Connecting and Cooperating: Social Capital and Public Policy

Over the last decade, social capital has become a central concern for governments and policy makers. Despite being ill-defined and difficult to measure, numerous claims have been made about its benefits.

Using a network-based approach, this book establishes a new framework for social capital and public policy. It demonstrates how a social capital framework can help us understand the public policy process, and how public policy interventions can build social capital. It offers empirical case studies of influence, innovation, partnerships and knowledge to illustrate how this framework can be applied and concludes with insights on new directions for policy.

This is an invaluable text for researchers, policy-makers and students who are interested in how social capital theories can be integrated into grassroots policymaking both in Australia and overseas.