ABSTRACT
Most contemporary discussions on the contribution of associations to the civic and democratic health of nations begin with reference to Tocqueville (1969) and Putnam (1993; 2000). Tocqueville (1969: 521, 514-15) perceived associations as having important social and political functions – most notably integration – and further argued that a society whose citizenry lacked the appetite for forming associations would be in peril. While Putnam famously argued that:
civil associations contribute to the effectiveness and stability of democratic government . . . both because of their ‘internal’ effects on individual members and because of their ‘external’ effects on the wider polity. Internally, associations instill in their members habits of cooperation, solidarity, and public spiritedness . . . Externally . . . a dense network of secondary associations . . . contributes to effective social collaboration.1
