Activating the Public Sphere and Social Capital

Abstract

The settings for active citizenship are also those which facilitate a robust public sphere and engender social capital. In this chapter we will consider how the operating frameworks of voluntary associations might contribute to the development of the public sphere and social capital. We have already identified in Chapter 3 the current narrowness of liberal representative democracy and those theorists who argue that the public sphere is in decline. Indeed, Dahlgren (1991: 1–2) argues that the democratic character of a society can be judged according to how well the public sphere functions, and therefore the imperfections of liberal representative democracy are marked by parallel imperfec­tions of the public sphere. In regard to social capital, we have suggested the much research is still required to inform the debates regarding the production, maintenance and value of social capital. However, because trust, norms and networks are identified as critical elements of the activity of voluntary associations, the voluntary sector can be identi­fied as an important site for generating social capital.