give focus to the desires and interests of citizens and pro-
vide experiences that will better prepare those citizens for
action in the larger political system. As Putnam (1995) ar-
gues, America’s democratic tradition depends on the ex-
istence of engaged citizens, active in all sorts of groups,
associations, and governmental units. Collectively, these
small groups constitute a “civil society” in which people
need to work out their personal interests in the context of
community concerns. Only here can citizens engage one
another in the kind of personal dialogue and deliberation
that is the essence of community building and of democ-
racy itself. Again, as King and Stivers (1998) point out,
government can play an important and critical role in cre-
ating, facilitating, and supporting these connections be-
tween citizens and their communities