Institutions and Organizations.

Abstract

The present research concerns the study of a new structure that exists in US cities.This structure is composed of institutions that have traditionally been called civil society.They are primarily voluntary, primarily concerned with the promotion of democracy, and the health of families, the common good, the public interest, and social safety net.The structure is called a broad-based organization (BBO) and seeks member groups (not individuals) from specific churches, unions, school councils, community associations, and civic groups.Primarily faith-based organizations, BBOs seek to recover the debates and forums necessary for a healthy democracy.They exist in all of the major 25 cities in the US, and most of the second largest cities.Some cities have more than one BBO, such as Los Angeles, San Antonio, and New York City.There is one forming in Edmonton, Canada, and several in the UK and Germany.Each city-wide organization has a minimum of twenty institutional members and as many as 200 in Chicago.Presently there are sixty-five BBOs primarily in the US.All of the organizations contract for leadership development and training with the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), a training institute that has existed in the US for approximately 50 years.Research with these IAF organizations has been approached from the political science perspective (Warren, 2001), the theological perspective (Rooney, 1995;Freedman, 1993), the psychological perspective (Rogers, 1990), and the sociological perspective (Gecan, 2002;Greider, 1992).My research approaches these large structures from an adult education and transformative perspective.I have tried to view the data socially, both the personal psychic structural changes and the societal structures that change as a result of people's participation in social action.These broad-based organizations are in many ways the answer to continual pleas for a renewal of public dialogues on the well-being of society (Barber, 1999;Putnam, 2000; Frazer, 1999).They also are reflected in Inglehart's (1999) world values report that documents adults' growing direct participation in democracy.In addition, Wildemeersh, Finger, and Jansen, T. (2000), cite studies of a growing social responsibility being taken by citizens in Europe.Broad-based organizations, similarly, have arisen to balance the postmodern condition (isolation, fragmentation, and lack of community) and capitalism that fosters consumerism, not citizenship.They contribute to the renewal of democracy as well as the transformation of people into socially responsible and critically aware citizens.