Residential Community Associations and the American Intergovernmental System

Despite their growth and functional similarity to census-listedgovernments, residential community associations (RCAs) representa little-researched feature of American federalism. This studyemploys survey data from a national sample of RCAs to examinehow these organizations relate to other parts of local governmentsystems. The findings underscore the similarity of RCAs to localgovernment with regard to service provision, intergovernmentalcontracting, and lobbying with other units. Multivariate analysisshows that where RCAs are overlapped by other local units, includingother RCAs, they engage in more government-like actions. Thearticle also seeks to stimulate further research on RCAs byreflecting on measurement issues and the federalism implicationsof the study's findings.     

Outside Funding and the Dynamics of Participation in Community Associations

The poor and disadvantaged are widely seen as having weak organizations and low rates of participation in community associations, impeding their political representation and economic advancement. Many policy initiatives aim to build civic participation among the disadvantaged by funding local community associations. Taking advantage of random assignment in a program supporting women's community associations in Kenya, we find little evidence that outside funding expanded organizational strength, but substantial evidence that funding changed group membership and leadership, weakening the role of the disadvantaged. The program led younger, more educated, and better-off women to enter the groups. New entrants, men, and more educated women assumed leadership positions. The departure of older women, the most socially marginalized demographic group, increased substantially. The results are generalized through a formal model showing how democratic decision making by existing members of community associations can generate long-run outcomes in which the poor and disadvantaged either do not belong to any associations or belong to weak organizations.     

Social Context and Campaign Volatility in New Democracies: Networks and Neighborhoods in Brazil's 2002 Elections

In new democracies party systems are often young, so partisan cues and roots in the electorate tend to be weak. The results, in many instances, include volatile campaigns with comparatively high degrees of short-term preference change among voters. We explore the mechanisms of voter volatility and, more broadly, the ways in which citizens learn about issues and candidates in weak-party systems. We claim that citizens in such settings rely heavily upon persuasive information gathered from their immediate social contexts. Utilizing a unique panel survey implemented during Brazil's historic 2002 presidential election, we demonstrate the importance of political discussion within social networks and neighborhood context for explaining preference change during election campaigns. We also demonstrate the concrete political consequences of social context by showing how candidate momentum runs can be driven by waves of discussion.     

Assessing Economic Change in HOPE VI Neighborhoods

Abstract

Neighborhoods surrounding large public housing developments have historically been economically distressed. The revitalization of many developments through the federal HOPE VI program, in conjunction with increased inner‐city lending and a strong economy for much of the 1990s, should theoretically lead to improvements in these neighborhoods. This study analyzes changes in selected HOPE VI neighborhoods since 1990 and compares them with changes in other high‐poverty communities, as well as with overall trends in their respective cities.

At the beginning of the decade, conditions in HOPE VI communities were almost universally worse than in other high‐poverty areas. By the end of the decade, the relationship was reversed. The changes resulted from a number of interrelated factors, including the redevelopments themselves, other private market activity, specific commitments of resources by city governments, and increased attention to the communities by lenders. These neighborhoods still qualify as economically distressed, but economic development now seems a realistic possibility.     

社区党建工作的新路子

保证社区经济社会的稳定、发展 ,把握好两个文明建设的正确方向 ,是社区党建工作的出发点和落脚点。社区党组织如何适应特区不断发展变化的新形势 ,更好地起到“三个代表”的作用 ,是一个新课题。我们认为 ,在坚持长期以来党建工作行之有效的制度、方式、方法的同时 ,应按照江总书记提出的“三个代表”的要求 ,针对当前基层党建工作存在的一些难点和薄弱环节 ,以改革的精神研究新情况 ,解决新问题 ,大胆探索扩大社区党组织管理的覆盖面 ,构建党建工作网络 ,创新社区党组织活动的途径和方法 ,以适应新的形势和任务对社区党建工作提出的新要求…     

The Political Ecology of Opinion in Big-Donor Neighborhoods

Major campaign donors are highly concentrated geographically. A relative handful of neighborhoods accounts for the bulk of all money contributed to political campaigns. Public opinion in these elite neighborhoods is very different from that in the country as a whole and in low-donor areas. On a number of prominent political issues, the prevailing viewpoint in high-donor neighborhoods can be characterized as cosmopolitan and libertarian, rather than populist or moralistic. Merging Federal Election Commission contribution data with three recent large-scale national surveys, we find that these opinion differences are not solely the result of big-donor areas’ high concentration of wealthy and educated individuals. Instead, these neighborhoods have a distinctive political ecology that likely reinforces and intensifies biases in opinion. Given that these locales are the origin for the lion’s share of campaign donations, they may steer the national political agenda in unrepresentative directions.     

Preparation for Ethical Community: Learning from Education for Sittlichkeit in New Order Indonesia

The politics of identity draws on postmodernist rejections of the universals of liberalism in theorizing the claims of individuals and groups on the political community. An alternative grounding of claims is provided by Hegel's concept of Sittlichkeit , the idea of the ethical instantiation of the citizen in the community. Sittlichkeit shares the self-determinist claims of identity-based models of community. It shares in particular their rejection of the heteronomy of antecedent principles of rights and justice. This paper is a study of the operationalizing of Sittlichkeit in Indonesian education for citizenship under the New Order implementation of the state ideology. It is intended to show the collectivist as well as the pluralist potential of normative settlements produced by 'perspectival dialogism', and consequently the importance of owning the derivation of the politics of identity from liberalism, when pluralism is the desired outcome .     

Registrants,Voters, and Turnout Variability Across Neighborhoods

Although political participation has received wide-ranging scholarly attention, little is known for certain about the effects of social and political context on turnout. A scattered set of analyses—well-known by both political scientists and campaign consultants—suggests that ones neighborhood has a relatively minor impact on the decision to vote. These analyses, however, typically rely upon data from a single location. Drawing on official lists of registered voters from sixteen major counties across seven states (including Florida) from the 2000 presidential election, we use geographic/mapping information and hierarchical models to obtain a more accurate picture of how neighborhood characteristics affect participation, especially among partisans. Our research shows that neighborhoods influence voting by interacting with partisan affiliation to dampen turnout among voters we might otherwise expect to participate. Most notably, we find Republican partisans in enemy territory tend to vote less than expected, even after accounting for socioeconomic status. Our findings have implications for campaign strategy, and lead us to suggest that campaign targeting efforts could be improved by an integration of aggregate- and individual-level information about voters.     

How Vehicle Access Enables Low-Income Households to Live in Better Neighborhoods

ABSTRACT

Transportation influences residential location choices generally, but low-income households often face unique constraints because of a lack of access to automobiles. This article examines how vehicle access influences the type of neighborhoods in which low-income households are able to secure housing following a move to a new neighborhood. We rely on data from the Moving to Opportunity program to estimate locational attainment models, including a wide range of variables capturing various dimensions of neighborhood opportunity. Our findings suggest that auto access enables low-income households to secure housing in neighborhoods that exhibit a wide range of positive neighborhood attributes, including lower poverty rates, lower housing vacancy rates, higher median household income, higher labor-force participation, and higher adult high school graduation rates.     

蓝色文化下依托专业特色学生社团建设研究——以大连海洋大学海洋与土木工程学院为例

大连海洋大学海洋与土木工程学院围绕着蓝色文化理念,不断探索依托专业特色的学生社团建设。在实践中,营造了良好的育人环境,不断发掘具有本学院特色的社团建设。巩固学生的专业知识,丰富就业本领,提高综合素质。     

人类命运共同体、共同价值与人类文明新形态

共同体的发展是一个历史过程,人类命运共同体是迄今为止以民族国家为成员的人类社会最大的共同体,是全球化运动的必然结果。当代全球化的主要任务就是破除以往虚假的普遍性,重建真正的普遍性,这使人类命运共同体成为当代全球化的建设性逻辑。这种新的普遍性即人类共同价值。从其本质来看,人类共同价值是指世界各民族在共同利益、共同需求、共同发展的基础上形成的“共善”,是一种新的普遍性;从其产生和形成来看,人类共同价值是在世界各民族的交往中历史地自然形成的;从其思维方式来看,人类共同价值是以国家和民族主体间性不同于霸权理性的“交往理性”为核心,以“协商主义”为原则的思维方式;从其内在结构来看,人类命运共同体的共同价值应包括生存价值和发展价值,是二者的统一;从其基本内涵来看,人类共同价值是文化共性和文化特殊性的辩证统一。人类命运共同体及其核心共同价值的构建,实际上提出了一种人类的文明新形态。人类文明新形态的基本内涵需要从新文化价值、新文明范式和新文化经验等三个方面加以论述。     

Measuring the Performance of Community Organisations in Queensland and New Zealand

The need to measure qualitative outcomes is well documented. This article argues that despite this recognition many programs are still evaluated using unreliable numerical indicators. This has particular ramifications for community service programs that deal with the sharp end of social problems. While the New Zealand government has instigated a comparatively detailed approval standards, the Queensland government's community service guidelines are still applied almost on an ad hoc, case by case basis. Both New Zealand and Queensland performance indicators are directed towards process outputs, with a primary focus of government being centred on financial accountability. The satisfaction of the client remains the core responsibility of the service provider, but there is little assessment of how successful programs are in meeting individual requirements. This article suggests that there needs to be the development of a more collaborative relationship between governments and community service organisations, to ensure both financial and social objectives are fully realised.     

城市社区自治是社会主义新型民主的生长点

我国城市社区建设开始于20世纪80年代的中期。最初,城市社区建设主要以社区服务为突破口和龙头,然后逐步扩展到社区文化、社区卫生、社区环境和社区治安等。目前,我国城市社区建设正转向以社区自治为龙头,以社区组织建设为重点,以社区组织建设带动社区事业建设的全方位社区建设的新阶段。     

Five Ways to Make a Difference: Perceptions of Practitioners Working in Urban Neighborhoods

This article responds to and develops the fragmented literature exploring intermediation in public administration and urban governance. It uses Q‐methodology to provide a systematic comparative empirical analysis of practitioners who are perceived as making a difference in urban neighborhoods. Through this analysis, an original set of five profiles of practitioners—enduring, struggling, facilitating, organizing, and trailblazing—is identified and compared. This research challenges and advances the existing literature by emphasizing the multiplicity, complexity, and hybridity, rather than the singularity, of individuals perceived as making a difference, arguing that different practitioners make a difference in different ways. The authors set out a research agenda, overlooked in current theorization, that focuses on the relationships and transitions between the five profiles and the conditions that inform them, opening up new avenues for understanding and supporting practice.     

社区重组与社区发展

本文认为,在现有政府与社会的关系状况下,必须进行社区重组才可以促进社区发展。社区重组主要涉及重组社会管理层级、各类资源和人员。只有这样,才能实现社区全面、协调、科学发展。     

Governing for the Mainstream: Implications for Community Representation

In this paper I begin by examining the role of extra-parliamentary institutions of representation within Australian democracy. I suggest that such institutions are an important supplement to majoritarian political institutions in ensuring that 'weak voices' are heard in the policy process. I then look at the impact of the Howard government on such extra parliamentary forms of community representation, drawing parallels with contemporaneous developments in Canada. I find that changes were in fact initiated under Labor governments, seeking to impose managerialist models on community-based representation. The further controls introduced by the Howard government have, however, seriously reduced the capacity of community-based peak bodies to represent their constituencies. These constraints create the danger of a less inclusive democracy, where the voices of those outside the mainstream can be ignored or misrepresented.