The Premise and Promise of Citizenship and Civil Society for Renewing Democracies and Empowering Sustainable Communities |
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| Authors: | Stephen M Aigner Cornelia B Flora Juan M Hernandez |
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| Institution: | associate professor of sociology at Iowa State University and senior fellow of the North Central Regional Center for Rural Development, which collaborates in research and action for sustainable rural development in the twelve north central states. He consults with community groups using the assets-based approach to community development, while he continues his research on the EZ/EC Initiative and the impact of civil society on peacemaking in Northern Ireland.;the Charles F. Steward Distinguished Professor of Agriculture and Sociology at Iowa State University and Director of the North Central Regional Center for Rural Development. Her latest edited book is Interactions Among Agroecosystems and Rural Communities;, published by CRC Press. Her current research includes issues of participatory rural development and natural resource protection in Latin America and the U.S Pursuing his master's degree in sociology and industrial relations at Iowa State University. His research interests focus on internal colonialism, social disorganization, and persistent poverty in Texas. Currently on leave from Iowa State, Juan works in Honduras for the Peace Corps to construct and restore the social and physical infi-astructure in rural areas. |
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| Abstract: | State regimes have launched policies to "reinvent" government and "regenerate" communities in peripheral impoverished rural and urban areas to build sustainable communities and reduce poverty. We investigate the impact of policy concepts–the empowerment paradigm, citizenship as citizen participation and inclusion, and associations between the state and civil society–on local areas' success in leveraging dollars to foster sustainable economic and community development in persistently poor rural areas of the U.S. The thirty-three rural sites of the Empowerment Zone/Enterprise Communities Initiative of the Clinton-Gore Administration comprise our database. We find that empowering area-based, low-income residents through the election mechanism to choose their representatives on the local sites' governing board is strongly and significantly related to both inclusion and citizen participation. Also, the presence of elected citizens with connections to civil society on the governing body contributes strongly to later success in leveraging dollars. |
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