Social Capital and Civic Engagement

Abstract

The term social capital has been identified as a collection of resources that either an individual or organization gains through a set of communal norms, networks, and sanctions. Social capital can be viewed on both the collective and individual resource front and has been studied, analyzed, and reported on the micro, meso, and macro levels. The article reviews the literature on social capital from different perspectives. Specifically, the article focuses on bonding, linking, and bridging social capital. It also provides a small empirical evidence of social capital among young adults with discussions for future research and implications for civic engagement and social capital.

Keywords

• Social capital, nonprofits, civic involvement, embededdness, networks

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