16 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • APRIL 2021
DEMOCRACY REQUIRES COMMUNITY
COMMUNITY REQUIRES TRUST
BY ROBERT A. SCOTT
President Emeritus, Adelphi University
Following the insurrection at the
Capitol on Jan. 6 and a particularly
vicious partisan campaign against
U.S. government institutions, there
has been an invigorated discussion
about the meaning and instruments
of democracy. Many are asking, why
are our political divisions so severe?
Why do so many people feel alienated?
Twenty years ago, the scholar Robert
Putnam argued in Bowling Alone:
America’s Declining Social Capital that
United States society had experienced
a large decline in social cohesiveness.
He cited research showing that the individuals
born before 1930 who had
experienced the Great Depression and
World War II were more trusting and
community-minded than the generations
that attained adulthood during
the years of Vietnam, Watergate,
and a general coarsening of popular
culture. With this decline in trust and
civic engagement, he found a diminished
commitment to the needs and
welfare of those beyond immediate
family and friends.
One of the consequences of this lack
of engagement is a sense of loneliness
that has been labelled a public health
crisis. It has been linked to shorter
life spans, heart disease, obesity, and
Alzheimer’s. Putnam and others have
written that fewer of us join civic or
community organizations, that we
are less likely to attend religious
services, and that we are prone to
overworking.
An important cause of this decline
in social cohesion is the rising rate
of income inequality. This in turn
is related to declining participation
in voluntary associations and trust
in others. It is a strike against the
notion of a common good. Democracy
requires community and community
requires trust. Community is based
on common interests, common values,
and common aspirations. The common
good is not supported when the focus
is on the individual to the exclusion
of other values. The saying, “It takes
a community…” may be trite but it is
true.
It is unfortunate that the Covid pandemic
has kept us isolated because the
positive health results of social distancing
may exacerbate the decline in
social capital. So, just as we consider
how to open schools for the social and
emotional health of children as well
as their learning, let us think further.
How might our community organizations
work to bridge the divides that
separate us and bring us together in
common cause?
Fortunately, we have examples in
our area colleges and universities
that sponsor community engagement
involving faculty, staff, and students.
These include Adelphi’s Prize for
Leadership for high school juniors;
Hofstra’s Center for Civic Engagement;
and St. Joseph College’s Center for
Community Solutions.
With these and similar initiatives,
we can encourage the role of the individual
in supporting the common
good, the strengthening of communities,
and the building of social
trust and cohesion so essential to
democracy.
POINT OF VIEW
"We can encourage the role of the individual
in supporting the common good."
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