In recent times, efforts have been made to bring two approaches previously considered to be antagonic and impossible to reconcile closer. This refers to an attempt to intermediate views that, on the one hand, emphasize the importance of individuals' strategic choices and, on the other, prioritize the historical importance of socio-historical norms and institutions in political and social results. The present article takes part in this debate and within this context, the question "Does culture matter?" comes to the forefront. Taking this question as our point of departure, we seek an empirical analysis of the statistical relevance of a specific cultural value, "social capital", and its significance for the quality of democracy. The efforts we carry out consist in attempt to empirically clarifying whether social capital (understood here through indicators of interpersonal trust, trust in institutions and political trust) is related to the quality of democracy (measured here through two indicators: Freedom House and The Economic Inteligence Unit). We conclude that, if relying exclusively on the concept of interpersonal trust as a measure of social capital, we will not be able to consider the latter as a cultural value that is relevant for democracy. With regard to trust in institutions, this factor's negative correlation to degrees of democratization in the countries studied demonstrates quite clearly that the circle of virtue suggested by Robert Putnam cannot be confirmed. Erosion of trust in governments, within democratic regimes, is strong evidence that there is no positive, virtuous association between confidence, civic culture or any other denomination that has been suggested in the attempt to build causal links between social capital and democracy. Yet notwithstanding negative results and the limitations that we have pointed to in relation to the scope of the theory of social capital, our text is revealing of a debate that is currently under construction and seems to hold promise
Social Capital; Theory of Democracy; Trust; Economic Development; Political Culture
