ABSTRACT
There is a young but crucial movement within public administration to reexamine the role of the public and public managers in policy making and implementation by looking at legitimate ways of engaging citizens more actively in deliberating about and solving community problems (Reich 1988; Thomas 1995; Behn 1998; Frederickson and Chandler 1984; Cooper 1991; Fox and Miller 1995; Wamsley and Wolf 1996; Nalbandian 1999; King and Stivers 1998; Denhardt and Denhardt 2003; Box 1998). This seems to be happening for a number of reasons. First, many scholars, officials, and thoughtful
citizens have expressed concern about the health of American democracy and civic life (Buss and Redburn 2006; Barber 1984, 1998; Mansbridge 1990; Pateman 1970; Sandel 1996; O’Connell 1999; Mathews 1994; McSwite 1997). The need to strengthen community has become a persistent theme, with commentators from various disciplines and political perspectives focusing on different aspects of community in America (Bellah et al. 1985, 1991; Etzioni 1988, 1995; Wolfe 1989; Putnam 2000; Buss and Redburn 2006).
