Governance, Participation and Community Dev.

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Governance, Participation and Community Dev.

• From the EOA (1964) to the Present

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Stuart Langton 2 Types of Citizen Participation

• Citizen Action Activities initiated and
  controlled by citizens primarily designed to
  influence governing decisions
• Citizen Involvement Activities initiated and
  controlled by government for adm. purposes (e.g.,
  improve decision-making, develop consensus,
  enhance legitimacy)

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Robert Pecorella 2 Types of Citizen Participation

• Community Control Citizens would have some
  actual decision-making power over resource
  allocations.
• Community Integration Citizens would have
  advisory power over resource allocations
• How do these relate to Langtons types?

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What type do activists want?

• Surveyed community board members in New York City
  and asked whether they favored advisory or
  decision-making power over 12 urban policy
  matters.
• Responses were used to create a community
  empowerment scale.
• Those who favored advisory power were moderates
  as opposed to reformers who wanted actual
  decision-making power

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What factors explain these differences?

• Example of how research is conducted in the
  social sciences.
• Variables race, ideology, trust in government,
  type of appointment to community board.
• Hypotheses? What do you think?

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Community Action Programs? What type?

• Key point Although CAAs could have been set up
  to operate within city hall, about 75 chose to
  remain outside as independently run,
  not-for-profit agencies.
• Yet, maximum feasible participation by the poor
  was mandated.

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Pressure for Reform

• Big City Mayors pressed Congress for changes
• 1966 Model Cities Program Key aspects
• widespread participation
• Programs were placed directly in city hall
• Citizens Advisory Board was required to provide
  input to proposed projects.
• Final approval for projects resided with city
  government

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Further Federal Efforts to Reduce Citizen Action

• 1967 Green Amendment to the EOA (Edith Green of
  Oregon)
• Deleted the MFP clause
• Prohibited CAA personnel from clashing with city
  hall via protests and demonstrations
• Guaranteed city government could have at least
  1/3 of the membership on CAA boards

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Reduction Efforts (contd.)

• Hatch Act extensions
• 1975 OEO, became Community Services Adm., and
  then when Reagan came to power it was eliminated
  altogether
• Model Cities program saw reduced funding, and in
  1973 Nixon impounded its funding

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Nixons New Federalism

• Prior to Nixon, federal programs had become
  heavily centralized and categorical in nature.
• Nixon proposed a New Federalism
• Decentralization
• More flexibility and choice for cities
• Block Grants instead of Categorical Grants
• Revenue Sharing

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The Housing and CD Act of 1974

• Consolidated 7 cats into 1 block grant
• Called for maximum feasible priority for
  low-mod income benefit
• Gave cities lots of leeway in how to spend
  federal CD money
• 2 classes of cities 1) entitlement, 2) small