Editing Social capital (section)

=== Civic association (Fukuyama) ===
In "Social Capital, Civil Society, and Development", political economist [[Francis Fukuyama]] defines social capital as generally understood rules that enable people to cooperate such as the norm of [[Reciprocity (social psychology)|reciprocity]] or [[religious doctrine]] like [[Christianity]]. Social capital is formed by repeated interactions over time and, he argues, is critical for development and difficult to generate through public policy. The importance of social capital for economic development is that these norms of behavior reduce [[transaction cost]] of exchange such as legal contracts and government regulations. Fukuyama suggests that while social capital is beneficial for development, it also imposes cost on non-group members with unintended consequences for general welfare.

Referencing [[Alexis de Tocqueville]] in ''[[Democracy in America]],'' and what he described as the '''art of association''' of the American propensity for [[Civic association|civil association]], Fukuyama argues social capital is what produces a [[civil society]]. While civic engagement is an important part of democracy and development, Fukuyama states that, "one person's civic engagement is another's [[rent-seeking]]." Therefore, while social capital can facilitate economic development by reducing transaction cost and increasing productivity, social capital can also distort democracy if civic association enables special interest to gain special favors. However, Fukuyama argues despite the risk of society having too much social capital, it is nonetheless worse to have too little and be unable to organize for public goods and welfare enhancing activity.