WORKING BETTER WITH CIVIC NETS

Civicness may be considered both a value and an indicator. The EU establishment and a large number of opinion leaders throughout Europe realize that the constitutional shock in 2005 dealt with a deficit of understanding and trust within our civil society. European governments, at last, admit a closer Union cannot see the light of better days under an overload of complicated rules. A German cosmopolitan sociologist, Ulrich Beck, recently called for a new generous move: “europeanize” EU citizens and institutions.

We urgently need to restore an adequate amount of social capital. In his two books Bowling Alone (2000) and Better Together (2003), the American political scientist Robert D. Putnam described the unsafe state of civic bodies in modern democracy. Professor Putnam is not merely concerned with theory. He promoted the Saguaro Seminar, an ambitious initiative designed to expand public engagement and launched by the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

The BetterTogether report emphasizes various risks connected with an undermining “civic apathy”. Investment in social capital implies:

· Transforming workplaces in order to build civic groups everywhere. Even small private companies could perform an effective community service.

· Updating educational choices and activities. All schools should cooperate, along with external partners, for a healthier and wealthier “res publica”.

· Catalyzing civic dialogue through art, cultural and religious institutions.

· Showing citizens their engagement is essential to make democracy live and work.

See also: Santa Fe Institute (search “social capital”)