Government Action, Social Capital and Development: Reviewing the Evidence on Synergy
Author(s)
Evans, Peter
Abstract
Theories of development have tended to downplay or ignore the importance of cooperative, or synergistic, relations between state and society. At the local, regional, and national levels, such relations are often critical to successful development strategies. Moreover, there is evidence that such relations can be constructed even in societies in which the stock of “social capital” is considered relatively small. This article, drawing on others in a special section on social capital and government in the journal World Development, argues that such synergy can be a powerful force for development.
