A major goal of democratic politics is to create social conditions such that people can “enjoy better lives” (Radcliff 2001). Democratic politics is certainly affected by its “civil society” – its societal, informal elements – as social capital arguments emphasize. But formal governmental institutions and public policies are clearly important as well, and they most often are presumed to reflect and complement a democratic polity's civil society. Social conditions are not simply “a given”: they are potentially alterable and can vary significantly across and even within political systems. As is evident from the earlier chapters in this book, there is substantial variation in the social and political conditions of the fifty American states. The central question in this chapter is: Are political jurisdictions (here, the states) that have more social capital also the ones that adopt basic public (governmental) policies that advance social conditions consistent with essential values of equality? Specifically, were American states with higher social capital more likely to adopt civil rights policies (before the federal legislation of the 1960s) and more likely to have tax policies that are not regressive; and do they provide more in the way of welfare policy benefits? Does racial diversity matter on these questions?

More generally, This chapter considers the public policy choices or outputs of governments rather than the social outcomes typically examined in studies of social capital and racial diversity (Hero 1998).