The Rebirth of Urban Democracy

The Rebirth of Urban Democracy PDF Author: Kent E. Portney
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
ISBN: 9780815723660
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 356

Get Book

Book Description
In an era when government seems remote and difficult to approach, participatory democracy may seem a hopelessly romantic notion. Yet nothing is more crucial to the future of American democracy than to develop some way of spurring greater citizen participation. In this important book, Jeffrey Berry, Ken Portney, and Ken Thompson examine cities that have created systems of neighborhood government and incorporated citizens in public policymaking. Through careful research and analysis, the authors find that neighborhood based participation is the key to revitalizing American democracy. The Rebirth of Urban Democracy provides a thorough examination of five cities with strong citizen participation programs--Birmingham, Dayton, Portland, St. Paul, and San Antonio. In each city, the authors explore whether neighborhood associations encourage more people to participate; whether these associations are able to promote policy responsiveness on the art of local governments; and whether participation in these associations increases the capacity of people to take part in government. Finally, the authors outline the steps that can be taken to increase political participation in urban America. Berry, Portney, and Thomson show that citizens in participatory programs are able to get their issues on the public agenda and develop a stronger sense of community, greater trust in government officials, and more confidence in the political system. From a rigorous evaluation of surveys and interviews with thousands of citizens and policymakers, the authors also find that central governments in these cities are highly responsive to their neighborhoods and that less conflict exists among citizens and policymakers. The authors assert that these programs can provide a blueprint for major reform in cities across the country. They outline the components for successful participation programs and offer recommendations for those who want to get involved. They demonstrate that participatio

The Rebirth of Urban Democracy

The Rebirth of Urban Democracy PDF Author: Kent E. Portney
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
ISBN: 9780815723660
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 356

Get Book

Book Description
In an era when government seems remote and difficult to approach, participatory democracy may seem a hopelessly romantic notion. Yet nothing is more crucial to the future of American democracy than to develop some way of spurring greater citizen participation. In this important book, Jeffrey Berry, Ken Portney, and Ken Thompson examine cities that have created systems of neighborhood government and incorporated citizens in public policymaking. Through careful research and analysis, the authors find that neighborhood based participation is the key to revitalizing American democracy. The Rebirth of Urban Democracy provides a thorough examination of five cities with strong citizen participation programs--Birmingham, Dayton, Portland, St. Paul, and San Antonio. In each city, the authors explore whether neighborhood associations encourage more people to participate; whether these associations are able to promote policy responsiveness on the art of local governments; and whether participation in these associations increases the capacity of people to take part in government. Finally, the authors outline the steps that can be taken to increase political participation in urban America. Berry, Portney, and Thomson show that citizens in participatory programs are able to get their issues on the public agenda and develop a stronger sense of community, greater trust in government officials, and more confidence in the political system. From a rigorous evaluation of surveys and interviews with thousands of citizens and policymakers, the authors also find that central governments in these cities are highly responsive to their neighborhoods and that less conflict exists among citizens and policymakers. The authors assert that these programs can provide a blueprint for major reform in cities across the country. They outline the components for successful participation programs and offer recommendations for those who want to get involved. They demonstrate that participatio

The Rebirth of Urban Democracy

The Rebirth of Urban Democracy PDF Author: Kent E. Portney
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
ISBN: 9780815723660
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 348

Get Book

Book Description
In an era when government seems remote and difficult to approach, participatory democracy may seem a hopelessly romantic notion. Yet nothing is more crucial to the future of American democracy than to develop some way of spurring greater citizen participation. In this important book, Jeffrey Berry, Ken Portney, and Ken Thompson examine cities that have created systems of neighborhood government and incorporated citizens in public policymaking. Through careful research and analysis, the authors find that neighborhood based participation is the key to revitalizing American democracy. The Rebirth of Urban Democracy provides a thorough examination of five cities with strong citizen participation programs--Birmingham, Dayton, Portland, St. Paul, and San Antonio. In each city, the authors explore whether neighborhood associations encourage more people to participate; whether these associations are able to promote policy responsiveness on the art of local governments; and whether participation in these associations increases the capacity of people to take part in government. Finally, the authors outline the steps that can be taken to increase political participation in urban America. Berry, Portney, and Thomson show that citizens in participatory programs are able to get their issues on the public agenda and develop a stronger sense of community, greater trust in government officials, and more confidence in the political system. From a rigorous evaluation of surveys and interviews with thousands of citizens and policymakers, the authors also find that central governments in these cities are highly responsive to their neighborhoods and that less conflict exists among citizens and policymakers. The authors assert that these programs can provide a blueprint for major reform in cities across the country. They outline the components for successful participation programs and offer recommendations for those who want to get involved. They demonstrate that participatio

Democracy in Action

Democracy in Action PDF Author: Kristina Smock
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231126735
Category : Community development, Urban
Languages : en
Pages : 302

Get Book

Book Description
In cities across the US, grass-roots organizations are working to revitalize popular participation in disenfranchised communities by bringing ordinary people into public life. This book examines the techniques used to achieve these goals.

Urban Food Democracy and Governance in North and South

Urban Food Democracy and Governance in North and South PDF Author: Alec Thornton
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030171876
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 345

Get Book

Book Description
“Grounded in the urban politics of the 21st Century world-wide, this thoughtful volume hooks urban food – and especially its production – to social justice in a realistic and manageable way.” —Diana Lee-Smith, Mazingira Institute, Kenya “An excellent international overview of urban food democracy and governance, with impressive geographical reach.” —Andre Viljoen, University of Brighton, UK This edited collection explores urban food democracy as part of a broader policy-based approach to sustainable urban development. Conceptually, governance and social justice provide the analytical framework for a varied array of contributions which critically address issues including urban agriculture, smart cities, human health and wellbeing and urban biodiversity. Some chapters take the form of thematic, issue-based discussions, where others are constituted by empirical case studies. Contributing authors include both academic experts and practitioners who hail from a wide range of disciplines, professions and nations. All offer original research and robust consideration of urban food democracy in cities from across the Global North and South. Taken as a whole, this book makes a significant contribution to understanding the potential enabling role of good urban governance in developing formal urban food policy that is economically and socially responsive and in tune with forms of community-driven adaptation of space for the local production, distribution and consumption of nutritious food.

Democracy in Ghana

Democracy in Ghana PDF Author: Jeffrey W. Paller
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316513300
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 333

Get Book

Book Description
A detailed account of politics in Ghana's urban neighborhoods, providing a new way to understand African democracy and development.

Citizen Designs

Citizen Designs PDF Author: Eli Elinoff
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824888154
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 313

Get Book

Book Description
What does it mean to design democratic cities and democratic citizens in a time of mass urbanization and volatile political transformation? Citizen Designs: City-Making and Democracy in Northeastern Thailand addresses this question by exploring the ways that democratic urban planning projects intersect with emerging political aspirations among squatters living in the northeastern Thai city of Khon Kaen. Based on ethnographic and historical research conducted since 2007, Citizen Designs describes how residents of Khon Kaen’s railway squatter communities used Thailand’s experiment in participatory urban planning as a means of reimagining their citizenship, remaking their communities, and acting upon their aspirations for political equality and the good life. It also shows how the Thai state used participatory planning and design to manage both situated political claims and emerging politics. Through ethnographic analysis of contentious collaborations between residents, urban activists, state planners, participatory architects, and city officials, Eli Elinoff’s analysis reveals how the Khon Kaen’s railway settlements became sites of contestation over political inclusion and the meaning and value of democracy as a political form in the first decades of the twenty-first century. Elinoff examines how residents embraced politics as a means of enacting their equality. This embrace inspired new debates about the meaning of good citizenship and how democracy might look and feel. The disagreements over citizenship, like those Elinoff describes in Khon Kaen, reflect the kinds of aspirations for political equality that have been fundamental to Thailand’s political transformation over the last two decades, which has seen new political actors asserting themselves at the ballot box and in the streets alongside the retrenchment of military authoritarianism. Citizen Designs offers new conceptual and empirical insights into the lived effects of Thailand’s political volatility and into the current moment of democratic ambivalence, mass urbanization, and authoritarian resurgence.

England, 1868-1914

England, 1868-1914 PDF Author: Donald Read
Publisher: Longman Publishing Group
ISBN: 9780582488359
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 548

Get Book

Book Description


Conflict, Improvisation, Governance

Conflict, Improvisation, Governance PDF Author: David Laws
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317685989
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 385

Get Book

Book Description
Conflict, Improvisation, Governance presents a carefully crafted and edited collection of first hand accounts of diverse public sector and non-profit urban practitioners facing the practical challenges of "doing democracy" in the global/local context of the interconnected major European city of Amsterdam and its region. The book examines street level democratic processes through the experiences of planning and city governance practitioners in community development, youth work, public service delivery, urban public administration, immigration and multi-cultural social policy. These profiles and case studies show widely shared challenges in global and local urban environments, and new, "bottom-up," democratic and improvisational strategies that community members and public officials alike can use to make more inclusive, democratic cities.

The Urban Village

The Urban Village PDF Author: Alberto Magnaghi
Publisher: Zed Books
ISBN: 9781842775813
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 244

Get Book

Book Description
A practical manifesto for how cities can respond to the pressures of globalization

Urban Democracy

Urban Democracy PDF Author: Oscar W. Gabriel
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3322999696
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 448

Get Book

Book Description
Der Band enthält eine Bestandsaufnahme der Struktur und Entwicklung großstädtischer Demokratien im Übergang zur postindustriellen Gesellschaft. Im Mittelpunkt steht die Frage, in welcher Weise der Strukturwandel der westlichen Gesellschaften die Einflußverteilung zwischen der Bevölkerung, den Institutionen des Interessenvermittlungssystems und den lokalen Eliten beeinflußt hat.