Neither welfare state nor racial backlash explains the civic decline

Evidence

Putnam was skeptical, noting that levels of social capital were higher in Scandinavian countries than in the US, despite their far more expansive social provisions. … But here too, data did not support the claim. Black Americans, Putnam observed, had also retreated from communal life, all while interracial enmity was declining. Something more uncanny was afoot. — Anton Jäger, Hyperpolitics, 95

Bowling Alone also ably debunked some stubborn misconceptions, starting with the idea that the welfare state was the real culprit for the civic crisis. According to this argument, “big government” in Washington had gradually usurped many of the social functions once performed by communities or individual citizens, thereby displacing local networks and private initiative. Putnam was skeptical, noting that levels of social capital were higher in Scandinavian countries than in the US, despite their far more expansive social provisions. Another “controversial” interpretation, in Putnam’s words, hinged on the question of race. Since the beginning of the decline in civic engagement in the 1960s coincided with the zenith of the civil rights movement, some were quick to attribute the decline to racial prejudice. White Americans, it was held, had withdrawn from clubs and associations after the end of formal segregation. But here too, data did not support the claim. Black Americans, Putnam observed, had also retreated from communal life, all while interracial enmity was declining. — Anton Jäger, Hyperpolitics, 95

Categorization

• XREF: This debunking — welfare state and race ruled out — is the analytical move the reader wants to study as model method for appropriating opponent’s data. — connects to: Time and financial pressures explain very little of civic disengagement. — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 646; Time and money pressures alone cannot explain civic disengagement. — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 681
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Anton Jäger, Hyperpolitics: Extreme Politicization…, 95