Bowling Alone: America's Declining Social Capital by Robert D. Putnam

Community engagement correlates with a decrease in crimes, drug use, poverty, ill health.

1966-1998 showed a massive increase in disengagement between the populace and the State.

Informal social ties. In 1975 the average American entertained friends at home 15 times per year; the equivalent figure (2000) is now barely half that. Virtually all leisure activities that involve doing something with someone else, from playing volleyball to playing chamber music, are declining.

Television use may account for up to 40% of the decline of social engagement