Social Capital in Rural Areas : Public Goods and Public Services

This chapter focuses on an important component of Social Capital: the Public Goods. In particular we concentrate on “Services,” which represent the contribution of the State and of the local community to the building up and to the increasing of public goods. In other words, we analyse the actions that the State – by means of the local administration – and the Local Civil Society undertake, in order to increase the welfare of the population and to make attractive new economic initiatives. We analyse also the ability of the local community to face and to supplement any lack of State action. Therefore, we analyse the plans implemented by the civil society – networks, association etc. – that produce or develop local public goods.While in theoretical terms we describe a general framework that explains the linkages between the economic and the social organisation of a local community, the specific analysis of the way in which any community builds its own structures of services is presented with reference to the study areas