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Building the Civic Square for Neighborhood Associations as Sites of Local Governance
Melissa Mathews
IJED, Vol. 18 No. 1,
(2025)
While there is research on neighborhood councils and civic participation systems, there is less understanding of other types of neighborhood-representing organizations that do not have institutionalized roles in city government yet contribute to local governance. Neighborhood-representing organizations or neighborhood associations improve public participation, mobilize citizens, and increase civic responsiveness as a critical element of civil society. Thus, given the deepening crisis of democracy it is problematic that there is not more empirical attention to building the civic square for neighborhood associations as sites of local governance. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand neighborhood association perceptions of how to strengthen their roles in local governance. The following three thematic areas emerged from interviews with study participants from 34 neighborhood associations within a municipality that is part of Los Angeles County, California, United States: (a) develop neighborhood association networks, (b) pursue municipal investment and civic collaboration, and (c) institutionalize the civic role of neighborhood associations. This article contributes to scholarship that seeks to understand a wider range of neighborhood association types and strategies for strengthening civil society and advancing the democratization of local governance.
