The concept "social capital" provides a shorthand way of thinking about the human resources that may be available to a voter education programme. Unfortunately, it is a term that has become a buzzword in political circles so it requires some further clarification. Once understood, it can be used to provide additional information about a country.
This section looks at what constitutes social capital and how it can be used in voter education programmes in order to improve democratic practices within countries and communities. It will also briefly examine the shortcomings of social capital as a tool with which to approach a community in order to bring about higher levels of democracy.
Social capital's advent into modern day politics comes at a time when all aspects of our existence are often judged in economic terms. Are we being "productive" as employees? Is the government "delivering"? Are we making enough "input" into social practices?
Democracies all over the world have been evaluating themselves since the 1990s. Despite optimism at first, there is some skepticism about the longevity of newly emerging democracies.
The big question in politics these days revolves around how we can strengthen or consolidate democracy. How can the success of democracy in one area be transferred to an area of the world where it has not been successful, or even in existence, for decades?
One of the factors raised in this quest is the role of civil society in democratic countries. As Robert Putnam emphasises in most of his writings and especially in Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy, the levels of interaction between civil society and government determine the levels of democracy within a country. [1] This implies that the higher the levels of interaction, the stronger the democracy will be and vice versa. Civic Traditions traced twenty years of political and associational life in Italy, comparing the results of the northern regions to those in the south. Putnam concluded that the southern regions were less democratic than those in the north because of the existence of patron-client relationships with the mafia. The north supported more civic-minded organisations and groupings.
Definition of Social Capital
The concept of social capital was initiated by James Coleman and further developed by Pierre Bourdieu. Coleman used the term to describe a resource of individuals that emerges from their "social ties", and Bourdieu used it to refer to the advantages and opportunities accruing to people through membership in certain "communities". [2]
The definition of social capital is quite simple. It is the currency that enables a society to operate more effectively. This includes intangible factors such as values, norms, attitudes, trust, networks, and the like. Putnam says social capital is comprised of those factors found within a community that facilitate coordination and cooperation for mutual benefit. [3] This means that if one works in a community that has trust, values, networks and the like, the outcome will be more effective than work done within a community without those variables. This has great impact on non-governmental organisations' interactions with communities with regard to voter education.
Francis Fukuyama, the author of The End of History and The Last Man, Trust, the Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity, and a large number of articles, believes "the vitality of [social capital] is essential to the functioning of both the market and democracy." [4] This means that both government and communities should make sure that high levels of existing trust, norms, and values should be maintained and nurtured within that society in order for their work to be easier and more successful.
Voter education is designed in order to get a message about voting and elections out to the majority of eligible voters prior to election day. It is an expensive endeavour. Consequently, ways that would minimise costs are sought by those who are in the business of conducting voter education programmes. If social capital facilitates community cooperation then surely those factors should be used to make voter education easier and more effective in its outreach.
Norms and Values
Norms and values within a community refer to the attitudes among citizens that make their interactions easier with each other. If all citizens in a community, for example, believe that each person should be treated with respect and valued as a participant, the community will involve everyone in discussions about issues that affect all citizens. These attitudes will be evident in the norms of that society. People will respect each other's property, views, and rights. We could also say that these citizens will know and understand that they have to pay their taxes, pay for services, and participate in democratic discussions.
When an organisation conducts voter education programmes within that society, their work will be that much easier because of those existing norms and values. The educators will not have to go into great detail about allowing for differences, creating a safe space for discussion, and calling for people to do their civic duty by voting. The community already has those values and norms.
This community's social capital can be used to facilitate the transfer of information about voting. Educators should use the existing norms and values within that community to make learning easier. Those norms and values should be reinforced by examples of the duties of citizens in the voting process.
Norms also refer to common practices within communities and organizations.organisations. People may have certain practices which are culturally determined. In traditional African communities, for example, the chief is the most powerful person. If the chief has not been consulted, the community may not be open to that programme, either physically or psychologically. The programme staff may be barred from entering the area, citizens may feel that the programme staff do not respect their culture and practices and therefore not listen to the information being provided. It is important for educators to find out about the practices of a community, to respect those practices, and to conform to them while working in that area.
Some areas may also have informal leaders. Those people should be consulted in order to facilitate work within that community. Sometimes religious leaders have that status, as do teachers, or healthcare providers. It is important for educators to know who those people are and to respect those norms and values within each community.
Networks
A second factor in social capital is the system of networks. Every society has networks. These could be around work, church, sport, and any club or group found in that society. Networks could be used to make voter education programmes more cost-effective and reach a larger number of people with a minimum amount of input from the educators. Networks involve a large number of people who identify with a common cause, goal or interest. The network also allows for people to spread their expertise within a sector and to transfer skills.
Networks may be widespread and reach a large number of people from different sectors of the community and with different interests. Voter educators could use those networks to disseminate their information. A single point of entry into the society is all that is needed. A soccer club may have a meeting once a week. Voter educators might meet with that group of people once. Information from that meeting may then be relayed socially by those members through the networks to which they belong. One member may be part of a reading group while another may be part of a volunteer group. This information gets spread through the community via such networks.
Voter educators should use these networks strategically and supply enough information (printed and verbal) at the point that would make the most impact on the community. Information leaflets should be given out at that entry point in sufficient quantities for people to take home. Information should also be placed at venues like shopping centres, churches, schools and gyms to support the verbal relay. In rural communities where the tradition of storytelling still exists and illiteracy is high, networks may be used very effectively. Voter educators who may not be able to stay in an area for an extended period of time, therefore, should inform those people who have the most contact with the majority of the community, such as teachers, religious leaders, health workers, and even shop owners.
Trust
Trust is a major factor in the success of democracy. Francis Fukuyama believes people who do not trust one another will end up cooperating only under a system of formal rules and regulations, which have to be negotiated, agreed to, litigated, and enforced, sometimes by coercive means. [5] Trust can only be obtained through longstanding practices. People trust each other after they have had a relationship over a period of time. Trust needs to be established through experience and repetition. If you tell someone a secret and that person keeps the secret, for example, more trust will be forged between them. And the next time, a higher level of trust may be placed in that person.
The flow of information will be more effective in societies where there is a high level of trust. People will trust the teller or educator not to mislead them and, therefore, will be more likely to believe the information. Trust is inherent in networks and, therefore, both factors become complementary. Within a network it is in the group's interest to keep trust levels high. Voter educators can harness those high levels of trust for their programme. Educators should contact and work with the people who are most likely to be trusted by the majority of the community. The community trusts these people and would listen to them without doubt or mistrust.
Voter educators should make use of the social capital that is found in communities. It could assist them with the important but difficult task of informing people about elections.
Even though social capital does have many positive aspects, there are negative issues that may arise.
Problems
Norms and values assume that people know what they are and follow them. If a new person comes into a community, however, these norms and values have to be learned and assimilated before that person is accepted. This means that, at any given time, there may be people in the community who may be excluded due to their lack or limited knowledge of accepted norms. Sometimes those norms are not obvious, and educators may accidentally ignore or neglect a norm and upset the community. While cultural values can be very specific, they can also be very complicated.
Networks also may imply exclusion. If one belongs to a group with a network, it means that there are other people outside that group who don't belong to the network. These structures also tend to assist only the people who belong to that network. Not being a member, therefore, could put other sectors of the community at a disadvantage. Tightly knit communities are more difficult to penetrate, obviously, than those that are open to outside influences. Educators should examine a community carefully to learn which are the most constructive and effective networks. Those may be the ones with the most contact with the people.
Trust also may be difficult to establish for outsiders, such as an educator from an organisation like a statutory body that is not represented within the community. In this case, training programmes should be developed for trainers in the community. These local trainers should be people who are accepted and trusted by the community and, therefore, facilitate communicating information to that group of people.
Social capital is a concept with great potential to enable educators to think through effective ways to communicate. Those involved in civic education will also want to consider ways in which they can exploit the benefits of social capital.
Assessing social networks
Every country has social capital, just as it has other resources. The purpose of conducting an assessment or survey of social networks is to render the invisible visible. This allows those planning and implementing voter education programmes to gain access to the cultural associations that may enhance democracy and to better plan ways of coping with those forces that may hinder it.
While there are a number of ways to conduct such an assessment, the simplest may be to place one or more teams into the field in order to conduct interviews and enter information into a simple contact database or index card system. These teams will begin by selecting an obvious range of nodal organisations in a geographic area and requesting information from them. A second set of interviews will be conducted with individuals and organisations referred to in the first set of contacts.
Once a full set of contacts has been collected - inclusive to the extent possible within the time and financial constraints set by the educational programmers - teams from the field may find it helpful to develop a graphical representation of the social networks in debriefing sessions. This is done by using large sheets of paper, writing down an initial contact and then using a logical connector to place other contacts on the network or map. This may entail simple references such as "Referred to by [someone]" or "Referred to [someone]" or "Works closely with [someone]", or whatever may be appropriate. Such a network can assist educators in understanding the "social fabric" of a geographic region.
This contact information will then be supplemented by survey data regarding political and social culture and norms. Those who have conducted the assessment may then want to prepare a narrative report for those tasked with planning the voter education programme, that includes qualitative information including anecdotes, typical stories, photographs of those interviewed and descriptions that give a good sense of place. Such reports provide a deeper view of the area into which a programme is being inserted and can be of help even to those who reside in the area concerned.
Places to Survey
An assessment of social networks can start just about anywhere, provided that the right questions are asked of those being interviewed. There are certain individuals and organisations, however, that are more likely to be connected to the social networks than others. Amongst these will be religious or cultural organisations, clubs with large and significant memberships, and associations of residents, workers, businessmen and other professionals. It will be important to ensure that the field teams penetrate behind the most obvious organisations to those that even local people may take for granted.
Nodal organisations are those which, in addition to their own work or in order to conduct their own work, hold together one or more networks by providing coordinating, secretarial, and home services for these networks. Such organisations may be mentioned often by interviewees. Nodal organisations should not, however, be assumed to be spokespersons for the community or to replace the networks that they support.
Questions to Ask
Field teams will want to get basic contact information from each person they interview. This information should include:
- an accurate rendition of the name, acronym and all common naming conventions of the organisation that the person represents. In many societies, organisations will be referred to by a variety of appellations, and field workers may end up believing that different organisations are being discussed.
- all contact information including the actual postal addresses as well as phone numbers and fax coordinates and e-mail addresses where applicable. In the case of informal organisations, additional information may be required such as the name of the location where a telephone message can be left or a postal address where a second letter is required in order to ask the recipient to pass on the primary letter, and so on.
- details (to the extent known) of the key individuals and organisations with whom the interviewee works or associates on a regular basis. This information should include the names of organisations in which the individual and his or her organisation is a member.
Redundancy
It is possible that the assessment of social networks will be conducted at the same time as other aspects of the programme. These other endeavours may include focus group research, pilot studies, and registration drives. Because of the importance of understanding the social fabric in advance of programmatic interventions, however, it may be wise to consider this as an initial step prior to additional programme assessment activities.
Notes:
[1] Robert D. Putnam, Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993).
[2] A. Portes and Landolt, "Downside of Social Capital" in The American Prospect, no. 26 (May/June 1996), 18 -21.
[3] Robert D. Putnam, "The Prosperous Community: Social Capital and Public Life" in The American Prospect, no. 13 (Spring 1993).
[4] Francis Fukuyama, The End of History and the Last Man (New York: Free Press, 1992) or Francis Fukuyama, Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity (New York: Free Press, 1995).
[5] Francis Fukuyama, Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity (New York: Free Press, 1995).
