Citizen attachment: building sustainable communities.

• Author: Glaser, Mark A.

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The convergence of forces and fiscal challenges that is currently affecting the quality of life in the United States demands a thoughtful and strategic response. To answer these challenges, community and local government must build capacity to systematically apply the resources that are available in ways that will best serve our communities. One model for doing so involves working with citizens to transform their relationship with government, moving them from making demands based on self-interest to getting involved in important public decisions and contributing to solutions that are consistent with sustainable communities.

Increasingly, citizens are retreating from their responsibilities to community and demanding more from government than they are willing to pay for. But changes in local government behavior can be instrumental in reversing this trend, by strengthening citizens' commitment to the well-being of their communities. Citizens who are committed to community are more willing to accept responsibility for the well-being of their fellow citizens and are also more likely to join with government and other parties to improve their communities. Citizens who are committed to community are also more willing taxpayers--that is, when government demonstrates that it can be trusted to invest public resources in ways that strengthen the community. The central thrust of this model is getting citizens and governments to work together, but realistically, many communities will require new revenue--including additional tax dollars--if they are to assemble the critical mass of resources necessary for meaningful change. Accordingly, citizens who are willing to pay increased taxes are an important component of building sustainable communities.

COMPONENT I: RELATIONAL COMMUNITY

Much of the content in this article is based on experiences of local governments and on citizen survey research that focuses on strengthening connections between local governments and the communities they serve. This research allows local government to look through the eyes of citizens to better understand their commitment to relational community (social relationships and attachments that are not tied to physical location) and their willingness to join with government in making sacrifices that improve the community's capacity to respond to the economic crisis. Relational community, as defined here, is less about shared social and geographic space and more about the willingness of individuals to accept responsibility for the well-being of their fellow citizens.

Commitment to relational community includes three dimensions. The first and most basic focuses on the internal tug of war everyone faces: pitting personal gains or self-interest against civic obligations. This is sometimes referred to as the paradox between community and self-interest. (1) If communities are to prosper in an age of global change, their members must be willing to make personal sacrifices for the well-being of the broader community. Research consistently demonstrates that the majority of citizens feel that they can put community interests above personal interests but lack confidence that their fellow citizens have the capacity to behave similarly. Citizens who are confident that both they and their fellow citizens can rise above self-interests (through behavior that is consistent with the well-being of the community) tend to have more positive views of government, are more satisfied with local government service delivery, are more inclined to work with government to help create community improvement, and tend to be more willing taxpayers. (2)

The decisions citizens make about how to balance paradoxical concerns (community well-being versus self-interest) are particularly influenced by the actions taken by local government. When citizens witness acts they believe to be inconsistent with community well-being, they respond by disassociating with government, resisting taxation, and becoming preoccupied with personal well-being. Each time a government uses public dollars to answer private demands that are driven by narrow bands of self-interest, it weakens commitment to relational community and encourages retreat into self-interest. Each time a government gives preferential treatment to a class of citizens or to a business without carefully articulating how these actions are consistent with community well-being, it encourages demands for more of the same. Conversely, when a government's actions are transparent and it is effective at articulating the connections between public expenditures and community well-being, citizens are more likely to respond to their internal paradox by devaluing personal interests.

Trust among citizens is also instrumental to--and strengthened through--collaboration. (3) When citizens are confident that their fellow citizens will work with them to improve the community, it strengthens everyone's resolve and willingness to personally invest. Therefore, governments should create opportunities for citizens to work with and witness unselfish behavior on the part of their fellow citizens, making it clear that participating agencies share a common agenda for community improvement.

The second dimension of relational community focuses on citizens' willingness to make personal sacrifices today to preserve a high quality of life for future generations, sometimes described as intergenerational equity. (4) When a government and its citizens become disproportionately concerned with quality of life today at the expense of future generations, the sustainability of the community is jeopardized. Citizen behavior is driven in part by how individuals see themselves, combined with anticipated behavior on the part of others. Citizens are sometimes seen...