In the context of any country, which one of the following would be considered as part of its social capital?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (d) The level of mutual trust and harmony in the society
Social capital means the networks, shared norms and trust that let people in a society cooperate, so the level of mutual trust and harmony is part of it. Literacy, buildings and machines, and the size of the workforce are other kinds of resource, not social capital.
- ✓ (d) The World Bank defines social capital in terms of social networks and norms, and measures it through dimensions such as trust and solidarity and social cohesion.
- ✗ (a) Literacy is education and skill, which economists count as human capital, not social capital.
- ✗ (b) Buildings, infrastructure and machines are physical capital: material assets, not relationships between people.
- ✗ (c) The size of the working-age population is a demographic (labour) resource; it says nothing about how far people trust and cooperate with each other.
Remember · Social capital = networks, shared norms and trust that help people cooperate. Roads and machines are physical capital; literacy and skills are human capital.
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 Indian Society, Ch 5 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- World Bank, Measuring Social Capital: An Integrated Questionnaire (SC-IQ) ↗ “six dimensions are considered: groups and networks; trust and solidarity; collective action and cooperation; information and communication; social cohesion and inclusion; empowerment and political action.”
- World Bank, Analyzing Social Capital in Context, Foreword ↗ “Social capital, defined most practically as social networks and norms, mediates development opportunities and outcomes.”
- NCERT Class 12 · Indian Society, Chapter 5 “social capital in the form of networks of contacts and social associations”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·