No abstract

This article applies network theory to consider the effects of neighborhood council reform on city governance in Los Angeles. The authors argue that neighborhood councils have the potential to change elite-dominated governance through several network effects: development of bridging social capital—network relationships that cross-cut traditional community cleavages, broadening of horizontal networks that improve information required for collective action, and creation of newties that elevate previously peripheral groups in the system of political communication. Based on field research and a network survey of neighborhood council board members, the authors find that although bonding ties help facilitate collective action, they also maintain social stratification because they develop between similar groups and involve status seeking. The development of weaker bridging ties among more diverse groups appears to promote mobilization through information sharing. Thus, bonding and bridging ties appear to play complementary roles in promoting information dissemination and mobilization among neighborhood councils.

This article explores the impact of email on the network structure of small, voluntary associations. By focusing on the density and centralization of associations, we illuminate how the Internet affects their cohesiveness and democratic character. Copyright (c) 2007 Southwestern Social Science Association.

Abstract. We employ a social network approach to explore the Internet's impact on the capacity of community associations. We focus on how increased e-mail use affects the cohesion and democratic character of associations, and operationialize these concepts employing the standard social network measures of density and centralization. The analysis employs network data from 41 community associations that are comparable on a variety of factors, but which vary in their use of the Internet. It finds that the technological nature of e-mail as well as the background and interests of its users matter. Members of community associations do consider e-mail to be a distinctive communication mode and employ it differently from other modes such as phone and face-to-face communication. Increased use of e-mail is found to be associated with increased network density, a critical support for collective action. In contrast, increased e-mail use can either lead to increased or decreased network centralization, an indicator of the degree to which associational activities provide opportunities for the development of civic skills. In associations with relatively similar levels of e-mail use among members, the technology leads to more decentralized communication patterns, but in associations with disparate reliance on e-mail, e-mail use is associated with increased centralization.

Sivil Toplum ve Sivil Toplum Kuruluşları (STK) günlük hayatta çok fazla kullanılan, ancak ne olduklarına dair ortak bir tanımlamanın olmadığı kavramlardır. Sivil toplum demokrasiyle, demokratik kültürle, zengin bir kamusal alanla ve 1960'larda gelişen yeni sosyal hareketlerle bağlantılıdır. Bu çalışmanın amacı, sivil toplum kuruluşlarında etkinlikte bulunan aktörlerin sivil toplum ve sivil toplum kuruluşlarına dair algılarını ortaya koymaktır. Araştırmanın evrenini Ankara'da faaliyette bulunan sivil toplum kuruluşları oluşturmaktadır. Çalışmada Aralık 2006-Ocak 2007 tarihleri arasında Ankara'da faaliyette bulunan 106 adet STK'da, 364 kişiye anket uygulanarak veri toplanmıştır. Çalışmanın sonuçlarına bakıldığında STK'lardan ne anlaşıldığına dair literatürde var olan belirsizliğin söz konusu aktörlerin zihinlerinde de mevcut olduğu görülmüştür. Bu tespit sivil toplumun özündeki çoğulculuğu ve farklılığı göstermesi bakımından anlamlıdır.