Civil society and political context in Central America

Putnam argues that civil society-citizen activity in organizations-contributes to successful governance, but he does not specify in detail how this occurs. This article spells out how citizens' participation in groups might impinge on the state through both political participation and democratic norms. The authors consider not only Putnam's social capital but add new "political capital" variables. The relationships among civil society and social and political capital are then explored, employing survey data from urban Central America. It is discovered that political context, specifically regime repression, powerfully affects civil society and social and political capital Furthermore, civil society more clearly affects political capital variables than social capital variables.