SOCIAL CAPITAL AS THE BASIS FOR PRESERVING DEMOCRACY

Abstract

The study is devoted to the comprehensive theoretical substantiation and analysis of the role of social capital as a critically important resource for preserving the resilience of democratic institutions in the face of contemporary global challenges, particularly in the context of transitional and crisis societies such as Ukraine. The author emphasizes that amid the «crisis of trust,» the spread of disinformation, and the strengthening of authoritarian trends, the concept of social capital, first systematically conceptualized by R. Putnam, F. Fukuyama, and J. Coleman, gains paramount importance as a «primary foundation» and «effective instrument» of democracy. Social capital is defined as a set of intangible assets, including norms, networks, trust, and reciprocity, which facilitate coordination and cooperation. The paper analyzes the imbalance between the types of social capital in Ukraine under conditions of full-scale military aggression. On the one hand, there is an explosive increase in horizontal capital: «bonding» capital, manifested as extraordinary solidarity and self-organization of the volunteer movement, and «bridging» capital, which creates links between heterogeneous groups and fosters social consensus. This horizontal social capital has become the fundamental basis of national resilience. On the other hand, a critically low level of «linking» (vertical) social capital remains – citizens’ trust in public administration institutions (judicial system, Parliament), which poses risks to the long-term preservation of democracy. The author raises the fundamental dilemma regarding the neutrality of social capital: it can be both a «cradle» for democracy and a resource for autocracy (through the formation of corrupt networks, nepotism, or social exclusion). Given this, the key task for public administration is to develop mechanisms for transforming the mobilized horizontal resource (solidarity) into stable institutional trust (vertical capital). The failure of institutions to institutionalize this solidarity through transparency and participatory governance may lead to its alienation from the state and its potential use against democratic institutions.

References

1.                  Putnam, R. D. Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy. Princeton : Princeton University Press. 1993. 280.

2.                  Fukuyama, F. Social capital, civil society and development. Third World Quarterly. 2001. Vol. 22. 1. 7–20.

3.                  Handbook of Social Capital – The Troika of Sociology, Political Science and Economics; T. G. Svendsen, H. L. G. Svendsen (eds.). Cheltenham : Edward Elgar Limited, 2009. 479.

4.                  Salihu S. Social capital promotes democracy and economic stability. Third World Quarterly. 2015. Vol. 22, no. 1. P. 7–20. DOI: 10.1080/713701144.

5.                  Sikora V. Vystup na kruhlomu stoli «Bezpeka ekonomichnykh transformatsii» / U kn..: Vid sotsialnoho zabezpechennia do sotsialnoi polityky: Zb. st.. za red. Ya.A. Zhalila. K.: Satsanha, 2001. 100.

6.                  Fukuyama F. Social Capital and Global Economy. Foreign Affairs.  Volume 75, September-October, 1995. P. 89-103.

7.                  Savko Yu. Hromadianske suspilstvo, sotsialnyi kapital i politychna uchast. Visnyk Lvivskoho universytetu. Seriia : filosofski nauky. 2002. Vyp. 4. S. 151–158.

8.                  Stolle D. Social Capital: A New Research Agenda? Toward an Attitudinal Approach. Princeton University, 2000.  69. http://ecpr.eu/Filestore/Paper Proposal/b0812d49-9e47-4d19-a0ff-62230487d94f.pdf.

9.                  Kirieieva O. Tendentsii rozvytku teorii «sotsialnoho kapitalu». Publichne administruvannia: teoriia ta praktyka. Elektronnyi zbirnyk naukovykh prats. 2009. Vyp. 1(1) http://www.dridu.dp.ua/zbirnik/2009-01/KireevaStat.pdf.