Citation

Graham A. J. Plann. Educ. Res. 2001; 20(3): 293-307.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2001, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0739456X0102000303

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This article addresses how Western skills and knowledge of citizen group activity were introduced in Poland by one American program, implications of these ideas for citizen participation in local planning decisions in two small communities, whether the transfer of American knowledge influenced interactions between citizens and local government officials, and the degree to which the wider context of globalization is significant to local planning systems in transition. The author’s contention is that despite the strength of global ideas, the global economy, and the power of international political systems and processes, the willingness and capacity of local government to adapt local planning systems to include citizen opinions and the power of local citizens—both women and men—to participate actively in local affairs in small, rural communities are more strongly influenced, at this time, by the nation-state and the individual community’s economic and political place within the nation-state.