1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910821059703321

Autore

Fung Archon <1968->

Titolo

Empowered participation : reinventing urban democracy / / Archon Fung

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Princeton, N.J. ; ; Oxford, : Princeton University Press, c2004

ISBN

1-282-53163-8

9786612531637

1-4008-3563-1

Edizione

[Course Book]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (x, 278 pages) : illustrations, maps

Disciplina

352.16

Soggetti

Political participation - Illinois - Chicago

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. [253]-269) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Figures and Tables -- Preface -- Abbreviations -- 1. Democracy as a Reform Strategy -- 2. Down to the Neighborhoods -- 3. Building Capacity and Accountability -- 4. Challenges to Participation -- 5. Deliberation and Poverty -- 6. Deliberation in Social Conflict -- 7. The Chicago Experience and Beyond -- Notes -- Selected Bibliography -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

Every month in every neighborhood in Chicago, residents, teachers, school principals, and police officers gather to deliberate about how to improve their schools and make their streets safer. Residents of poor neighborhoods participate as much or more as those from wealthy ones. All voices are heard. Since the meetings began more than a dozen years ago, they have led not only to safer streets but also to surprising improvements in the city's schools. Chicago's police department and school system have become democratic urban institutions unlike any others in America. Empowered Participation is the compelling chronicle of this unprecedented transformation. It is the first comprehensive empirical analysis of the ways in which participatory democracy can be used to effect social change. Using city-wide data and six neighborhood case studies, the book explores how determined Chicago residents, police officers, teachers, and community groups worked to banish crime and transform a failing city school system into a model for educational reform. The author's



conclusion: Properly designed and implemented institutions of participatory democratic governance can spark citizen involvement that in turn generates innovative problem-solving and public action. Their participation makes organizations more fair and effective. Though the book focuses on Chicago's municipal agencies, its lessons are applicable to many American cities. Its findings will prove useful not only in the fields of education and law enforcement, but also to sectors as diverse as environmental regulation, social service provision, and workforce development.