Making Democracy Work

Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy

Author	Robert D. Putnam
Original title	Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy
Country	UK, US
Language	English
Publisher	Princeton University Press
Publication date	1993
Published in English	1993
Media type	Print
Pages	247
ISBN	978-0691078892

Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy (ISBN 978-0691078892) is a 1993 book written by Robert D. Putnam (with Robert Leonardi and Raffaella Y. Nanetti). Published by Princeton University Press, the book's central thesis is that social capital is key to high institutional performance and the maintenance of democracy. The authors studied the performance of the twenty regional Italian governments since 1970, which were similar institutions but differed in their social, economic and cultural context. They found that regional government performed best, holding other factors constant, where there were strong traditions of civic engagement.