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This article advances a communicative approach to social capital that views communication as the fundamental source of societal integration. We contend that integration occurring at the system level via news consumption and at the individual level via interpersonal discussion is amplified through ties at the community level. This cross-level interaction is theorized to encourage civic engagement, writ large, above and beyond the influences of news, talk, or social ties. This perspective distinguishes between the extent of news use and political talk and the orientation toward news consumption and political conversation. We offer evidence that communication variables, specifically news attention and exposure along with conversational frequency and orientation toward conversational understanding, interact with associational membership and network size to foster engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Habermas's late theory of the public sphere is fundamentally about democracy and growing complexity. The network form is at the core of growing complexity, and centrality of networks in the economy, political system, civil society, and the lifeworld calls for revisions in central theoretical assumptions about the structure of the public sphere. We argue that in order to maintain Habermas's larger democratic project, we will have to rethink theoretical assumptions linked to its neo-Parsonsian systems theoretical foundations and to systematically integrate new network forms of social life into theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After more than a decade of public journalism efforts, empirical knowledge of whether these efforts have met the movement's goals remains largely based on in-depth case studies. To address this shortcoming, this study analyzes 651 cases of public journalism conducted between 1994 to 2002. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis is used to consider the predictive power of organizational factors, project features, story frames, and efforts to engage citizens and assess public opinion on three civil society outcomes: improvements in citizenship, political processes, and volunteerism. Specific effects on civil society are discussed, study limitations are addressed, and insights for future research and practice are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]