ABSTRACT
To assess the governance efficacy of neighborhood-based initiatives, Chaskin and Garg (1997) map out several critical issues: the relationship between these initiatives and local government; issues of representation, legitimacy, and connection; and longterm viability. These issues are pertinent to the theories of private governance and collective action and have provided some guidelines to understand the role of the HOA in neighborhood governance. For instance, a recent study on the performance of HOAs in Russian cities applies the collective action theory to illustrate that the interplay between institutions, social capital, and organizational governance underpins the success of a HOA (Polishchuk and Borisova 2010). In general, governance efficacy can be assessed by the quality of service provided by the governing body and the effectiveness of its operation. Unlike corporate governance, neighborhood governance efficacy is difficult to be measured quantitatively. Criteria-based assessment and interpretive approach are frequently applied to assess democratic performance of governing organizations in the field of public administration (Mathur and Skelcher 2007), while in neighborhood governance, influence on fostering civic engagement and participatory governance (Cooper 2005; Hasson and Ley 1997) and/or residents’ subjective evaluation/perception (Fu et al. 2015) are commonly employed to appraise governance efficacy.
