===================================================================== Center for Community Economic Development University of Wisconsin-Extension Community Economics Newsletter No. 313 November 2002 ===================================================================== A Newsletter from the Center for Community Economic Development; Community,Natural Resource and Economic Development Programs, and University of Wisconsin-Extension, Cooperative Extension Service ===================================================================== Community, Democracy, and Rural Development** by Domenico Parisi* Community, without a doubt, is the building block of any democratic society. Generally, terms such as social capital, community field, entrepreneurial social infrastructure, structural pluralism, local capitalism, civic society and community agency have been used to describe the powerful impact that community can have in promoting democratic civic engagement an engagement that can do much to improve the well being of individuals and local places. From this perspective, community can prove relevant for promoting rural development. The term community, however, is a multifaceted concept that has been misunderstood often in the context of developing effective rural policy. Thus, to overcome this problem of misinterpretation, it is important to establish a common understanding of community so that policy makers and practitioners alike can better understand how it can be used as the foundation for building locally based democratic civic engagement. Democratic civic engagement is an important attribute of a community’s structural features, and less so a characteristic of an individual. The actions of individuals are often shaped by the structure of the community in which they are situated. And when the relationship between the local structure and individual actions is placed in a time frame, two important elements of the community take hold, namely, its character and its tradition. The former refers to the characteristics of a community at a given point in time; the latter to the experience gained by that community throughout time. These two elements, in combination, allow a community to develop those highly distinct characteristics that make it what it is. The character of a community can be linked to four major dimensions: (1) local economy, (2) local civic infrastructure, (3) local society and (4) the local spatial identity. The local economy refers to the economic structure determining the extent to which local residents have access to economic resources in terms of employment and income. Economic opportunity provides incentives for improving individual human resources as well as local social resources. Further, it creates a condition whereby race, class and gender relations are key elements for promoting a diverse economy in the local community. In such conditions, individuals across various groups develop a long-term vested interest in their local community. The local civic infrastructure refers to places where people can meet and discuss local issues. These places can be planned or unplanned. Examples of planned places are malls, squares and city parks. Barber shops, coffee shops, convenience stores and the like are a few examples of unplanned places. In both cases, they provide “focal points” for people to come together. The local society refers to the social structure determining the extent to which local residents have access to social resources in terms of networks and channels of communication. It is through access to networks of individuals and channels of communications that local interactions are established. As a result of these local interactions, people develop a common interest. Cultivating collective interest is vital to the mobilization of local resources that are designed to promote collective responses to locally oriented issues. Finally, spatial identity refers to the geographic location of a community. Based on its geographic location, a community can be classified as either metro or non-metro, or urban or rural. In both cases, however, it’s an ecological characteristic of the community based on tow population attributes: density and size. Density has sociological implications because it determines the extent to which people can interact on a daily basis. Size, on the other hand, has economic implications because it determines the community’s ability to develop economies of scale and interjurisdictional relations. The four major dimensions of community all play a key role in promoting democratic and civic engagement. Policy makers and rural development advocates cannot promote active civic engagement without addressing the four dimensions of community noted above. It is important to give attention to an improved local economy, to the enhancement of local human resources, to the expansion of the local civic infrastructure, and to addressing the structural barriers imposed by geographic location. If communities take seriously the need to attend to them four dimensions of community, then the evolution of locally active citizens who care deeply about the long-term well being of the locality will be realized. * Domenico Parisi is at Mississippi State University. **Taken from Southern Perspectives, Volume 5, Number 2, Fall, 2001. Steven C. Deller Community Development Specialist Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8, and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Carl O‘Connor, Cooperative Extension, University of Wisconsin-Extension. University of Wisconsin-Extension, U.S. Department of Agriculture and Wisconsin counties cooperating. UW-Extension provides equal opportunities in employment and programming, including Title IX and ADA.