Citizenship and community participation: government and the voluntary sector in North East England

Abstract

The main aim of this research has been to examine how the voluntary sector organisations and small local community groups particularly, have perceived and responded to the Government’s initiatives of 'better relationship' and 'more community participation'. As local government has been modernised, the local authorities who provide public services, have had to adopt different working methods. They have to enter into partnerships with other stake holders in order to find solutions suited for the area, and they have a duty to consult those who will be affected by their decisions. There appears to be a wider meaning of citizenship in place, as participation in Government-initiated consultation has been accepted as an indication of active citizenship. Consequently there is a discussion of the central government policy papers and the changing concept of citizenship. The largest part of the thesis is made up of the case studies and the main themes arising from the interviews which were conducted. For the purpose of gathering evidence, twelve persons were interviewed from various organisations which are faced with the issues of deprivation and social exclusion, both in the public authority and voluntary sectors. The findings in general support the views of other researchers reported in the literature survey: there appears to be a lack of trust between the partners and even some problems with the ownership of the new thinking and working methods of both sides of the table. The initial enthusiasm for the process of consultations has faded away and the community group representatives would prefer to get on their actual work rather than attend meetings where the competing agendas are handled.