This book is the outcome of a multiyear process of participatory meetings, individual and collective writings, and insightful criticisms sponsored by the Kettering Foundation regarding the intersection of community development and democratic practice. The collective outcome from these processes is a wide range of innovative articles at the forefront of thinking about the intersections of power, participation, and engagement in the realm of community practice.

The authors highlight a range of case studies that vary by location, scale, and purpose. The book serves as a heuristic framework for ‘democratic community development’ and raises several related questions about how democracy, community, and the public are constituted, and what processes, end goals, methods, and tools are to be used to further democratic community development.

This book was originally published as a special issue of the journal Community Development.