The Role of the University as a Mediating Institution in Neighborhood Council-City Agency Collaboration

Abstract

In a representative democracy, citizens depend on their public representatives and administrators to act on their behalf. However, city agencies often fail to respond to the needs of the people, who feel alienated from city hall because of the gap between expectations and reality, and this gap leads to a lack of trust between citizen groups and city administrators. Citizen participation in governance, especially in the form of neighborhood councils, is suggested as one solution to overcome this declining trust, because neighborhood councils can be an effective vehicle to collaborate with city agencies.