Social capital influence on sustainability of development (case study of Bulgaria)

Social capital is presented as feedback playing the role of a homeostatic mechanism of keeping the sustainability of economic systems in dynamics. Two basic measures of social capital are considered: the level of confidence (trust) among the members of society and the level of integration (consensus in ranking the social preferences). The author illustrates these assumptions in a case study of Bulgaria by means of a survey, which reflects the level of confidence and the level of integration in society. It is indicated that at present both levels are in a relatively good state in the micro aspect, but in the macro aspect the level of integration is not high, which creates problems with the consensus of ranking social preferences. The conclusion is that the need to improve the quality of social capital is a paramount task for the success of transition and building a democratic society.