Civic Culture and Government Performance in the American States

In a recent study, Robert D. Putnam reported a strong relationship between civic culture and government performance among the newly empowered regions of Italy. This article extends Putnam's methodology the American states. Using similar techniques, we construct indices of civic culture and government performance for the states. When correlated, the results reveal a clear link between civicness and performance. States that are more civic lend to have governments that enact more liberal and innovative policies. This relationship between civicness and performance remains strong even after controlling for political culture, ideology, education, and other factors.