Robert Putnam's book "Making Democracy Work" is a groundbreaking piece,
one of critical acclaim. His analysis of Italian regions is in essence a
microcosm of the world. In his findings, one sees how and why the North
developed at such an accelerated rate in comparison to the South.
Additionally, underneath it all one finds the across the board benefit to
Italians by the introduction of regional governance.
Putnam provides several statistics collected over a period of twenty
years. In fact, roughly half of his book details his empirical evidence,
which contributes strongly to the viability of his thesis. Here he finds a
convergence, sometimes expected, sometimes surprising, but all pointing to
the same factors and end results. In general, the North is more efficient,
less corrupt, and better liked by its constituents than the South. He
traces this occurrence down to civic traditions, the phenomena of
association among people. De Tocqueville is frequently mentioned, as his
essay on American democracy pointed out several similar factors. The now
famous quote regarding the vibrancy of American associations and democracy
is quoted frequently in any discussion on civic society. The northern
regions come from a long tradition of civic engagement, while the southern
regions have no such tradition. In Italian history, the South has at times
been more advanced than the North. With the advent of regional governments
however, the North took off. Participation and mutual cooperation are
powerful fundaments of this vitality. Civic tradition therefore, is
extremely important in making democracy work.
In evaluating Putnam's argument, one is struck by the sheer amount of
convergence of his statistics. There is a great deal of evidence on the
matter, additionally the fact that Italy is in essence a microcosm of the
world, makes his argument even more compelling. Sheri Berman's essay
regarding the Weimar Republic pales in comparison. In that essay she seeks
to disprove Putnam's thesis by pointing to the failure of the Weimar
Republic. However, her arguments tend to be nitpicky as well as fairly
shallow. A recent book by Woodruff D. Smith "The Ideological Origins of
Nazi Imperialism" shows that there were much deeper issues facing the
Weimar Republic than what Berman assumes. Essentially there were two
convergent streams of ideological thought that superseded Berman's thesis
that she did not account for. To be fair though, Berman in thirty pages
could not adequately address the deeper issues present as Putnam and Smith
did in two hundred. As for Putnam's thesis, it stands strong as one of the
most developed and empirically supported arguments regarding the
development and promulgation of democracy. The ability of civic engagement
to foster cooperation among the populace, increasing participation rings true.
Robert D. Putnam presents staggering evidence of the importance of civic
tradition in the development and promulgation of democracy in the regions
of Italy. Since the decision to implement regional governance in Italy, one
has seen the rapid economic and political development in all of Italy, but
especially Northern Italy. The reason for the growing gap between the North
and the South can be traced back to civic traditions. In Italy one can see
a microcosm of the world, as the North/South debate rages on.