Make democracy work

Author: Robert D. Putnam
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2001-09-01
Features: Robert D. Putnam's Making Democracy Work is similar to John Rawls's A Theory of Justice. It brought the author instant fame and quickly established his authority in the field. Using new political analytical frameworks such as social capital, governance, and good governance, the author conducts a case study of Italy, based on 20 years of empirical research. The book argues how Italy, after the collapse of its fascist dictatorship, successfully leveraged its deep civic traditions to establish an effective democratic system, gradually guiding Italian society toward good governance and prosperity. The book immediately sparked widespread attention upon its publication and was awarded the American Louis Brownlow Book Award in 1993. The Economist magazine called its academic value "worthy of comparison with the works of Tocqueville, Pareto, and Weber," while The Nation regarded it as a modern counterpart to Tocqueville's Democracy in America.