从意大利南北部的社会差异看社会资本的重要作用

意大利南北地区的经济成就、地方政府所执行的效率、市民生活的特点都有明显的差异。北部地区社会和政治效率发挥得非常好,市民之间的信任和参与网络也非常发达;而南部地区则不是这样。南部与北部之间如此明显的差距主要根源于中世纪以来传承下来的两种体制:北部具有共同体性质的共和国传统,而南部则具有君主制传统。正是这两种传统导致了市民参与和人际纽带方面的重大差异。如今,在经济上取得优异成就而且保持良好的集体生活的地区都是在市民参与、合作团体、相互帮助等方面拥有优良传统,这就意味着,社会资本是决定经济发展和政府能力的主要因素。

A View on Important Functioning of Social Capital from Social Differences between Communities in Southern and Northern Parts of Italy

The performance of Italian regional governments has pinpointed the unique character of civic life in some regions. For at least ten centuries, the North and South have followed contrasting approaches to the dilemmas of collective action that afflict all societies. In the Northern Italia, norms of reciprocity, networks of civic engagement, and accumulation of social capital have been embodied in tower societies, guilds, mutual aid societies, and unions. These horizontal civic bonds have undergirded levels of economic and institutional performance generally much higher than in the South, where social and political relations have been vertically structured. This story suggests that both economy and government administration operate more efficiently in civic settings. It accounts for not only the Italian case but also economic performance and public life in many other societies.