Democracy as Problem Solving: Civic Capacity in Communities Across the Globe Book + PRICE WATCH * Amazon pricing is not included in price watch

Democracy as Problem Solving: Civic Capacity in Communities Across the Globe Book

Shows how civic capacity - the capacity to create and sustain smart collective action - can be developed and used. This work examines efforts in six cities in the United States Brazil India and South Africa that face the millennial challenges of rapid urban growth economic restructuring and investing in the next generation.Read More

from£24.09 | RRP: £20.95
* Excludes Voucher Code Discount Also available Used from £10.36
  • Product Description

    Finalist, 2008 C. Wright Mills Award given by the Society for the Study of Social Problems.

    Complexity, division, mistrust, and "process paralysis" can thwart leaders and others when they tackle local challenges. In Democracy as Problem Solving, Xavier de Souza Briggs shows how civic capacityâ??the capacity to create and sustain smart collective actionâ??can be developed and used. In an era of sharp debate over the conditions under which democracy can develop while broadening participation and building community, Briggs argues that understanding and building civic capacity is crucial for strengthening governance and changing the state of the world in the process. More than managing a contest among interest groups or spurring deliberation to reframe issues, democracy can be what the public most desires: a recipe for significant progress on important problems.

    Briggs examines efforts in six cities, in the United States, Brazil, India, and South Africa, that face the millennial challenges of rapid urban growth, economic restructuring, and investing in the next generation. These challenges demand the engagement of government, business, and nongovernmental sectors. And the keys to progress include the ability to combine learning and bargaining continuously, forge multiple forms of accountability, and find ways to leverage the capacity of the grassroots and what Briggs terms the "grasstops," regardless of who initiates change or who participates over time. Civic capacity, Briggs shows, canâ??and mustâ??be developed even in places that lack traditions of cooperative civic action.

  • 0262524856
  • 9780262524858
  • XDS Briggs
  • 22 August 2008
  • MIT Press
  • Paperback (Book)
  • 400
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. If you click through any of the links below and make a purchase we may earn a small commission (at no extra cost to you). Click here to learn more.

Would you like your name to appear with the review?

We will post your book review within a day or so as long as it meets our guidelines and terms and conditions. All reviews submitted become the licensed property of www.find-book.co.uk as written in our terms and conditions. None of your personal details will be passed on to any other third party.

All form fields are required.