The Path to Development Through Social Capital

Abstract

There is a point that needs to be dwelt upon and restated. As it has been pointed out in chapter 4, in the same way as the political endorsement of the growth paradigm orientates public policies toward the pursuit of growth as a priority, the pursuit of development occurs only when in a territorial community the political choice is made in its favor. There cannot be development oriented and supportive policies without such a deliberate choice, but only the pretense of endorsing the concept. Indeed, there is a very clear political dimension to development that needs to be recognized because it expresses objectives of social and economic cohesion and inclusion, public support and engagement, and the placing in evidence and conservation of territorial resources over the long term that territorial policies aim to achieve. Development in its comprehensive character, and its related multiple objectives, does not happen casually and certainly not simply as the result of any political endorsement. Rather, what renders the pursuit of development a political project, instead of an abstract aspiration, is a sustained commitment to formulate policies and make policy choices that are germane to the objectives of development in that particular community, leverage community assets, allocate appropriate resources to the policy choices, and master the capacity to carry out the programmatic contents of the policies.