Two Faces of Community Action

Abstract

The first face of community action is a challenge to the decision-making autonomy of the established authorities. Its second face is its use by the authorities to create and maintain consent for their policies. These two faces are to be understood in the context of the political process of local government. The article argues that bureaucratic power cannot be assumed, but rather should be seen as the (predictable) outcome of competition for power involving councillors, officials and community groups. A competitive model of local government is outlined and used to show that the authorities have specific interests in the two faces of community action, leading them to favour certain forms of public participation and to seek to prevent other forms.