Section 5: Chapter 23, Lessons of History: The Gilded Age and the Progressive Era Summary and Analysis

Putnam asks whether America can do anything about the deficit in social capital or whether it is just a result of modernity. He argues that part of the answer may be found in history, in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Some of the problems that now exist were foreshadowed then. Indeed, almost a century ago, America had another period of dramatic change that made portions of existing social capital obsolete. Yet, Americans fixed those problems, showing a way to approach today's issues.

One of the ways that society came to grips with the changes was through an increase in associations. Americans built on the foundation already in place, adding relevant...