The article contrasts two conceptions of civic community: Michael Walzer's and Robert Putnam's. It is argued that Walzer's republicanism remains heavily influenced by civic humanism and its view of social unity as founded on a specific conception of the good life (that is, the life of the active and virtuous citizen). In contrast, Putnam's empirical researches on "social capital" derive inspiration from Tocqueville's more pluralistic and liberal conception of republicanism.