Analysis Of Bowling Alone

2071 Words5 Pages

Name: Muhammad Anas Matriculation Number: A0124119N Tutorial Group: D2 Contact: muhd.anas@outlook.com Question 8 Post-independent Singapore, small, young and prosperous. Ever since the independence of Singapore, 9th August 1965, she has faced very little resistance from the people. This can be seen in the low number of riots/rebellions, protests and demonstrations. Since independence, Singapore has seen 1 riot (1969 racial riot) excluding the Little India riot which occurred last year and a few minor demonstrations and protests. I’m excluding the Little India riot in this essay as I believe that alcohol was the only motivation behind the riot. The more notable demonstrations would be the recent LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) …show more content…

Putnams analysis of social capital in his essay, “Bowling Alone”. In his essay, he argues that a active civil society is key to the consolidation of a democracy. The reason he gave is that when individuals are involved in various societies, they build social trust and reciprocity. Putnam says, “Such networks facilitate coordination and communication, amplify reputations, and thus allow dilemmas of collective action to be resolved”. To elaborate further, when individuals join a society (Red-Cross, Women Rights Groups, and etc), and interact with each other, they are able to hear and share many opinions. Furthermore, they had a sense of belonging to that society and thus had one voice. This kept democracies stable as people were able to take well informed decisions and supported by the civil societies that they belonged to. Putnam also states in his essay that, as America became more modernised, individuals become more occupied their own work and have less time to join these societies. This leads to a fall in social capital and destabilises the democratic state. Before applying the social capital concept to Singapore, I believe it is safe to state that Singapore is not a “complete” democracy and therefore the lack of social capital will not destabilise the state. Singapore is a Confucius society with meritocracy. Every individual is working hard for himself and for his/her family. Individuals do not have the luxury of time to participate in civic engagements. Hence they are not able to come together and resolve the collective action

Open Document