Explaining Neighborhood Organizations (Greensboro, Exit/Voice, Community, North Carolina, Political Participation).

Abstract

Neighborhood groups represent the most basic level of quasi-political organization in the United States. Participation in these groups and the number of groups in existence has risen dramatically in the 1970's and 1980's. Although a great deal of research has been done on the phenomenon of neighborhood organizations, a general theory of their existence and growth has yet to be developed. This dissertation begins to develop such a theory based on the Exit/Voice theory of Albert Hirschman. Neighborhood organizations are hypothesized to be functional to city governments in that these organizations represent a relatively inexpensive way for cities to fulfill Voice needs of their populations. An elaborated neighborhood organization structure should thus stabilize city populations and potentially reduce the outflow of middle class, taxpaying residents from cities. Data from a general survey of Greensboro, North Carolina are used to look at the determinants of neighborhood organization activity. Residents of Greensboro see three general areas of problems in their neighborhoods. These were titled seediness problems, public works problems and nuisance problems. Each of these has a different set of variables which explains problem perception. Public works problems are better explained by situational conditions, seediness problems are better explained by personal attributes and nuisance problems are better explained by a combination of both. Problem perception is related to overall levels of neighborhood satisfaction which, in turn, is related to intention to Exit from the neighborhood. Participation in neighborhood organizations appears to reduce the intention to Exit from a neighborhood where minor levels of problems are perceived to occur. Participation in politics at the city level reduces that intention better than participation in neighborhood groups where problems become more major. The implications of these findings are probed and policy options for city governments are suggested.