Robert Putnam is a political scientist and professor at Harvard University, well-known for his writings on civic engagement, civil society, and social capital, a concept of which he is probably the leading exponent. Putnam also developed the influential two-level game model that assumes international agreements will only be successfully brokered if they also result in domestic benefits.
His most famous (and controversial) work, Bowling Alone, argues that the United States has undergone an unprecedented collapse in civic, social, associational, and political life (social capital) since the 1960s, with serious negative consequences. Though he measured this decline in data of many varieties, his most striking point was that virtually every traditional civic, social, and fraternal organization -- typified by bowling leagues -- had undergone a massive decline in membership.
He is member of the National Academy of Sciences and of the American Philosophical Society, a Fellow of the British Academy, and past president of the American Political Science Association.
He is currently working on three major empirical projects:
- the changing role of religion in contemporary America,
- the effects of workplace practices on family and community life
- practical strategies for civic renewal in the United States in the context of growing social and ethnic diversity.
