Local Capitalism, Civic Engagement, and Socioeconomic Well-Being

Civic Community Theory and Rates of Violence: A Review of Literature on an Emergent Theoretical Perspective

“…They also measured the proportion of persons in the county that adhere to Catholicism as a second measure of bridging capital. Bonding capital was measured by the proportion of persons in a county that adhere to conservative or Evangelical Protestantism, an overall classification scheme that is consistent with the work of Tolbert et al (1998) and Ellison et al (2003). They found that bridging capital reduced rates of each of the types of crime measured.…”

“…Locally owned businesses are less likely to leave when times get tough because of their ties to the community. Proprietors of such businesses are also able to provide support, membership, and direction to other institutions in the community, further strengthening social ties and energizing the civic spirit (Tolbert, Lyson and Irwin 1998). The concept of the economically independent middle class is intimately tied to this idea; it is this group that sustains local capitalism and who exert leadership in civic affairs (Mills and Ulmer 1970), what Lyson, Torres and Welsh (2001) call the civically engaged middle class.…”

“…In summary, residential stability and local investment, faith based and secular civic engagement, and locally oriented capitalism are thought to improve the well-being of communities, including lowering violent crime rates by strengthening ties between individuals as well as ties of individuals to the community and augmenting the ability of communities to address local social problems (Lee 2008;Lyson et al 2001;Tolbert et al 1998). The strengthening of these ties allows the community to integrate members, regulate the behavior of those members, and solve community problems more readily (Lee 2008).…”

“…Lee and Bartkowski (2004b) tested the effect of civically engaged denominations on juvenile homicide in 1,440 rural and 449 urban counties. To measure civically engaged denominations they used a measure derived from Tolbert et al (1998) which classified denominations as civically engaged or not based on GSS data. They found that in rural counties where the proportion of civically engaged adherents was higher, rates of juvenile homicide were lower.…”

Culture, entrepreneurship and uneven development: a spatial analysis

“…This may reflect business creation, and the ownership it leads to, allowing more of the population to achieve higher levels of self-fulfilment and self-realisation (Carree et al, 2002;Uhlaner and Thurik, 2007). It may also result in employers that are more strongly embedded in the local community, which then promotes the development of civic associations and increases trust (Tolbert et al, 1998). Interestingly, the reinforcing cycle present for entrepreneurship and the economic measures of local development also have a counterpart in the association between broader local social development and entrepreneurship.…”