Robert Putnam wrote a cool

Robert Putnam wrote a cool book called Bowling Alone about declines in civic participation in America and has brought his keen observations to post 9/11 America. He has an article in American Prospect called Bowling Together that examines the impact 9/11 has had on civic participation.

In fact, in the wake of the terrorist attacks, more Americans reported having cooperated with their neighbors to resolve common problems. Fewer of us feel completely isolated socially, in the sense of having no one to turn to in a personal crisis. At the same time, we are now less likely to have friends over to visit. Television viewing increased from about 2.9 hours to 3.4 hours a day. In that sense, whether because of fear or because of the recession, Americans are cocooning more now than a year ago. The study that Robert Putnam writes about was conducted by the Saguaro Seminar. They have a press release about the study which includes another table that the Prospect article does not which examines changes by age.