Public Policy in the Community [Paperback]

The idea of community involvement and empowerment has become central to politics in recent years. Governments, keen to reduce public spending and increase civic involvement, believe active communities are essential for tackling a range of social, economic and political challenges, such as crime, sustainable development and the provision of care.

Public Policy in the Community examines the way that community and the ideas associated with it  civil society, social capital, mutuality, networks  have been understood and applied from the 1960s to the present day. Marilyn Taylor examines the issues involved in putting the community at the heart of policy making, and considers the political and social implications of such a practice. Drawing on a wide range of relevant examples from around the world, the book considers the success of existing approaches and the prospects for further developments. Thoroughly updated to reflect advances in research and practice, the new edition of this important text gives a state-of-the-art assessment of the place of community in public policy.
Introduction.- The Changing Fortunes of Community.- Community in Policy and Practice.- Ideas of Community.- Contradictions of Community.- Prescribing Community to the Poor.- Power and Empowerment.- Power in the Policy Process.- Experiencing Empowerment.- Reclaiming Community.- Reclaiming Power.- The Challenge for Communities.- The Institutional Challenge.- Community Empowerment: Myth or Reality?.MARILYN TAYLOR is Emeritus Professor of Urban Governance and Regeneration at the University of the West of England, UK. She is also a Visiting Professor at Birkbeck, University of London and Visiting Research Fellow at the Institute for Voluntary Action Research.The idea of community involvement and empowerment has become central to politics in recent years. Governments, keen to reduce public spending and increase civic involvement, believe active lt