The Role of Human Rights in Transformation of Social Capital

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The Role of Human Rights in Transformation of Social Capital

Danilenko Denis Vasilievich

Doctor of Law

Аннотация

В статье рассматриваются вопросы трансформации социального капитала в развитых странах. Автор рассматривает роль прав человека в процессах трансформации социального капитала с различных точек зрения включая влияние прав человека на традиционные межличностные социальные институты (семья, родственники, соседи и т.п.), а также их влияние на не межличностном национальном, универсальном уровне. Автор не ограничивается распространённой в социальных науках и философии точкой зрения в соответствии с которой социальный капитал стремительно сокращается и выдвигает гипотезу о положительных трендах - реконструкции социального капитала. По итогам исследования делается вывод о том что права человека сыграли негативную роль в развитии по большей части межличностных форм социального капитала, тогда как они сыграли напротив позитивную роль в построении «широких» не межличностных форм социального капитала. Более того, автор утверждает, что в том что касается построения национальных и универсальной форм социального капитала права человека сыграли решающую роль.

Ключевые слова: социальный капитал, права человека, основные права и свободы, социальная солидарность, единство, семья, родственники, нация, гражданин, индивидуализм

human right social capital

Abstract

The article tackles the questions of social capital transformation in developed countries. The author considers the role played by human rights in this process, form several points of view, including the influence of the human rights on traditional interpersonal forms and institutions of social capital (family, kin, neighbors…), as well as the role of human rights in broad forms (national, universal) of social capital transformation. The author does not limit his thinking to - almost ubiquitously admitted in social sciences - questions of depletion (deterioration) of social capital but also considers the less accepted issues of reconstruction of social capital. Several conclusions are drawn. First, the human rights, among other factors, have contributed to the deterioration of social capital (especially the traditional forms and institutions of interpersonal social capital). Second, human rights have also contributed to construction of social capital, especially the broad (national and universal) forms of social capital. Moreover, the author advances the idea that if the traditional interpersonal forms of social capital were depleted under the influence of several factors (human rights among them), the human rights played almost exclusive role in construction of broad forms of social capital. 

Keywords:

social solidarity, unity, family, relatives, liberal values, human rights, social capital, fundamental rights and freedoms, citizen, individualism 

It is almost axiomatic that social capital has deteriorated throughout modern times. Indeed, almost every sociologist affirms that political, civic, and religious participation, as well as volunteering, informal social connections and trust have been deteriorated, and there are several convincing statistical bases to corroborate this affirmation (Putnam).

If any author agrees with this trend, they rarely agree on the causes of the deterioration of the social capital. Some claim that the division sociale du travail is at the root of this trend (Durkheim), others think that the wealth and security is the cause (Ingelhart), or even - at least partially - the television (Putnam). Rarely do the authors that acknowledge the deterioration of the social capital recognize human rights as the cause thereof. We do not reject the idea that other factors - such as immigration for example - have undeniably played a role in the social capital deterioration, but the idea that we would like to advance here is that the role of human rights in the social capital deterioration is certainly underestimated.

If every sociologist, and even philosopher, agrees on the fact that the social capital is deteriorating, they are less optimistic as to the reversibility of this process. In our opinion, their fatalism is exaggerated, and there are many factors of reconstruction of social capital. Moreover, if the factors of deterioration of social capital are many (human rights is only one of them), with regards to the reconstruction of social capital the human rights are the major one. This is especially true for at least the broad (national or universal), non-interpersonal forms of social capital.

These ideas suggest that the human rights are a factor - and in some aspects even a major one - in social capital transformation. To substantiate this affirmation, we can only agree with J. Rawls on the fact that “instituting the basic liberties, just as fulfilling various desires, calls for scheduling and social organization” (Rawls, 296). In other words, social organization is inextricably linked to the basic liberties, thus, those basic liberties should be seriously considered as a social organization factor, and their role in the social capital transformation were undeservedly undervalued.

The essence of the idea of transformation of the social capital under the influence of human rights, as it is developed here, lies in the fact that deterioration of the social capital under the effects of human rights is mainly limited to the deterioration of traditional forms of social capital, largely presented by the most intense, and therefore, most visible forms of social capital - interpersonal ties (family, neighbors, friends), whereas reconstructive role of the human rights is revealed on a universal level (nationwide and mankind).

1. The role of human rights in depletion of interpersonal social capital

1.1 The role of liberal values in social capital deterioration

Taking its roots in the development of capitalism, liberal values have strongly contributed to the liberation of the individual from the state, society, and other individuals, thus contributing to the depletion of the social capital. The social capital was depleted by, among other things, legal liberation of the individual, accomplished in the name of protection of one's freedom, to which they are entitled as human beings. In other words, the human rights progress, and especially liberty restrictions and any sort of bans being lifted, which were done in the name of individual freedom, have contributed to the social capital deterioration, by undermining the role of such restrictive individual freedoms - but socially centered - institutions as family, kin, community etcetera.

For a long time the social capital was maintained by rules and measures necessary to artificially maintain the social capital. Even legal norms were often introduced in order to replace the decaying traditional social institutions (moral, religious). Individual freedoms gains, accomplished for example trough lifting of legal bans on some socially related individual practices/actions, contributed to the social capital deterioration, since such bans were in the first place imposed to counterbalance the traditional social (moral, religious) decay. According to this assertion, progressing social capital depletion is partly due to the continuing liberation of the individual not only from the traditional social institutions and community rules, which initially restricted his freedom but progressively died out under different socioeconomic factors, but also due to the liberation of the individual from formally state imposed legal norms that were imposed on the individual in order to replace the shortage of traditional rules of social institutions and communities. In other words, the advent of liberal values created a space of freedom for the individual trough legal limitations imposed on state's, church's and other individuals' actions, thus liberating him from intervention of exterior forces of different nature (society's, state's, and other individuals') and thus contributed to depletion of the traditional forms and institutions of social capital, as well as the institutions and rules that were trying to replace the disappearing traditional social capital forms; in fine continuing to reduce the role of any form of socially centered norms.

There are many examples of the destructive effects of progression of liberal values for social capital. One of them is the increasing crime rates. Of course, several factors contribute to the crime rates increase (immigration, urban policy changes, economic downturns…), but the negative role of liberty progress on the crime is undeniable. Decriminalization, due process and presumption of innocence guaranties, as well as other criminal law changes that aimed to achieve greater protection of the (potential) criminal in the name of the liberty and human rights have strongly contributed to the social capital deterioration, or at least to the deterioration of the instruments that were created to artificially maintain social capital.

F. Fukuyama perfectly expresses the idea of how progress of liberal values have influenced social capital deterioration: “In a series of court rulings over the past generation, almost all of these activities [panhandling, vagrancy, public drunkenness…] were decriminalized in the United States on the grounds the criminal sanctions violated the rights of the individuals to free speech, due process and the like […] public drunkenness, as well as homelessness, panhandling, and other forms of vagrancy, exploded. In addition, during the 1970s large numbers of mentally ill people were released from the institutions […] although the intention was to provide them with a more humane environment, the result was that city streets filled up with large numbers of mentally ill homeless people” (Fukuyama, 34).

It is obvious that such changes, introduced in the name of freedom and different humanistic values of (presumed) criminals, or as in the latter case, of the mentally ill people, have contributed to the increase in crime rates, incivility and sense of insecurity. In other words, in contemporary society where traditional forms of social capital were depleted for different causes, and where such artificial social capital instruments as formal legal rules (legal bans on some deviant practices) are progressively lifted in the name of the liberty and other human rights, the social capital continues to deteriorate significantly up to the point where countermeasures (restrictive liberty measures) become necessary. Indeed, to counterbalance such harmful effects of liberty for the social capital, authorities of many Western countries were forced to adopt anti-social behavior acts (see for ex. UK's Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014), reintroducing such artificial instruments of social capital support as public alcohol drinking and panhandling bans.

There are also many examples of social capital depletion under the effect of liberalization on an interpersonal social capital scale and can be shown on the example of a family.

As described by J.S. Mill, “general principle of liberty” as applied to the marriage strongly favors the acceptance of divorce and the simplification of its procedure. He points out “… that engagements which involve personal relations or services should never be legally binding beyond a limited duration of time; and that the most important of these engagements, marriage, should require nothing more than the declared will of either party to dissolve it» (Mill, 185). In other words, Mill advances the idea that in the name of liberty one of the pillars of the social capital - marriage, cannot be imposed on the engaged individuals against the will of either of them; artificially maintained against the will of either of them and, as a consequence, it has to be recognized that it has to be made possible to dissolve the marriage at the will of (even) just one of the parties.

Legal limitations on divorce were lifted in developed countries during the XX century due to popular demand and contributed to undermine the family by simplifying its dissolution. The last affirmation is largely supported by statistics on divorce rates, which accelerated in the US in 1960-1970s, i.e. after the acceptance of the no-fault divorce by many states (Caplow, Bahr, Modell, Chadwick).

Same is true for women's right to abort. The liberation of the abortion legislation which occurred in the Western countries in the second half of the XX century was established as woman's fundamental right to terminate her pregnancy, which takes its roots in the right of privacy, “…founded in the Fourteenth Amendment's concept of personal liberty and restrictions upon state action…” (Chase, 36). In other words, it was accomplished in the name of the woman's freedom; of their right to choose under some conditions whether or not to terminate the pregnancy. The liberation of the abortion undoubtedly contributed - among of other factors - to the fertility rates decline and further spurred divorce rates as it is simpler to divorce in a childless family - thus, contributed to the social capital depletion.

1.2 The role of the private property in social capital deterioration

Before the advent of the modern notion of private property the most common property owner was not the individual, but community. The most famous example of such common property rights is an open-field landownership, which subsisted in some countries up to the XIX century. The open-field villages' social atmosphere was characterized by tightly knit community based on mutual cooperation and common action. In other words the community during this period is characterized by high mutual interdependence or high interpersonal social capital. This situation has progressively been changed - inter alia with the “privatization” of the property - and it is almost commonly admitted today that “the right to hold and to have the exclusive use of personal property …is a material basis for a sense of personal independence” (J. Rawls, 298). In other words, the private property is a notion that we use to describe a society of independent or free individuals (private owners) less tied to the community as opposed to the prior, socially centered forms of society, distinguished by common forms of property as well as more intense social interdependence. In other words, private property is at least concomitant to the society with depleted interpersonal social capital, whereas legal guaranties of private property were in the first place necessary to protect the possessors of economic goods and not to rebuild the social capital undermined by the privatization of the property.

M. Foucault has perfectly elucidated the socially harmful effects of privatization of property and the advent of its absolute protection. This author particularly emphasized the attention on the fact that under the Ancien rйgime many types of illegal behavior (“Illegalism”) were not reprehended (petty thefts); although the disadvantaged strata of the population was not privileged, they have enjoyed a margin of tolerance (Foucault, 85): this situation has been changed with the development of capitalism and wealth accumulation since “[…] la bourgeoisie […] supportй mal [les illйgalismes] lorsqu'il s'agissait de […] ses droits de propriйtй” (Foucault, 87). Thus, starting from the Revolution the private property owners exerted huge pressure on the peasantry's “Illegalism”; bourgeoisie punished even minor peasantry's contraventions against the property by criminalizing even minor violations. M. Foucault concludes on the idea that the criminality has changed from “criminalitй de sang” (violent criminality) to dйlits contre la propriйtй (crimes against property). These socioeconomic and legal changes testify to the strained relations between rich and have-nots. In other words, the new, sacred status of the private property and intolerance of its owners to the offences against their property created conflicts between the rich and the poor, and thus undermined the social capital.

This idea of private property rights social impact had been recently contested by affirmation that capitalism has simultaneously played positive and negative role in social capital (Fukuyama, 254). But the role of unbridled private property protection on the verge of the modern era was mostly negative for social cohesion, otherwise such doctrines as socialism and communism would not have gained the momentum precisely in the XIX, i.e. precisely when wealth accumulation and unlimited capital socioeconomic role has reached its peak. In other words, the fact that those ideologies gained popularity as a reaction to the private property holder's abuses proves the socially negative role of the unbridled private property rights, which were sanctified by different constitutional acts of developed countries, one of which is particularly clear on this point: “Property being an inviolable and sacred right, no one can be deprived of private usage […]” (art.17 of the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen).

Many limitations were imposed on the private property only later as necessary means to rebuild the social capital (labor rights, progressive income taxation, etc.). Indeed, many concessions were made by the capital (or imposed in some cases by the revolutions) via egalitarian and redistributionist effects of the welfare state. Those measures, which have imposed certain limits on the arbitrary powers of capital, as well as contributed to reduction in the gap between the rich and poor and create the middle class society, have certainly played a positive role in the reconstruction of social capital. Private property today, as opposed to the beginning of the modern era, is not as sacred and unlimited, which was achieved by the egalitarian measures and contributed to the rebuilding of the social capital (see below § 2).

Some authors (C. Menger) have advanced the idea that private property and its protection, while undermining social ties, also contributed to their construction; but this also a false assumption.

The deepening wealth stratification, unlimited property rights protection, and capitalist abuses of labor had strained the relations between the rich and the have-nots before the advent of the welfare state. Thus, in this era, were created conditions necessary for increased intensity of social cohesion among the oppressed - working class. Nonetheless, the working class cohesion, necessary to protect their interests against the capital, is only a consequence of the social stratification and not the direct consequence of the private property protection itself.

F. Engels unveiled another socially cohesive role of the private property on the example of the family. He affirmed that only the elimination of such a thing as private property could undermine the traditional basis of the family and destroy the submission of wife and children to the pater familias (Engels 229-231). In other words, the private property according to Engels' thought holds such traditional institution as family together; in this sense private property is an element of social capital construction. If such vision seems to be correct, i.e. that private property at a first glance seem to uphold social capital within the family, the concept of private property of the verge of the modern era has produced in our opinion the opposite reaction. Indeed, sanctification of private property as a fundamental human right automatically supposed liberation of its disposal by the owner and liberation of the inheritance rights by setting up a testamentary freedom for example. Thus, the inheritance system has changed form the imposed, mostly primogeniture inheritance system, common to almost every Western country of the feudal era and prone for concentration of property, to the free choice inheritance system more prone for equalization of the inherited property between heirs; i.e. more prone for its distribution and rendering its members less dependent on their inheriting relative, thus further contributing to the deterioration of the social capital within the family. In other words, F. Engels has not correctly perceived the nature of the private property conception of the verge of the modern era, when sanctification of the property liberated the owner form the imposed sociocentered norms (inheritance rights), which previously to the advent of the private property rights imposed interdependence of the members of the family.

1.3 The role of equality in deterioration of the social capital

Absolute protection of private property on the verge of the modern era was not the only factor undermining the social capital. Other human rights have also contributed to this process. Equality could also serve as an example.

A. de Tocqueville has affirmed that « …equality, while it introduces great benefits into the world, nevertheless, suggests to men, as will hereafter be shown, very dangerous instincts. It tends to isolate them from one another, so that each is apt to think only of himself» (Tocqueville, 162). Although this author considers that this human right has a deteriorating effect for broad, national social capital, in our opinion, the most important toll of equality have been paid by the traditional intense interpersonal social institutions. Indeed, traditional institutions of social capital (such as family for example) were mostly hierarchical social structures, where social capital was imposed via dependence of the individual upon different social structures (family, congregation, kin…) and submission of one individual to another (of a wife to her husband for example), which testifies to a clear inequality within such social institutions. As a consequence, the advent of human right to have an equal treatment ushered in the era of liberation of the individual form the yoke of different traditional hierarchical social structures, which undermined the interpersonal social capital.

This can be perfectly demonstrated on the example of family; precisely on the example of traditional dependence of a wife upon her husband: impossibility for the wife to open a banking account without permission of her husband, for example, testified of her dependence on the latter, but at the same time it has a strong cohesive force that is partly aimed at preservation of such social capital institution as family. Although inequality of rights is a negative notion from the liberal point of view, as it is seen as an injustice, it also has a strong social capital creative force, where social cohesion is gained through dependence - in this case - of the wife on her husband, which is a rather positive notion from the social capital point of view. In turn, equalization of individuals in rights and opportunities undermines social capital institutions founded on inequality. We can refer to such form of social capital as forced or imposed. As a consequence, the advances made in equal treatment have contributed to the undermining of traditional imposed social institutions, and thus depleted the social capital on the interpersonal level.

Equalization of labor rights is yet another example of social capital depletion within the family. In many Western countries a certain number of laws (US Equal Pay Act of 1963; the French 1907 Married Woman's Earnings Act), have put an end to what we generally refer to as “protective laws” - which were designed to protect women from certain difficulties of work, but in reality reduced the employment available to women - contributed to the equality of wages between men and women. Thus, over the period of the whole XX century - and the process is still not entirely accomplished in many developed countries even today - many restrictions of women's labor rights, such as occupational choice (military jobs), rights to do business (tending a bar) and make contracts or freely determine the hours of work (ban on women's night or long hours work), have been repealed in almost all developed countries. Such egalitarian measures made it possible for women to support themselves without the help of a husband (or family), because they gained the opportunity to earn personal income, which progressively became almost equal to men in every developed country. Personal income plays the role of an insurance, which in case of a divorce assured the subsistence needs of the women without the husband's (or family's) help. Thus, the family breakdown is - as many economists argue (for ex. G. Becker) - a direct consequence of the women's entry into the labor force and rising female incomes under the social justice (equality of treatment) measures. Some authors also recognize that female labor had negatively influenced the fertility, since having children increases opportunity costs (Fukuyama 103), it also contributes to the depletion of family social capital.

As women started to play a socioeconomic role equal to men, such traditional institution as family have started to crumble form all ends. But it was not the progress of women's labor rights alone that has contributed to this process. Measures such as women's suffrage and equal access to all education areas intended to equalize the two sexes - and not only education in the home economic areas - have improved the socioeconomic and political status of women, allowing them to get better paying jobs; making them more independent. The financial independence from spousal and parental help contributed to higher number of divorces and undermined the social ties with parents. High education, labor participation, and other women's social and political activities had also negatively affected fertility rates. Although birth control has strongly affected fertility rates, it has played a minor role, since fertility drop was observed in some Western countries well before the advent of contemporary birth control techniques, which allows us to propose that the equality measures also played a role in the fertility drop.

Thus, the imposed social capital is undermined with the development of the social justice values and equal rights progress by undermining the dependence of the individual upon other members of the interpersonal social institutions. This trend is not only influenced by the progress made in equality of rights and opportunities but was also stimulated by the progress of welfare rights.

1.4 The role of welfare rights in social capital deterioration

Considered as the conflict outcome of working class and bourgeoisie, the welfare rights in a broad sense include many measures pointed at reducing inequalities, which are not inequalities de lege - as in the case with aforementioned women's rights (see § 1.3.) - but inequalities de facto . Such measures as overall social insurance; worker's rights enshrinement; creation of public services (health, education, cultural) accessible to all members of the nation; redistribution of wealth (progressive income tax) etc. are pointed - as we have already mentioned (see above §1.2.) - at promoting social justice by reducing inequalities of opportunities. The main socioeconomic consequence of the implementation of these human rights is evident - decline in poverty and material or “existential security” (Inglehart, 13) via redistribution of wealth in society. Social consequences of such transition are two-sided, and can be characterized from positive point of view, i.e. as supportive of social capital, as well as form negative point of view, i.e. as deteriorating social capital. As structure of our study suggests, we will consider here the negative effects of the welfare rights on the social capital.

R. Inglehart had perfectly revealed the current “cultural transition” in modern society, which in our opinion is determined largely by practical realization of egalitarian welfare rights and social justice values. This author points out in particular that satisfaction of the substantial needs of the population has produced some changes on individual, as well as social levels. He draws a conclusion that existential (or material) security of the individual - mostly guaranteed in our opinion by redistributive social justice politics - provided individuals with satisfaction of all of their basic needs and changed their world outlook: the materialistic values were replaced by post-materialistic ones. This perspicacious analysis needs to be developed in order to demonstrate the negative effects of the welfare rights and social justice values upon the social capital, or, more precisely, to explain how material security - guaranteed by the welfare rights - undermined the interdependence of the individuals, and as a consequence, of social capital “…because they [people] are now better able to get along without one another” (Fukuyama, 69).

The most important negative consequence of material security of the individual for social capital lies in the fact that the individual becomes less dependent on any traditional social institution (family, neighbors, friends…). Individuals are less dependent on their family, neighbors and friends, since the food, accommodation, education, health and other goods and services are provided by the State and not by the family, friends or neighbors. Thus, social justice values undermine the cohesive unity based on material dependence of the family members or any other traditional social unity on the interpersonal level. Unemployed person, single mother with children, immigrants and other disadvantaged persons' material needs are no longer (or exclusively) satisfied by family, neighbors or other sorts of communities. Individual no longer has to count on his parents', children's, spousal, and their neighbors' help in order to meet his/hers basic material needs: the welfare state will do that. This is a major change and has significant influence upon the social capital, because the satisfaction of basic material needs is no longer met on the interpersonal level, but via impersonal individual-state relations. Thus, state's help in satisfaction of one's basic material needs has undermined the intense interpersonal connectedness (family, neighbors, and friends).

Family ties have paid the ultimate price. Since family ties are more intense than other kinds of social ties, they are also the most burdensome for the individual. Husband and wife, as well as parents and children living under the same roof, have more concessions to make to each other than neighbors or friends for example. The already cited example of independence of a woman from the family ties due to advances in equality of rights seems to be more convincing if we take into consideration the effects of the welfare rights. Indeed, the negative effects for the family of the women's entry into the labor market and equalization of the male-female income upon the social capital within the family (see above 1.3) were magnified by the welfare benefits. The family and social allowances and state paid kindergarten have certainly further liberated women form the dependence upon other individuals (husband, parents) and thus further undermined the family ties. Kindergartens and public school education provided by welfare state also liberated women from the dependence on the family by allowing them employment and thus sustaining her income. Moreover, kindergartens and public schools also reduced the time the mother spends with her children by replacing family education, which also negatively affected child-mother relation, i.e. interfamily social capital.

The development of the welfare state also undermined the dependence of the elderly or disabled parents on their children, thus reducing the social capital within the family. Indeed, the retirement benefits, guarantied as one of the welfare rights (health insurances, retirement pensions and retirement homes), liberated elderly or disabled parents from the dependence on their children's support and the necessity to live with their grown children under the same roof.

The aforementioned social ties (family, kin) are the most intense and, therefore, their deterioration is more visible. But the welfare state values have not only undermined those most intense social ties, but also undermined less intense and less visible non-personal social ties (for example in professional sphere).

It is axiomatic that labor unions, and other professional associations, are a major actor in social capital. Most of the sociologists also agree that professional associations' membership rates and participation in these organizations have been continually falling since the end of the WW II. The only differences in the sociologists' views lie in the interpretation of the causes of the erosion of the workers membership in such organizations. Some of them - such as those that supporting the idea of the decline in unionization via changes in antistrike legislation - seem not to be very convincing, because the union membership rates are falling overall in developed world, rather than only in the countries were strike legislation was changed. Others - such as those that supports the idea of the decline in unionization because of the changing structure of post-modern economy and especially via the movement form manufacturing centered economy to the services centered economy - seem to be more convincing but also fails under detailed analysis. Indeed, although this purely economic interpretation of the decline of unionization is interesting it seems not to be viable since the same decline can be observed not only in service sector of economy but also in manufacturing one. The interpretation of this decline, which considers it as a decline in demand (Farber, Krueger, 17-19), seems to be more convincing. Indeed, as the labor rights protection advanced through the second half of the XIX century and especially in the XX century, the need of their protection became less important. As a consequence fewer workers wanted to join the unions and to participate in their actions. In other words, satisfaction of workers with labor conditions and social advantages - which were advanced thanks to the welfare state and social justice measures - reduced the necessity in labor unions and contributed to the decline in social capital in workplace.

The example of the deterioration of the social capital in workplace under the beneficial egalitarian effect of welfare state values can be generalized. With the development of the social justice and welfare state values, the majority of the population satisfied not only their basic needs, but also received access to the services, which provided confortable living conditions. This logically reduced the necessity for self-interested political actions.

Such change has major consequences for political participation: if originally political demands were focused on individual concerns of politically acting person, those demands subsided and progressively replaced by political demands centered on issues not necessarily tied to personal interests of politically acting individual. Political and civic engagement became more fluid; participation in political and civic actions became less formal and less intense, since the participants do not have to defend their own interests; members' loyalty to participation in associative organizational life was reduced. As Putnam put it “[…] inward-oriented phase of creating social networks paved the way for the later, outward-oriented phase of political action” (Putnam, 399), which was made possible by the general elevation of the quality of life of majority of the population by redistributionist egalitarian effects of social justice and welfare state values.

Benevolent, altruistic social and political actions were initially the initiatives of the tiny fringe of middle-class reformers, i.e. people who were well-off. As material prosperity propagated onto the masses thanks to the welfare state and social justice measures and elevated the living standards among majority of the population up to creating a significant middleclass, the attention of majority of the population turned towards achieving benevolent, altruistic political and social goals and less towards achieving more intense self-centered goals. In other words, the quality of life and satisfaction of the basic needs of majority of the population, changed thanks to the welfare state and social justice values, altered the nature of political action. As self-interest political actions subsided, the social capital was depleted because voluntary, benevolent political actions lacks personal interest, which makes political participation more intense, persistent, and stable; the absence of necessity for a satisfied individual to act politically in order to pursue self-interest goals and unite for those purposes with the others - which by nature are more intense than the benevolent ones - made political action generally more fluid, participation in political and civic actions less formal, and weakened the loyalty members with regards to participation in associative organizational life.

Thus, social capital was undermined as the political and civic participation in the modern world became less intense except for the participation in the self-help and self-support groups or other self-interested social life initiatives (association of anonymous alcoholics for example), which grew as a necessity to complement the depletion of the traditional highly intense interpersonal social capital forms (family), which originally provided the individual the same help and support. In other words, we can conclude that welfare state and social justice values have contributed to the deterioration of the social capital even on a broader, not just interpersonal level.

2. The role of human rights in construction of broad social capital

It would be wrong to make a conclusion that socially negative effects of human rights are limited only to the traditional interpersonal social capital forms (kin, neighbors, family…). As we have seen, human rights also undermined the broad forms of social capital. At the same time, the most visible deteriorating social capital effect of human rights can actually be observed with regards to the traditional, interpersonal social capital institutions, because one of the main aims of human rights is to protect the individual against any kind of oppression (state, community, other individuals), traditional social capital institutions included, but this sort of social capital is also more intense, more visible and, as a consequence, its depletion is also more evident.

Unlike traditional interpersonal level or community scale social capital, which (as we have seen) contradicts the very idea of human rights as founded upon inequality, hierarchy, and submission, broad national capital had received support from human rights, which were needed to hold the nation together. In other words, whereas traditional interpersonal social capital institutions have paid the highest price under the pressure of human rights, they encouraged wide (national) social capital.

Although the main objective of human rights is to protect the individual against any sort of oppression (state, community, other individuals), some of the goals of human rights are indeed aimed at supporting the social capital on a wide, non-interpersonal national level. Indeed, the very idea of human rights supposes universal, egalitarian values, which logically - as opposed to previous, aristocratic concept of society - created social cohesion on a more broad - initially on a national, later on a universal - level within the societй sans classes . A. de Tocqueville has demonstrated that democracy, egalitarian, and even liberal values have produced socially cohesive effects on a wide, national scale. We have to show here exactly how this effect has been produced, and why this effect is significant for a broad nationwide level, as well as why it has been transformed today into a broader - universal, mankind social capital.

2.1 The role of democracy in construction of social ties

The embodiment of the liberties and human rights necessary for democracy to function (right to vote, freedom of assembly), as well as establishment of the special procedures (elections) and institutions (assemblies), institutionalized the new form of social cohesion by creating conditions for participation of the individual in political decision-making process. The basic human rights, via which democracy expresses itself (right to vote), as well as the institutions through which it takes shape (assemblies), created new domain of interaction between people, where they were enabled to participate in process of elaboration of law applicable to them and in the process of designation of those by whom they going to be governed. A. de Tocqueville has correctly pointed out that “…il suffisait d'accorder а la nation tout entiиre une reprйsentation d'elle-mкme …afin de multiplier а l'infini pour les citoyens, les occasions d'agir ensemble et de leur faire sentir …qu'ils dйpendent les uns des autres ” (195). In other words, this author finds out a direct connection between democratic institutions and increase in interaction between the citizens and the sentiment of their interdependence, i.e. elements of a broad nationwide social capital.

In a pre-democracy era people have not decided what rules would apply to them; that was at the monarch's, feudal lords' or a master's discretion. Their political role was minimal; their interactions were limited to the economic or kin relations, resting mostly on interpersonal interactions. On the contrary, the possibility of contributing to the elaboration of general rules applicable to them, as well as participation in election of those by who they were to be governed, has not only created conditions for participation of the citizens in decision-making process, thus creating social capital, but also stimulated the interactions on a more broad (national) level.

Moreover, the advent of the modern democratic (political and civil) rights, procedures and institutions made this participation regular. Indeed, where previously people participated in political action only punctually by trying to influence the decision-making bodies mostly in cases of dissatisfaction with the applied rules (uprisings, grievances) and with no certain effect, regularly organized elections, democratically elect assemblies working on a full time basis made it possible for people to participate in this process on a regular basis, allowing them to constantly discuss the decisions that were taken by democratically elected assemblies and regularly participate in elections.

Democratically passed legislation is more likely to be respected by the citizens. It is a fact that in democratic societies people are more prone to respect the law, to the making of which they have contributed if even indirectly, because it is harder to break the law which you have contributed to making than the law that was imposed on you without your consent. Of course it does not mean that there is less criminality in democratic societies - as there are other factors in pre-democratic societies that have contributed to upholding and respecting the common norms of behavior (religion for example), as well as other factors to uphold the common norms in non-democratic societies (fear for example) - but it is certain that democratically made laws are more likely to be respected, at least by those who have contributed to making them and thus it is a social capital contributor.

With the advent of democracy, social capital could be realized in institutionalized form of assemblies, agoras, or other legislative democratic institutions, within which social cooperation between members of society is created. This is especially visible on a local level of democratic institutions. Indeed, on a municipal level democratic (civil and political) rights and institutions have strongly contributed to the social capital construction, because the inhabitants often realize the participation in local affairs personally by participating in referendums or in local assemblies' activities, and their participation is usually more intense because they interact to protect their direct personal interests. Participation in local affairs is often exercised by inhabitants via personal involvement in municipal assembly affairs, which supposes necessary cooperation between inhabitants and they act more intensely because they are directly concerned with the decisions made on a local level.

But the more significant contribution of the modern democracy with regards to the social capital is that it has helped construct a special sort of social capital - wide, non-imposed social capital on a nationwide scale. Although citizens rarely personally participate in a nationwide assembly work, they do this indirectly via the election of those assemblies' members, and it would be wrong to deny that such institutions and rights do not constitute some sort of social cohesion. Nationwide social capital constructed within nationwide democratic intuitions is less intense, less visible in part due to its impersonal nature (citizens rarely participle personally in nationwide democratic intuitions) but also due to its voluntary nature. Those are the most problematic shortcomings of the modern forms of social capital, which make such sorts of social capital less visible and less intense than previous, traditional interpersonal forms of social capital, or some imposed, hierarchical forms of even broader social capital forms of pre-modern era.

The democracy itself - considered as an ensemble of rights, procedures and institutions - had created conditions necessary for a wide, national, non-imposed, non-interpersonal social capital to exist. Those rights, institutions and processes elevated the person to the status of the citizen; opened new domain of cooperation with others members of society and made possible the formation of the nation by creating the sense of attachment of the citizen to a wide community.

2.2 The role of liberal values in social capital construction

The role of liberal values in social capital construction could be apprehended on the example of the freedom of press, which, in terms of the UN' Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as freedom of opinion and its expression, is considered as one of the most important human rights. This fundamental liberal value has been only progressively incorporated into Western countries' legislation during modern times by inter alia repealing of legislative acts restricting this freedom trough censorship or licensing (Licensing of the Press Act 1662).It is worth pointing out that the process of liberalization of the press and book publishing does not have a precise starting point; it has been developed over several centuries (for example lapse of the Licensing Act took place in 1695, whereas the Index Librorum Prohibitorum was repealed only in 1966); and - in some, even developed countries, this process was subject to backlashes. Nonetheless, the contradictory character of this process and progressive gains of the freedom of press allowed for such communication instruments as a print press or books to be established and to exert a strong cohesive effect from social point of view, which - contrary to the traditional institutions of social capital, characterized by interpersonal relations - has exercised this positive socially cohesive effect on a non-interpersonal, wide (national) level.

Socially cohesive effect of the press and literature is widely accepted. A. de Tocqueville has pointed out that the newspapers play a decisive role in social capital construction: “When men are no longer united amongst themselves by firm and lasting ties, it is impossible to obtain the cooperation of any great number of them, unless you can persuade every man whose concurrence you require that this private interest obliges him voluntarily to unite his exertions to the exertions of all the rest. This can only be habitually and conveniently affected by means of a newspaper…” (Tocqueville, 517, 518).

Socially cohesive role of the press can also be indirectly proven by the fact that regular newspaper readers are generally more socially active members of society. Indeed, the fact that “Compared to demographically identical nonreaders, regular newspaper readers belong to more organizations, participate more actively in clubs and civic associations, attend local meetings more frequently, vote more regularly, volunteer and work on community projects more often, and even visit with friends more frequently and trust their neighbors more” (Putnam, 218), can be considered as “a mark of substantial civic engagement”. In other words, newspaper readership can be observed amidst the socially active members of society precisely because it is a social capital instrument.

J. Habermas also highlighted the role of the press and literature in transformation of the public sphere, which was transformed from an interpersonal level of relations, first developed in saloons and cafйs, to a wide non-interpersonal level. Moreover, as literacy grew, the press as well as books became more accessible, integrating larger and larger strata of the population into communication process and thus playing a socially cohesive role on a wider level. Advent of mass media achieved this integration on a nationwide level, while Internet created a basis for a universal integration into mankind, with an exception only in cases of some countries where freedom of speech - and as a consequence, access to a free Internet - is not guaranteed (North Korea) or not fully implemented (China).

Without denying the role of the progress of communication technologies, we can affirm that it is precisely the freedom of press, freedom of opinion and its expression that is responsible for the development of press and consequently the wide social capital formation. This is especially true for a free press on a national level, where it is precisely the liberalization of press - i.e. lifting of censorship and licensing measures and progressive gains of the freedom of press - which allowed for such social capital instruments as print press or books to play a socially cohesive role.