Models of community governance in the Good Neighborhoods: Authentic community participation, community well being and social justice

The development of six types of community governance models is outlined and presented. Created as essential community components of the Skillman Foundation Good Neighborhoods Initiative (Good Neighborhoods), this paper outlines the emergence of governance models in years four and five of the ten year initiative. We review the differential processes of community participation, procedures and processes for election to governance bodies in the six GN communities. We present a criterion alterative matrix model of governance types and criterion matrix of legal status of governance models. We also present a series of required and requested workshops of use in facilitating and enhancing stability and sustainability of governance models. The types of citizen participation and community well being endorsed by each model of community governance are explained and discussed. The implicit models of social justice for each governance model are explored. We outline presumptive economic models of resource allocation and decision making inherent in each model of community governance. Implications for replication, delimitations of the strategy, lessons learned and future prospects complete the presentation.