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Honesty and trust affect the functioning of the state and the market, and, conversely, the quality of formal rules and institutions has an impact on interpersonal trust. This paper organizes and critiques research on the relationship between trust and government; it stresses the mutual interaction between trust and democracy and the impact of corruption. Given this context, the concluding section discusses the transition process in post-socialist countries, highlighting the tensions between interpersonal trust and trust in public institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The strongest claim of social capital is its likely effect on public policy outcomes, which is now demonstrated by a vast literature linking levels of social trust and social bonds with such desired goods as reduced crime, better economic performance, and improved health. There is already a modest literature linking public policy outcomes with better educational performance, to which the research for this paper seeks to add. By analysing a survey of 1249 15-16 year-olds, we test whether social capital measures increase self-recorded school performance and reduce intentions to leave school. We find that trust, voluntary action and social closure appear to have a strong impact on academic performance, but do not have a great impact on dropping out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates whether an association exists between individuals' on-line "sense of community" and their political and social attitudes toward off-line community. Using the Social Capital Benchmark Survey (2000), we explore what "sense of community" is found through digital interaction. Our research, theoretically guided by the work of Ferdinard Tönnies, questions whether a "sense of Gemeinschaft," lost off-line to an increasingly differentiated economy, is being re-discovered on-line; or if our cyber interactions are merely the transcription of our Gesellschaft lives online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social capital is expected to help achieve superior outcomes over multiple issue-areas and different levels of societal aggregation, but is it the same social capital that operates in all of these different arenas? To what extent social capital is fungible across different levels and issue areas is explored here through an examination of literatures related to social capital and collective action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT. We assess the link between a program’s volunteer support and state social capital in the case of the joint implementation of the federal Long-Term Care (LTC) Ombudsman Program by state and federal authorities. This program, which is designed to prevent elder abuse and ensure quality care in long-term facilities, is implemented at the state and local levels and relies heavily on volunteer staff. First, we find that volunteerism is vital to the efficacy of the program’s monitoring and investigative functions. Second, we find that volunteerism in this program is tied to broader level conditions of a state’s social capital. Last, we discuss the implications of our findings for volunteer-based programs devolved to the states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have developed an institutional theory of generalized trust. Our argument is that the structure of contemporary institutions is an important and overlooked factor that matters for the generation of generalized trust. In particular, we develop a causal mechanism which explains and specifies the causal flow from impartial, un-biased and un-corrupt, just institutions responsible for the implementation of public policies to generalized trust. The impartiality and efficiency of these institutions influences basically citizens’ institutional trust and more specifically (1) how they experience feelings of safety and protection; (2) how citizens make inferences from the system and public officials to other citizens, (3) how citizens observe the behavior of fellow-citizens, and (4) how they experience discrimination against themselves or close others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the paper is to develop and at least partially test hypotheses on the extent to which mafia groups can migrate outside of the area where originated. The hypotheses I consider are: level of social capital; supply of Mafiosi in the new area; size of the market/area they try to ‘conquer’; and demand for criminal services. I consider one case study in depth: the failed attempt of the Solntsevo crime group to establish itself in Rome. I use network-type data extracted from an extensive police report on this case. I conclude by underplaying the role of social capital, while the size of the market one tries to penetrate and the demand for criminal services in the new area emerge as crucial factors facilitating expansion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]