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Social capital may be hard (or contentious) to define, but I know it when I see it. Or, more precisely, I know it when I experience it, currently as an elected official in what I am confident is a community particularly rich in social capital. This recent experience has sharpened my existing intellectual interest in the contextual sources of civic and political engagement. Social or political capital, which I define broadly as interpersonal and interinstitutional connections which provide resources to accomplish collective civic and political goals, cannot-in my opinion-be reduced to attributes of individuals. So despite the many pieces of useful survey-based research which help us understand, for example, how membership in particular kinds of organizations develops particular kinds of civic skills, this kind of individual-level research can only get us part of the way towards understanding the community dynamics that create varying …