Complexity, division, mistrust, and “process paralysis” can thwart leaders and others when they tackle local challenges. This book shows how civic capacity—the capacity to create and sustain smart collective action—can be developed and used. In an era of sharp debate over the conditions under which democracy can develop while broadening participation and building community, it argues that understanding and building civic capacity is crucial for strengthening governance and changing the state of the world in the process. More than managing a contest among interest groups or spurring deliberatio ... More

Complexity, division, mistrust, and “process paralysis” can thwart leaders and others when they tackle local challenges. This book shows how civic capacity—the capacity to create and sustain smart collective action—can be developed and used. In an era of sharp debate over the conditions under which democracy can develop while broadening participation and building community, it argues that understanding and building civic capacity is crucial for strengthening governance and changing the state of the world in the process. More than managing a contest among interest groups or spurring deliberation to reframe issues, democracy can be what the public most desires: A recipe for significant progress on important problems. The author examines efforts in six cities in the United States, Brazil, India, and South Africa, which face the millennial challenges of rapid urban growth, economic restructuring, and investing in the next generation. These challenges demand the engagement of government, business, and nongovernmental sectors. The keys to progress include the ability to combine learning and bargaining continually, to forge multiple forms of accountability, and to find ways to leverage the capacity of the grassroots and what the author terms the “grasstops,” regardless of who initiates change or who participates over time. Civic capacity can—and must—be developed, even in places that lack traditions of cooperative civic action.