Social capital and government performance in Iowa communities

Putnam (1993) provides impressive evidence that the enduring geographic pat terns of social capital in Italy influence regional government performance. His work has motivated other scholars to search for a link between social capital and performance among nations and other large subnational entities. The purpose of this study is to extend this line of research to the commun ity level. To accomplish this a unique data set consisting of the opinions of approximately 100 people in each of 114 Iowa communities was collected. The data made it possible to examine the extent to which towns characterize d as high in social capital by their residents tend to be towns where citiz ens see their local governments as more responsive and effective. The analy ses show a clear relationship: local governments are viewed as more respons ive and effective in towns described as high in social capital by their cit izens. Additional analyses reveal that social capital is also related to th e upkeep of public streets and parks in the communities. Both of these rela tionships remain significant even after controlling for a variety of socioe conomic factors.