Social Capital’s Impact on Civic Engagement: An Empirical Study on Pakistani Youth

The aim of this research is to assess the impact of social capital on civic engagement. The quantitative method was applied to measure impact of independent variables on dependent variable. The survey instrument was applied to collected data from undergraduate student of four general Universities of Pakistan. The partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach was applied to measure impact of bridging, bonding social capital and trust on civic engagement. Results indicate that bonding social capital and trust have strong association with civic engagement, however, association between bridging social capital and civic engagement was found insignificant. The analyses indicate that it is a basic requirement to bring immediately policy reforms in context of youth development and create more opportunities for youth to engage in the social and structural development of society.