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This 6 page paper discusses Putnam's book "Making Democracy Work" and answers specific questions about it. Bibliography lists 3 sources.
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6 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_HVDemWrk.rtf
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Discussion What is the research question? Putnam states quite clearly that his aim in writing the book is to understand how "strong, responsive, effective representative institutions" develop (Putnam, 1993,
p. 6) He uses Italy to answer this question since he believes it affords an "unparalleled opportunity" to make "a comparative study of the dynamics and ecology of institutional development"
(Putnam, 1993, p. 6). What are his research methods? Putnam and his colleagues worked to gather their information over a two-decade period, using such methods as "observation, personal interviews, legislative
and documentary analysis, and surveys" (Kertzer, 1996, p. 227). Their purpose in doing so was "to shed light on the natural experiment provided by the development of Italian regional government.
The experiment was particularly valuable in offering insight into the impact of social context on governmental functioning since the regions each had the same institutional structure and the same financial
resources" (Kertzer, 1996, p. 227). That means that any differences discovered in the functioning among the regions could be attributed to other factors (Kertzer, 1996). Identifying the other factors-for there
is indeed a great difference between the functioning in the north and south-is the major focus of the book (Kertzer, 1996, p. 227). Are the definitions of key concepts clear?
Yes. Putnams introductory pages clearly explain his reasons for using Italy as his "laboratory": two regional governments, one in Puglia and one in Emilia-Romagna, were established in the early 1970s
(Putnam, 1993). Yet the one in Puglia is lazy, inefficient, seedy and corrupt, while the one in Emilia-Romagna is efficient, easy to deal with, and modern, as well as comfortable
with high-tech equipment like computers and the Internet. Yet the two are both serving the same function, in the same country. (This is equivalent to comparing state governments in the
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