Government Action, Social Capital and Development: Reviewing the Evidence on Synergy

Abstract

"Instead of assuming a zero-sum relationship between government involvement and private cooperative efforts, the five preceding articles argue for the possibility of 'state-society synergy,' that active government and mobilized communities can enhance each other's developmental efforts. This article draws on these articles to explore the forms and sources of state-society synergy. I argue that synergy usually combines complementarity with embeddedness and is most easily fostered in societies characterized by egalitarian social structures and robust, coherent state bureaucracies. I also argue, however, that synergy is constructible, even in the more adverse circumstances typical of Third World countries."