Introduction: Special Issue on Participation
Robert Mark Silverman, Guest Editor
Participation can be an elusive topic, since a truly democratic society entails diverse forms of participation operating at the institutional, organizational, and individual levels. Because of these characteristics, scholars and practitioners sometimes complain that participatory models are boundless and cumbersome. Frustrations with participatory models can lead to more circumscribed modes of decision-making and subsequent public policy that fails to build consensus and address the needs of the most disenfranchised groups in society. In essence, when a society routinely accepts limits on the scope of participation, it runs the risk of encouraging what Alexis de Tocqueville referred to as a “tyranny of the majority” and “soft despotism.” The field of community development fills an important role in curbing these tendencies because community development scholars and practitioners often set out to promote social change and greater social equity. A spectrum of participatory techniques is often at the center of community development work, and participation is a defining principle in the field. Based on this assumption, this special issue sets out to survey ways in which participation is infused in contemporary community development theory and practice.
This special issue would not have been completed without the support of a number of colleagues. Foremost, I must acknowledge Ted Bradshaw’s role. At the onset of our initial discussions of this project, Ted was enthusiastic about a special issue on participation, and he offered continued encouragement throughout the development of this issue. When Ted passed away, I was fortunate to have others to work with on this project. Annie Smiley, the previous managing editor of the Journal, helped to keep this project on tract during the transition brought about by Ted’s death. When Marilu Carter assumed the duties as managing editor, she provided invaluable assistance and kept the Journal moving forward. Anne Heinze Silvis, Ronald Hustedde, and Norman Walzer also played a critical role in assisting Marilu through the Journal’s transition. Finally, I owe a debt of gratitude to John Gruidl, the editor of CD Practice, for his willingness to collaborate on the development of a practice section in this special issue. The issue includes the first jointly published article with CD Practice, and it represents an important step toward providing the readers of the Journal with a blend of theoretical, empirical, and practice-oriented content.
In addition to those affiliated with the Journal, a number of organizations and individuals provided encouragement and material support for this special issue. My
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: Journal of the Community Development Society
colleagues from the Center for Urban Studies at the University at Buffalo were incredibly helpful to me throughout the process of developing this issue. They were the first to offer external funds to support this special issue. In addition to monetary support, Henry Taylor and Kelly Patterson served as intellectual sounding boards during the conceptualization of this project, while Jeff Kujawa and Frida Ferrer provided indispensable administrative support. I am also grateful to the SUNY at Buffalo Center Chapter of the United University Professors (UUP) for the financial support provided through an Individual Development Award. Organized labor has historically been a catalyst for participation, and UUP’s support of this project is evidence of the continued interest of labor in promoting participation in society as well as other progressive agenda.
This special issue was conceived as a mechanism to share theoretical, empirical, and practical knowledge about a breadth of issues related to participation in community development. The process of selecting articles that reflected the spectrum of issues in this area was difficult, but the manuscripts that were ultimately included in this special issue represent the best of those submitted. The first article in this issue is titled “Strategies for Citizen Participation and Empowerment in Non-profit, Community-Based Organizations.” This is a theoretical article contributed by Donna Hardina. In it she examines strategies that non-profits can use to encourage participation in their organizational and political decision-making process, which can empower residents. Hardina offers insights into the role of participation in empowering society’s disenfranchised groups. Although she approaches this discussion from a social work paradigm, her article resonates across the community development field, and it is applicable to a variety of settings in community-based organizations and the non-profit sector.
Hardina’s article is followed by four empirical pieces of research examining how participation is incorporated into the community development activities of organizations and institutions in society. The first is an article by Lynn Richards and Matthew Dalbey, titled, “Creating Great Places: The Critical Role of Citizen Participation.” These authors use case study analysis to explore the scope of citizen participation processes in smart growth policies. Richards and Dalbey offer a number of insights pertaining to best practices in using citizen participation techniques in land-use decision-making processes, and they offer recommendations in making public processes more predictable, democratic, and fair. This is an important contribution to the literature on participation since it examines how citizen participation techniques common to planning practice are being applied in the emerging area of smart growth.
The second empirical article titled, “The Long-Term Impact of CDCs on Urban Neighborhoods: Case Studies of Cleveland’s Broadway-Slavic Village and Tremont Neighborhoods,” was contributed by Norman Krumholz, Dennis Keating, Philip D. Star, and Mark C. Chupp. In this article, the authors examine the role of community development corporations (CDCs) as catalysts for mobilizing social capital and neighborhood change. Through their case study analysis, they describe how CDCs connect residents with resources for neighborhood revitalization and provide grassroots leaders with opportunities to participate in local decision-making processes.
The article by Krumholz, Keating, Star, and Chupp is followed by one contributed by Lynet Uttal titled, “Community Caregiving and Community Consciousness: Latina Women Developing Communities through Social Service Programs.” In this article, Uttal shifts the focus from the work of formal organizations to the role of participation in the formation of community consciousness. She examines how Latina immigrant women develop a pan-Latino identity through their participation in a family child care certification program. This article represents an important contribution to the literature since it illustrates how immigrants use participation to take ownership of social programs and redefine them. Through this process, participation transforms organizations, communities, and the individual.
Silverman
The fourth empirical article was contributed by David Matarrita-Cascante, A. E. Luloff, Richard Krannich, and Donald Field. It is titled, “Community Participation in Rapidly Growing Communities.” In this article the authors examine how demographic and social change affects participation in community affairs. Basing their analysis on a survey of property owners in southern Utah, they found that structural and interactional differences predicted divergent community participation patterns for permanent and seasonal residents.
The four empirical articles are followed by Michael Frisch’s and Lisa Servon’s review of the community development literature. Their article is titled, “CDCs and the Changing Context for Urban Community Development: A Review of the Field and the Environment.” Frisch and Servon focus on the broader context in which community development and related forms of participation occur. They argue that the community development field has become increasingly professionalized and institutionalized since the late 1980s, and they call for new research on how these changes impact the work of community-based organizations.
Finally, this special issue includes a practice section by Randy Stoecker titled, “Neighborhood Data Systems: A Best Practice Analysis.” In this section, Stoecker explores the best practices in developing neighborhood data systems. This article represents an important discussion related to participation since the availability of relevant and accessible information forms the foundation of most participatory activities linked to neighborhood empowerment. Stoecker examines eighteen approaches in constructing neighborhood data systems across the United States and offers insights into how these approaches can be used to expand public input in the community development field.
This special issue represents a starting point for reenergizing the dialogue concerning participation in the community development field. My hope is that reading these articles will stimulate new theoretical, empirical, and applied research to assist practitioners in their efforts to promote progressive reform. For me, this project has been a rewarding experience in which I learned a great deal about the possibilities for expanding participation in the future. I encourage others to join in this dialogue and contribute to the di