Civic Decline or Civic Shift?

This open access book offers a critical and empirically grounded re-examination of social capital and civic engagement in Italy, thirty years after the seminal Making Democracy Work (Putnam et al., 1993). Moving beyond the classical North–South regional divide, it introduces a new province-level civic map, built on original indicators for four key years—2008, 2013, 2018, and 2022—and shaped by the impact of three major crises: the global financial downturn, the COVID-19 pandemic, and a prolonged phase of political instability. Through a multidimensional and methodologically transparent index of social capital, the volume reveals an evolving civic landscape where long-held assumptions no longer apply. It documents a growing decoupling between political and social participation: many individuals actively contribute to associations and volunteer networks, yet increasingly disengage from electoral politics. This divergence signals a transformation in the relationship between citizens, institutions, and democratic life. The book provides a comprehensive account of civic change in contemporary Italy. By combining territorial analysis, institutional performance indicators, and sociopolitical theory, it advances our understanding of how social capital evolves under systemic stress. Its province-level dataset offers a replicable framework for comparative research across multi-level democracies. This is essential reading for students and scholars of Italian politics, democratic theory, and subnational governance, as well as for comparative political scientists, sociologists of civil society, public administration researchers, and regional development experts. It will also interest policy analysts and international institutions working on civic resilience, institutional trust, and spatial dimensions of participation.