Il capitale sociale in Italia, Un deficit insanabile?

Several terms are used to critique social facts in Italy: 'amoral familism,' 'parochial cultural politics,' 'the deep particularist continuity,' & the 'social capital deficit' as explanatory factors for analyzing political & social anomalies & dysfunction in Italy, a country whose political institutions are more the product of Italian political culture than formal design. Diventare grandi in tempi di cinismo ([Great Changes in an Era of Cynicism] Cartocci, Roberto [Ed], Bologna: Il Mulino, 2002) is reviewed. The volume is the outcome of a 1999 Istit Cattaneo study of attitudes among Italian students (N = 6,000, ages 18-20). Findings throughout the country: most view Italy's institutional problems as structural, economic, exogenous, & due, in part, to the importation of alien political traditions (ie, North American) to the country following WWII. It is found that different attitudes hold sway among students from northern Italy & southern Italy, & between men & women. While the book is a valuable contribution, it is felt that Cartocci accentuates the negative in his analysis.