Community Development and Democratic Practice

This book is the outcome of a multiyear process of participatory meetings, individual and collective writings, and insightful criticisms sponsored by the Kettering Foundation regarding the intersection of community development and democratic practice. The collective outcome from these processes is a wide range of innovative articles at the forefront of thinking about the intersections of power, participation, and engagement in the realm of community practice.

The authors highlight a range of case studies that vary by location, scale, and purpose. The book serves as a heuristic framework for ‘democratic community development’ and raises several related questions about how democracy, community, and the public are constituted, and what processes, end goals, methods, and tools are to be used to further democratic community development.

This book was originally published as a special issue of the journal Community Development.

Paul Lachapelle is Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Montana State University-Bozeman, USA, and serves as the Extension Community Development Specialist. Working in partnership with the Local Government Center, his responsibilities involve providing research, technical assistance, and training on various community development topics in communities across the state. Specifically, he provides resources and programs in many areas including community strategic visioning, local governance, and leadership development training.

Michael Rios is Associate Professor in the Department of Human Ecology and past Chair of the Community Development program at the University of California, Davis, USA. He is affiliated with several academic programs including landscape architecture and environment design, geography, cultural studies, and community development. He has written numerous articles and essays on the topics of citizen participation, placemaking, and the social practice of planning and design.