DEMOS

Community has become central to contemporary politics. The search for viable forms of community is at the leading edge of politicians' attempts to win legitimacy and promote national renewal. Partly, as a result of this, community is strongly promoted in policies for social inclusion, especially in the struggle to regenerate deprived neighbourhoods.

This argument shows that, despite the rhetoric, these attempts are running into trouble. Government programmes like the National Stratergy for Neighbourhood Renewal, despite the requirement that they involve local communities directly in decision-making and delivery, rely too heavily on forms of community representation which have proved ineffective in other sectors, including political parties. As a result, traditional forms of public consultation are stifling the potential for direct, practical involvement of citizens in programmes which aim to assist them.

Paul Brickell argues that the long term goal of sustainable, inclusive communities can only be met through more radical innovation among the public, private and community sectors. Drawing on practical, direct experience and concrete examples, he illustrates the failings of conventional approaches, and sets out an agenda for democratic renewal through the transfer of significant power and resources directly to the communities in question. Their capacity for entrepreneurship and self-reliance, he suggests, can only be developed by ending the dominance and inflexibility of the public sector, and converting good intentions and formal accountability mechanisms into more responsive and determined efforts to promote innovation. The potential to develop a culture of social entrepreneurship is great, but it must be stimulated by a greater readiness among policymakers and public officials to take risks and learn from practice. He ends with a practical, achievable agenda for increasing the effectiveness of our current policy framework by investing in the capacity of real people to achieve long term social results.