The Identification of the Capacity of Local Governments to Develop Social Capital

Due to the role and importance of local governments in the administration of social affairs, this study set out to examine the capacities of local governments (i.e., city councils and municipalities) to develop social capital in Iran. The study at hand was applied in terms of purpose and descriptive in terms of research method. The data was collected using document analysis and interviews. In order to analyze the obtained data, thematic analysis technique was applied. This qualitative study was carried out in two phases. In the first phase – i.e., library research– the texts about the legal duties of city and village Islamic councils and municipalities were probed. Then, in the second phase – i.e., field study – interviews were made with 18 experts, including Qom City Council and Municipality experts up to the point that saturation was achieved. The second phase provided 58 subthemes, which were classified into 12 organizing themes and 5 overarching ones. The overarching themes were organizational trust, political trust, the creation of sympathy, the enhancement of social trust feeling, and the organization of social issues. At the end, four approaches were used to validate the identified capacities.