Social capital and public policy: the role of civil society in transforming the state

In the past three decades, the concepts of social capital and civil society received much academic and public interest. Social capital, as social norms and networks of cooperation, provided civil society with the elements to support solidarity, public policy, democratic ideals, and social welfare. Unfortunately, these concepts have often been viewed as means for profit and competition, reproducing social inequalities and existing power structures. Post-Keynesian Institutionalism recognizes the importance of the active contribution and collaboration of states and citizens in addressing abuses of private power and promoting values of equality, security, and fairness. However, it has seldom studied how social forces develop values and institutions for social transformation and welfare. This chapter seeks to fill that void by exploring how social capital and civil society can build synergistic relations and generalized norms and networks of cooperation and solidarity through the commons and processes of participatory and deliberative democracy.