From Participatory Reform to Social Capital: Micro-Motives and the Macro-Structure of Civil Society Networks

Although a wide-ranging literature explores the favorable effects of social capital, it is only relatively recently that systematic attention has been directed to the manner in which social networks emerge and the consequent implications for civic engagement and collaborative governance. This article employs advanced social network statistical models to examine civic network emergence following a participatory reform in Los Angeles. Findings suggest that the reform fostered a number of favorable network attributes supportive of democratic participation. At the same time, subtle but ubiquitous effects of socioeconomic sorting had the unintended and undesirable effect of elevating higher-status actors within the emergent civic network. These findings suggest that macro-level policy interventions are required to foster the development of ties that promote cross-talk among socioeconomically distinct community groups.