The dissertation study, The Social Ties that Bind: How Filipino-American Communities Leverage Social Capital for Democratic Purpose draws upon literature in the field of social capital to explore how Filipino communities build social, economic, and political gains for their communities. Communities that possess a high level of social capital not only enable their members “to act collectively for achieving diverse common goals” (Krishna, 2002, p. 9) but it also leads to stronger bonds of trust that further democratization and counteracts notions that would support a nondemocratic establishment (Paxton, 2002). The following research questions frame the dissertation: (1) What unique characteristics are evident in social capital development?; (2) How does social capital transition from mere interactions between members to actions that will benefit the community as a whole?; and (3) Which factors of social capital development might be useful in conducting similar studies in other immigrant or ethnic communities as well as in other aspects of American society? For this study, social capital is defined as “resources embedded in a social structure that are accessed and/or mobilized in purposive actions” (Lin, 2001a, p. 12; Lin, 2001b, p. 29; Lin, Fu, and Hsung, 2001, p. 58). By studying the Filipino-American communities in Tallahassee, FL, Jacksonville, FL, and Orlando, FL, a mixed methodology that included case study research, survey research, and in-depth, openended interviews was employed. Then the frequency distribution of the survey data, the correlations from the Mokken Scaling Procedure, the results of the OLS regression and the outcomes of the case study and interviews were analyzed. Through a mixture of social ties, norms, and trust, it was found that Filipino- Americans use a combination of expressive and instrumental actions to access and mobilize social capital resources for democratic purpose. But the degrees of expressive and instrumental actions utilized to achieve democratic goals result from the levels of social capital present in each community. The aim of this research is to help public administrators understand the needs of citizens, how citizens take part in developing an environment conducive to democratic participation, and how to improve democratic processes to further civic engagement.
Subject (authority = RUETD)
Topic
Public Administration (SPAA)
RelatedItem (type = host)
TitleInfo
Title
Rutgers University Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Identifier (type = RULIB)
ETD
Identifier
ETD_4031
PhysicalDescription
Form (authority = gmd)
electronic resource
InternetMediaType
application/pdf
InternetMediaType
text/xml
Extent
xvi, 332 p. : ill.
Note (type = degree)
Ph.D.
Note (type = bibliography)
Includes bibliographical references
Note (type = vita)
Includes vita
Note (type = statement of responsibility)
by Portia Mauricio Diñoso
Subject (authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Social capital (Sociology)
Subject (authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Public administration--Citizen participation
Subject (authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Filipino Americans--Political activity--United States
I hereby grant to the Rutgers University Libraries and to my school the non-exclusive right to archive, reproduce and distribute my thesis or dissertation, in whole or in part, and/or my abstract, in whole or in part, in and from an electronic format, subject to the release date subsequently stipulated in this submittal form and approved by my school. I represent and stipulate that the thesis or dissertation and its abstract are my original work, that they do not infringe or violate any rights of others, and that I make these grants as the sole owner of the rights to my thesis or dissertation and its abstract. I represent that I have obtained written permissions, when necessary, from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis or dissertation and will supply copies of such upon request by my school. I acknowledge that RU ETD and my school will not distribute my thesis or dissertation or its abstract if, in their reasonable judgment, they believe all such rights have not been secured. I acknowledge that I retain ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use all or part of this thesis or dissertation in future works, such as articles or books.