Interest Groups and “Bowling Alone”

Read the following article.

Is Putnam correct about the decline in social capital? What are the ramifications for American political society? Could similar arguments be made about the university campus? (That is, students do not join organizations like they used to and thus are more isolated, get worse grades, drop out more, and retreat into their own “self-enclosed horizons.”) Has the growth in “social media” improved social capital? How would you show whether it had or not? Write an 800-1000 word essay arguing that social capital is or is not a problem in American society.

Solution: