Grounded in critical policy theories and democratic conceptions of research, case studies of three community-based organizations, one in Canada and two in the U.S., were analyzed to determine if and how the groups engaged with research in their efforts to influence education policy. The findings demonstrate that the community-based organizations…

Author first outlines what constitutes community action" and then suggests three broad categories into which most examples of such action may be placed. (Editor/MB)

Recounts the efforts of a San Antonio, Texas citizen's group to deny the license of a television station, and suggests that the three-year dispute indicates a need for improved communication between station and community. (MH)

This report reveals the results of studies made of three groups actively seeking community participation in school affairs in a city noted for its conservative school system. The study utilized participant observation supplemented by interviews and document analysis. Each group had only 15-30 active members and no broad base in the community. All…

The two communities compared tended to support the proposition that communities following an integrative style of development are characterized by coordinative structures including associational, while the contrary is true for communities following the autonomous style. Available from: Editorial and Business Offices, Piazza Cavalieri di Malta, 2,…

Technical capability, a resource needed by citizen groups, can usually be found. The uncertain political authority for decision-making given to citizen groups is a more serious problem. Local groups must learn where their project fits into the local political scheme. (EM)

The author argues that direct citizen participation cannot influence educational policy or restore the power of lay boards in public education. Asserting that more can be accomplished by a technically trained organization working within the bureaucracy, he cites the accomplishments of the Education Clearinghouse, a nonprofit group of…

This collection of essays focuses on group social and political action as it relates to libraries and their environments. The introduction discusses the group-concept approach to studying library and information science. The essays are case studies of interest group politics, including: (1) the imprisonment of a librarian who refused to give…

This annotated bibliography was compiled as a library research project at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. Part I of the listing deals with decentralization as a structural feature of the local political system. Part II examines the process of local citizen participation. Parts III and IV focus on community control in the decentralization…

Describes how an Albuquerque, New Mexico, community became involved in a bilingual school program. (JF)

The attempts of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) to implant mandatory alcohol and tobacco instruction in Alberta's public schools is traced. These efforts are compared with the group's simultaneous efforts at temperance reform in the United States. (SJL)

This report describes residents' efforts to generate urban change and arrest the decline of their community, Edgewater, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois. The report also examines how events in Edgewater affected and were affected by developments in Uptown (the adjoining predominantly commercial district) and in the Winthrop-Kenmore Corridor that…

This compilation of symposium papers on community power structure research focuses on the theme that community power structure research must shift away from case study methods and move toward aggregate data analysis. Advocating comparative analysis, seven authors present their views under the following topics: (1) Charles R. Adrian, "Several Loose…