Managing democracy, localism in crisis: from dissent to incorporation, dilution and fragmentation: Fid-Bau Portal

Managing democracy, localism in crisis: from dissent to incorporation, dilution and fragmentation

Scott, Matthew

This paper is concerned with the role of community development within local democratic practice. It draws on PhD research interviews conducted in the London Boroughs of Greenwich, Lewisham and Newham which examine the relationship between community development and local government in the light of the Modernising Local Government Agenda, and related policy, with specific reference to the ‘democratic deficit’. At a time when issues of power and voice have rarely been more strongly exhorted from the centre, it is timely to reflect on what has been achieved and what front line community workers are experiencing. What emerges is a disconnect between official policy and actual implementation; while democracy has been recognized as important it has not been deepened and there is evidence to suggest that recent policy has at times had damaging consequences for community development, the wider third sector and civil society. The paper analyses the dilemmas of being part of the state and having influence and recognition, whereas a ‘truer’ form of democratic community development might involve external agonistic opposition.