Community participation - Joseph Rowntree Foundation

Understanding the links between participation in governance …
Patterns of social capital
The final factor, which, as we will see, proved pivotal in our own fieldwork, is existing
patterns of social capital. At first glance, the evidence from the literature is mixed.
For example, one study found that attitudes to other people, levels of trust in other
people and level of attachment to neighbourhood did not offer convincing
explanations of political participation, while others found that people were more likely
to participate if they were involved in associations, 37 or if they felt ‘a sense of
togetherness or shared commitment’. 38
However, this may reflect particular difficulties with measuring social capital as
expressed in attitudes and values using survey research. 39 Where the focus is more
explicitly on social capital as expressed in social networks and connections, the
impact of social capital on participation seems more clear-cut. For example, in one
study of participants in governance roles, around 80 per cent were actively recruited
by people they knew. 40 Among women in particular, involvement often depends on
pre-existing networks, perhaps suggesting that new governance structures might
have only a limited impact on non-participants. 41 American research has pointed to
the role that ‘networks of mobilisation and recruitment’ play in shaping political
participation. 42 Personal connections among friends, family and acquaintances,
‘often mediated through mutual institutional affiliations’, were crucial. 43
The design of governance arrangements can mitigate or
amplify these factors
The next step in our argument is to understand the ‘mediating’ role that the design of
governance can play in affecting these background factors that shape levels of
participation; that is, in what circumstances does governance mitigate the impact of
these factors and in what circumstances does it amplify it?
This role of institutions is seen to be a crucial but neglected aspect of the debate
since:
Social capital either thrives or withers in the context of the institutional
framework that ‘governs who plays, the rules of the game, and
acceptable outcomes’. 44
Institutions in this context include not just formal structures and rules but also
informal cultures, routines and norms: ‘institutions are habits not things’. 45
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