Democracy as Problem Solving Civic Capacity in Communities Across the Globe Xavier de Souza Briggs The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England © 2008 Massachusetts Institute of Technology All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or informa- tion storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher. For information about special quantity discounts, please email special_sales@ mitpress.mit.edu This book was set in Sabon by SNP Best-set Typesetter Ltd., Hong Kong. Printed on recycled paper and bound in the United States of America. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data De Souza Briggs, Xavier N. Democracy as problem solving : civic capacity in communities across the globe / Xavier de Souza Briggs. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-262-02641-3 (hardcover : alk. paper)—ISBN 978-0-262-52485-8 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Political participation. 2. Democratization. 3. Community development. I. Title. JF799.D42 2008 321.8—dc22 2007037630 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Index ABC Economic Development Agency, Agnos, Art, 235, 239 204–205 AIDS crisis, 288–291 Accountability, 34 Allegheny Conference on Community blended model of, 116–118 Development child advocacy and, 243–244 civic reorganization and, 156–160, civic capacity and, 118 163 consensus-building and, 86 diversifi cation of base, 180–181 elusiveness of, 168 initiatives, 151, 152 of intermediaries, 181–182 merger with PEL, 159–160 lack of, 111, 115 as multifunctional organization, legitimate framework for, 247, 162–163 318n3 physical redevelopment campaigns, multiple forms of, 12, 15, 306–307, 157–159 318n3 private-sector participation in civic new conception of, 36–37 initiatives and, 147, 153, 179–180 of philanthropic leadership, 174 public meetings, 162, 164 politics of rights and, 290 redevelopment agenda, 133, in public decision making, 37 151–152 in relationship system, 307 regional government focus in 1990s, standards of, 213, 318n3 154–156 types/sources, 307, 318n3 Southwestern Pennsylvania Growth Achmat, Zackie, 289 Alliance, 160–162 AEC (Western Cape Anti-Eviction state government and, 152 Campaign), 261, 279–283, Strategy 21, 146, 152–154, 166–167 289–290 White Paper, November 1993, 156– African National Congress (ANC), 157, 159, 163–164 258–259, 291 working together strategy, 157–159, community groups and, 281 164–165 Democratic Alliance and, 271 Alliance (Shack/Slum dwellers development strategy, 263, 269 International), 103 government/civil-society relations evolution of, 90, 97–100 and, 264–265 leadership, 97 Western Cape Anti-Eviction multilevel negotiations, 98 Campaign and, 261 policy agenda, 98 360 Index Alliance (Shack/Slum dwellers economic reform, fi scal wars International) (cont.) between the states, 192–193 politics of, 90, 100, 300–301 economic reform, national, 186, resettlement/relocation projects, 104, 191–192 107–112, 114 economy of, 189–190 SPARC (see Society for the failed stabilization plans, 186 Promotion of Area Resource federal system, 194 Centres) foreign direct investment, 192– Alliances, vs. coalitions, 224, 301 193 Alvarez-Rodriguez, Deborah, 245– Greater ABC region (see Greater 247, 249 ABC region) ANC. See African National immigration, large-scale, 189–190 Congress import-substitution industrialization, Appadurai, Arjun, 90 185, 190 Arputham, Jockin, 94, 97, 98, 107, industrial employment loss, 187 108 industrial epicenter (see Greater Automotive industry, in Brazil, 202– ABC region) 203, 207, 210–212, 215 Minas Gerais, industrial progress, 200 Back to Prosperity (Brookings participatory budgeting, 195 Institution), 172, 175 Partido dos Trabalhadores (see Bargaining Workers’ Party) learning and, 304–306 petrochemical processing, 191 multilevel, 305, 332n3 rapid industrial expansion, 190 principled, 43 São Paulo, 19, 190, 196 problem solving and, 88 social movements in, 186, 193–194 Beacon School concept, 247 tax system, 192 Beliefs, policy-relevant, 305 unionism, 191, 193 Bell, Greg, 81 Brodkin, Margaret, 232, 237, 240, Ben Franklin Partnership, 168–169 249, 251, 253 “Big-bang theory” of economic Brown, Mayor Willie, 232, 236, 244, growth, 149 245, 247–251 Bolnick, Joel, 277, 278–279 Bureaucracy, 100, 301, 323n13 Bombay First, 91 Burra, Sundar, 104, 107 Bottom-up approaches, 307–310 Business, as stakeholder, 227 Brazil Business-government partnerships, automotive industry, 202–203, 207, 132 210–212, 215 constitution, new, 186, 194 California decentralization, 186, 188, 190, San Francisco (see San Francisco) 192, 212 Silicon Valley, 138–139, 153, 168 democratic manifesto, 185, 199 Calthorpe, Peter, 71, 81 democratic transition, 301 Capacity. See Civic capacity developmental history, 19 Cape Town, 257–293 domestic migration, 190 community development, 261–262 economic growth, Brazilian miracle driving equitable economic change and, 185 and, 262–264 Index 361 geographic and social divisions, reauthorization, 248–251 258–260 Children’s rights, 223–224, 232–233 government structure, 331n15 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day homelessness in, 274–275 Saints (Mormon Church), 70, housing shortages, 274–275 319n4, 320n7 institutionalizing democracy, 262– Cities. See also Cape Town; 264, 273, 331n12 Pittsburgh; Salt Lake City; San Integrated Development Plan, 273, Francisco 331n12 civic life, contest view of, 28 Khayelitsha, 258–260 managing growth of, 50–61 N2 Gateway project, 278 political power in, 27 organizational forms/political problems in, 17–22 strategies, 292 São Paulo, Brazil, 19, 190, 196 poor communities in, 260–261 Citizens postapartheid political engagement and activism of, 36–37, fragmentation, 271–274 40, 76, 78, 85, 307–310 urban governance reforms, 273, grassroots vs. grasstops, roles of, 331n12 307–310 Western Cape Anti-Eviction “local knowledge,” blending with Campaign, 261, 279–283 professional knowledge, 37, 302, Carnegie Mellon University, 148, 311 153, 167, 169 Citizen’s Forum, 208, 327n8 Causal analysis, 22–23 Civic capacity, 40, 127, 142, CBOs (community-based 187–188 organizations), 265 accountability and, 118 Change barriers, 261–262 change agents, 34 change and, 299–301 implementation of, 299–301 characteristics of, 44–45 leading, 221–222 civil-society intermediaries and, litigation as a strategy of, 286–288 302–304 systems change (see Systems community-led, 119 change) context, 299 theories of, 223, 247 creating/building, 11–12, 23, 243, Child advocacy, 237–242, 252. See 298, 301 also Coleman Advocates for defi nition of, 12, 13–14 Children and Youth deploying, 12, 301 Children/youth, 221–230 effective public action and, 34–41 fi scal bill of rights for, 240 in environmental problem-solving, issues, stakeholders in, 226–227 57 outcomes, civics of, 224–226 in Greater ABC region, 208–212 politics and, 227–229 Grootboom case and, 287–288 programs/institutions for, 224, 232 historical perspective, 298–299 Children’s Amendment, 240–244, implementation of change and, 248, 251–253 299–301 Children’s Budget, 231, 232, 250 as problem solving resource, 243 Children’s Fund, 244–246, 253 producibility, 298–299 accountability, 248–251 purpose of, 42 362 Index Civic capacity (cont.) Collaboration regimes and, 33 in Cape Town, 275–276 as resource, 27, 115–116 interagency, 200 role of, 110 in restructuring urban economies, in South African governance, 130–131 281–283 Collective action, 42, 94–97 strategies for, 15 as coproduction, 224–225 tests of, 23, 300–301 local, 297–298 urban growth management and, 59– as pressure politics, 224 61, 87–88 (see also Envision Utah) problems, types of, 139 using effectively, 14, 23 Collective effi cacy, 9–10, 328n1 vs. social capital, 222 Community, 9 well-being of next generation and, building, 10–11, 42, 44, 320n14 222–226 collective effi cacy and, 9–10, 318n5, Civic cooperation, 170–171 328n1 Civic engagement, 76, 78, 84 commitment to act, 31, 318n6 Civic environmentalism, 57 efforts to improve youth outcomes, Civic life, invigoration of, 31 226 Civic process and knowledge as ecology of games, strategic problems, 87 interaction, 135–136, 305, 318n8, Civil disobedience, 289 325n4, 332n3 Civil-society groups/organizations, goodwill in, 111, 318n6, 320n14 12, 13, 109, 110 involvement in problem solving, 37– Cleveland Tomorrow partnership, 38 (see also Problem solving, 133 collective) Clusters, economic, 137–138 as social capital, 318n4 defi nition of, 137 Community-based organizations in developing countries, 138 (CBOs), 265 innovative, 140–141 Community capacity, 269–270, 276, as policy panacea, 138 306 types of, 138–139 Community development system, 27, upgrading, 137 119–120, 307, 318n10 Coalition for Utah’s Future, 66–69 Community groups, 90, 281, 330n5 Coalitions Competition, political, 32 confl ict and, 133 Competitiveness, economic, necessary in Pittsburgh, 147, 155, 180 vs. suffi cient conditions, 182 vs. alliances, 224, 301 Confl ict Coleman Advocates for Children and coalitions and, 133functions and Youth, 251–253 organization of, 42–45 child advocacy and, 237–243 of interests/values, 32, 35, 42, 44, Children’s Amendment and, 240– 320n6 241, 248 resolution mechanisms, 29, 320n6 children’s budget, 232, 239–240 strategies of contention, 279–291 as hybrid group, 253–254 Consensus building proactive strategy, 244 accountability and, 79, 86 Proposition D, 249 approaches for, 56–57, 84–85 Proposition J, 240–241 facilitated, 39 Index 363 institutions and preconditions for, vs. bureaucracy, tension between, 67, 318n7 100, 323n13 legitimacy,