The author, a political candidate, describes campaigns as events allowing citizens to assess candidates' knowledge of community problems. He documents the adversarial nature of a candidate's self-education and explores the relationship of the intellectual content of the political process to community development. (SK)

This case study of one city's efforts to cope with homelessness centers around a conceptual model of consensus as a continuous process the nature of which is determined by the methods used to achieve consensus; the importance of maintaining consensus to the participants; the baseline consensus as interaction begins; and the political and public…

Steps in an integrated model include (1) problem solving (exploration, assessment, goal setting, planning, implementation, evaluation); (2) community building (entering, discovering, developing relationships, building an organization, enhancing capacity, phasing out, exiting); and (3) systems interaction (change agent system, client system, action…

Community development practitioners in rural areas need to develop strategies for coping with rural dependence on core organizations such as multinational corporations and national governments. Rural communities should discuss issues, join forces with other communities, interact with core actors, and find ways to be more self-reliant. (SK)

Data from 12 rural community problem-solving groups working with extension agents were studied to explore the relationship between group and individual growth and (1) agent self-actualization and (2) certain group trait variables. Individual and group growth was found to be highly related to small group size, high ratings of problem importance,…

Discusses the process whereby a variety of resources (human, informational, material) are brought together and fitted into problem-solving situations to achieve goals set by individuals, groups, or communities. Describes the Missouri community development system. (JOW)