Description

Scholars of politics are comfortable theorizing about the parliamentary process and individual political parties, but they are often guilty of ignoring the role of individual citizens except through opinion polls and voting statistics. Even at the local level, the main focus of political theorists has traditionally been on formal systems of government-usually lauding representative democracy as the standard for Western government-while the importance of participatory action at a local level has been vastly underestimated.
Correcting this imbalance, the renowned political scholars who contribute to this volume outline both the theory and practice of so-called "extra-formal democracy," wherein societal governance is more accurately described as a "network activity" and citizens, politicians, public administrators and other professionals act together on issues or problems that are defined as public. This new and complex form of democracy-explored here in three unique settings: the United States, the Netherlands, and Denmark-is increasingly regarded as an achievable vision for a multi-faceted theory of government.

Table of Contents

1 Introduction: Extra-Formal Democracy
2 Deliberative Governance: Renewing Public Service and Public Trust
3 Democratic Governance: Allocative, Integrative, or Deliberative?
4 Making Local Democracy Work: Neighborhood-Oriented Reform in Los Angeles and the Dutch Randstad
5 Democratic Consequences of Urban Governance: What has become of Representative Democracy?
6 Entrepreneurship in Community Development and Local Governance
7 Democratic Governance and the Role of Public Adminstrators
8 Mediated Negotiations, a Deliberative Approach to Democratic Governance: Theoretical Linkages and Practial Examples
9 Interaction Research: Joining Persons, Theories, and Practices
10 Democratic Epistemology
11 Extra-Formal Democracy: A Reflection

Product details

Published Oct 21 2004
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 230
ISBN 9780739107485
Imprint Lexington Books
Dimensions 235 x 166 mm
Series New Directions in Culture and Governance
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Anthology Editor

Peter Bogason

Anthology Editor

Sandra Kensen

Anthology Editor

Hugh T. Miller

Contributor

Guy B. Adams

Contributor

Frank Hendriks

Contributor

Lars Hulgård

Contributor

Gary Marshall

Contributor

Juliet Musso

Contributor

Connie P. Ozawa

Contributor

James K. Scott

Contributor

Karina Sehested

Contributor

Eva Sørensen

Contributor

Pieter W. Tops

Contributor

Barton Wechsler

Related Titles

Environment: Staging