Robert Putnam argued that, given empirical data, America is suffering from a decline of social capital, and therefore, less civic engagement. Putnam looked at patterns in political participation (voter registration, attendance at public meetings); organizational membership (religious, labor, civic or fraternal organizations), citing an overall decline in membership. But, for Putnam, "The most whimsical yet discomfiting bit of evidence of social disengagement in contemporary America that I have discovered is this: more Americans are bowling today than ever before, but bowling in organized leagues has plummeted in the last decade or so." He does consider the increase in new forms of civic associations-non-profit groups, the social (or third) sector, grass-roots organizations in feminist, environmental, or peace activities, but concludes, based on empirical evidence from the General Social Survey, that "American social capital in the form of civic associations has significantly eroded over the last generation". .
Following up in his 1996 article The Strange Disappearance of Civic America, Putnam sought to discover the mystery of the declining social capital. Looking at `the usual suspects' for this decline, Putnam zeroed in on one main culprit: television, and the privatization of leisure. The many `suspects', however, point to a rapidly changing demographic lifestyle. These include: the fast-paced nature of (post)modern life, expedited by networked communication technologies; the changing role of women as they have entered the workplace in substantial numbers; the increase in divorce and blended families. He also observed changing demographics, downsizing in industry and government, suburbanization, the `malling' of North America, and globalization of the economy. Putnam dubs the group born in the 1920's the `long civic generation', because of their heightened participation in civic associations.