Robert D. Putnam is the Peter and Isabel
Malkin Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University, where he
teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in American politics,
international relations, comparative politics, and public policy.
He is the founder of The Saguaro Seminar: Civic Engagement in America,
a program that has brought together leading practitioners and thinkers
for a multi-year discussion to develop broad-scale, actionable ideas
to fortify our nation's civic connectedness and that conducts active applied research on building social capital in a changing environment. He is also Visiting Professor and
Director of the Manchester Graduate Summer Programme in Social
Change, University of Manchester in the U.K.
IHe has
written numerous books including the best-selling Bowling Alone:
The Collapse and Revival of American Community (2000),
a collective volume Democracies in Flux: The Evolution of Social
Capital in Contemporary Society (2002),
and more recently Better Together: Restoring the American Community, a study of promising new forms of social connectedness. He is now conducting research on: the challenges of building community in an increasingly diverse society; on religion and public life; and on the connection between work policies/practices on social capital.
He is a fellow of the British Academy, a member of the National Academy of Sciences and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and was past president of the American Political Science Association (2001-2002). He was awarded the 2006 Skytte Prize, one of the world's highest accolades for a political scientist.
Click here for books/articles by Robert Putnam.
Selected Op-Eds, articles by or about Robert D. Putnam:
Let's Get Connected, TIME Viewpoint, September 11, 2006 (with John Bridgeland)
You Gotta Have Friends
A study finds that Americans are getting lonelier, TIME Viewpoint, July 3, 2006
“Sept. 11 as Civics Lesson” Washington Post Op-Ed, September 10, 2005 (with Thomas H. Sander)
"A Nation of Doers Needs to Do More" , Philadelphia Inquirer Op-Ed, December 3, 2004 (with John Bridgeland)
In "A Better Society In A Time Of War", New
York Times Op-Ed, 10/19/01, p. A19, Putnam notes that the attack on Pearl
Harbor in 1941, like the attacks of Sept 11, evoked feelings of pride
and citizenship in every American, Putnam says Americans can find inspiration
in the institutions and practices Americans created 60 years ago, and observed that the
sense of community was created in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor through
civic involvement, with the help of government. Putnam asserts that effort must be made
now to ensure that resurgence of community involvement continues,
through blood donations, contributions to victims and their families,
and attendance at places of worship, and further asserts that government should urge
country's religious congregations to plan interfaith services and
should expand national service programs.
"Lonely
Bowlers, Unite: Mend The Social Fabric" by Louis
Uchitelle (New York Times, 5/6/2000, p. B9) (in-depth interview with
Robert Putnam)
"Closing The Divide Turning Virtual Communities Into Real Ones", Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 6/25/00,
p. G1, (with Paul Resnick)
"The Country's Great Challenge: Enticing The Young To The Voting Booth", Boston Globe,
8/10/00, p. A19 (with David E. Campbell)
"Picking Up The Pieces / What Bush Needs to Do
Now / Restore Faith In Civic Action", Newsday, 12/17/00, p.
B4 (with Kristin A. Goss)
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