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Theory of Social Capital, Democracy and Democratization

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Social Capital, Civic Engagement and Democratization in Kurdistan

Part of the book series: Middle East Today ((MIET))

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Abstract

This chapter maps the theoretical terrain of social capital theory by examining its assumptions and the ways through which it influences democracy and democratization. In so doing, the chapter commences by situating social capital in the framework of political culture in a bottom-up approach, as opposed to top-down (mainly constitutional engineering), to understand transitions to democracy. Distinction has been made between democracy in its transitional phase and democracy in its consolidated form. In covering the bottom-up approach to democracy, major contributions of Robert D. Putnam to the theory of social capital and functioning of democracy and democratic governance were devoted a substantial space in this chapter. In spite of the centrality of Putnam’s version of social capital theory, criticism of Putnam has been addressed in some details. As Putnam, especially in his Making Democracy Work (1993), utilizes social capital in understanding the functioning of already democratic governments, the chapter sets the ground to scrutinize the appropriateness of his theory to analyze democracy in its transitional phase, the way it is employed in this book. With the hope of originality in mind, the chapter concludes by a discussion of existing literature on the political developments of KRI to conclude that literature has left a significant room for students of social capital, political culture and civil society to offer alternative/complementary insights into transition to democracy in KRI.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Putnam does not use this expression (rational calculation). However, his idea concerning trust is consistent with the essence of rational calculation.

  2. 2.

    See Neuman (2006) for various ways through which triangulation can be achieved in social sciences research.

  3. 3.

    Gambetta (1988, p. 221) contends, “Societies which rely heavily on the use of force are likely to be less efficient, more costly, and more unpleasant than those where trust is maintained by other means. In the former, resources tend to be diverted away from economic undertakings and spent in coercion, surveillance, and information gathering, and less incentive is found to engage in cooperative activities”.

  4. 4.

    It is noteworthy to state that the contribution of Kurdish local academics remained for the most part invisible due to the fact that most of the publications were in Kurdish and published in Kurdish journals. Some of these publications included a great deal of quantitative data regarding demographic changes, rural and urban structure of Kurdish society, natural resources and so on.

  5. 5.

    The available statistics (Kurdistan Regional Government- Ministry of Planning 2007, available through (http://www.krso.net/detail.aspx?page=statisticsbysubject&c=statisticsbysubjects&id) points to a total population of 1,218,911 people in the center of Erbil city and 831,495 people in the center of Sulaimani. In both cities, people above the age of 18 constituted the target population for this research. But due to the unavailability of data with respect to the exact number of people above 18, we had to consider the age cohort of 15 years and above. Thus, the target population in Erbil and Sulaimani decreased to approximately 764,758 and 582,768, respectively. Given that these figures include people between 15 and 18 (not included), the sample ratio is definitely higher than it is stated above.

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  1. University of Winchester, Winchester, UK

    Hewa Haji Khedir

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Khedir, H.H. (2020). Theory of Social Capital, Democracy and Democratization. In: Social Capital, Civic Engagement and Democratization in Kurdistan. Middle East Today. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42144-1_1

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