The Kettering Foundation is a nonprofit, operating foundation rooted in the American tradition of cooperative research. The foundation seeks to identify and address the challenges to making democracy work as it should through interrelated program areas that focus on citizens, communities, and institutions. Each issue of this annual newsletter…

Under conditions of uncertainty, we predict that development will be tied to the idiosyncrasy of organizational forms represented within local regions. Our investigation applies this theory to data on 342 counties and 43,352 businesses in the U.S. South during Reconstruction, finding support for the thesis that organizational idiosyncrasy…

A study of participatory evaluation by learning teams at 10 rural sites of the Empowerment Zones/Enterprise Communities program showed the importance of separating indicators of participation from project impacts. Evaluation of three categories was recommended: citizen participation (process indicators), impact of participation on individuals and…

THE OVERALL GOAL OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION FOR CITIZEN PARTICIPATION WAS TO REALIZE TO THE FULLEST EXTENT A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY. THE COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION TRIED TO HAVE THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY, FROM THE TOP EXECUTIVE TO THE SLUM TENANT DWELLER, REPRESENTED AT ALL MEETINGS. THIS NEW CITY-WIDE CIVIC AGENCY, ENTITLED ACTION FOR BOSTON COMMUNITY…

A survey of rural and small-town community development groups in British Columbia (Canada) found that organization members were generally aged 36-55, were much more highly educated than the province's rural population or total population, and were more likely to be employed and to be newcomers (less than five years residence) to their communities.…

Explores why service-learning students have only rarely been engaged directly as neighborhood organizers, then employs John Dewey's understanding of democracy to analyze one program which has succeeded in making widespread use of college students as front-line organizers. Describes how the complementarity between what students do at their…

Technical capability, a resource needed by citizen groups, can usually be found. The uncertain political authority for decision-making given to citizen groups is a more serious problem. Local groups must learn where their project fits into the local political scheme. (EM)

A switchover by any government to a more integrated, community-based approach to rural development will inevitably require the recruitment, training, and effective "backstopping" of large numbers of front-line workers. (SSH)

Uses question-and-answer format to profile Edna Compton, director of Dungannon (Virginia) Development Commission, an economic development group formed and managed by local people. Commission improved education, housing, and employment in area. Compton discusses process, achievements, and goals held by commission and herself. (TES)

This guide for the public provides information on ways to address homelessness within the context of community development. The following articles issued by the Homelessness Information Exchange are included as Sections 1, 2, and 3: (1) "The Problem of Homelessness Nationwide"; (2) "Ways You Can Help the Homeless"; and (3) "Building a Coalition in…

Effective rural education depends on active community involvement. This ethnographic case study examines three models of community organization as an explanation of how community action occurs. The three models are: (1) individuals interacting in formal and informal groups; (2) networks of "weak ties" effective for diffusing information and…

This booklet is about what people say and do with regard to citizen participation. Explanations and key resources are provided for eleven techniques to obtain citizen participation: Alinsky Organizations, charrettes, citizen advisory committees, community audio and video access, community development corporations, community resource/information…

Participant observation and intensive interviews of fifty people from a rural midwestern community provided information on the importance of women in women's organizations and in behind-the-scenes arenas of local politics and economics. Bringing women into community studies expands the concept of community into private, familial arenas where…

This paper proposes particular areas in which research is needed within the fields of community organization and community development. Proposals are based on field research and findings of a two year (1977-79) Community Citizen Organization Study. The report is organized according to the four major categories of analysis in this original…

This paper reports on the progress of eight Chicago-based community initiatives designed to redefine social services and broaden social responsibility for the development of children and families. The paper has three sections describing: (1) general background on the children, youth, and families initiative; (2) early lessons from an initiative in…