates how international bargaining that reflects domestic political agendas can be undone when it ignores the influence of domestic constituencies. The eleven studies in "Double-Edged Diplomacy" provide a major step in furthering a more complete understanding of how politics "between" nations affects politics "within" nations and vice versa. The result is a striking new paradigm for comprehending world events at a time when the global and the domestic are becoming ever more linked.
 

Hanging Together: Cooperation and Conflict in the the Seven-Power Summits, Revised and Enlarged Edition by Robert D. Putnam, Nicholas Bayne



About this title: 'Hanging Together' charts the modern dilemma between economic interdependence and national sovereignty.
 

Disaffected Democracies: What's Troubling the Trilateral Countries?
by Susan J. Pharr (Editor), Robert D. Putnam (Editor)



About this title: It is a notable irony that as democracy replaces other forms of governing throughout the world, citizens of the most established and prosperous democracies (the United States and Canada, Western European nations, and Japan) increasingly report dissatisfaction and frustration with their governments. Here, some of the most influential political scientists at work today examine why this is so in a volume unique in both its publication of original data and its conclusion that low public confidence in democratic leaders and institutions is a function of actual performance, changing expectations, and the role of information. The culmination of research projects directed by Robert Putnam through the Trilateral Commission and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, these papers present new data that allow more direct comparisons across national borders and more detailed pictures of trends within countries than previously possible. They show that citizen disaffection in the Trilateral democracies is not the result of frayed social fabric, economic insecurity, the end of the Cold War, or public cynicism. Rather, the contributors conclude, the trouble lies with governments and politics themselves. The sources of the problem include governments' diminished capacity to act in an interdependent world and a decline in institutional performance, in combination with new public expectations and uses of information that have altered the criteria by which people judge their governments. Although the authors diverge in approach, ideological affinity, and interpretation, they adhere to a unified framework and confine themselves to the last quarter of the twentieth century. This focus -- together with the wealth of original research results and the uniform strength of the individual chapters -- sets the volume above other efforts to address the important and increasingly international question of public dissatisfaction with democratic governance. This book will have obvious appeal for a broad audience of political scientists, politicians, policy wonks, and that still sizable group of politically minded citizens on both sides of the Atlantic and Pacific.