000			01177pab a2200181 454500
008			180718b1999 xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
100			_aSeligson, Amber L.
245			_aCivic association and democratic participation in Central America: a test of the Putnam thesis
260			_c1999
300			_ap.342-62
362			_aMay
520			_aIn an attempt to build on and refine Putnam's thesis that participation in associations produces better democracy, this article seeks to determine two things. First, are his findings replicable in Central America? Second, is participation in all forms of associations equally generative of democracy, as Putnam suggests? In this study, Putnam's thesis is tested with survey samples drawn from all of the six Spanish-speaking countries in Central America. The author finds that although participation in community improvement associations is a consistent predictor of democratic behavior at an individual level, participation in other kinds of associations is not. - Reproduced
650			_aPutnam, Robert D.
650			_aAssociations
650			_aCivic improvement
773			_aComparative Political Studies
909			_a43991
999			_c43991 _d43991