Democracy And Bureaucracy in a Community Planning Process

The implementation of efforts to revitalize poor communities through participatory, collaborative planning efforts is often problematic. In part, this is because the organization of these efforts embodies an inherent tension between an ideology of associational action and local democracy on the one hand and an adherence to essentially rational-bureaucratic approaches to planning and implementation on the other. This article conceptualizes this tension and examines its unfolding and implications in comprehensive community initiatives through an in-depth case study of one such effort.