We propose a framework for understanding the relationship of participation in block associations to a wide range of block-level variables (demographics, the built environment, crime, and the transient social and physical environmenO. Data were obtained from 48 New York City blocks using (a) a telephone survey of residents (n = 1,081), (b) the Block Environmental Inventory (BEI), (c) police records of reported crime, and (d) a survey of block association members (n = 469).

Social exchange and political economy theories are applied to the examination of voluntary organization participation and viability to understand individual and organizational empo werment. In the Block Booster Project, 29 block associations were examined via organizational assessment questionnaires from 381participants and interviews with 28 leaders. More-active participants reported more social~communal and personal benefits than less-active participants. Least-active participants reported more so-1This article is based on the first author's dissertation in Clinical

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Local environmental hazards place millions of citizens at risk of physical, emotional, and financial harm. While the discovery of such hazards can be fundamentally disempowering for individuals and communities, few scholars have examined the dynamics of empowerment in this context. We explore the relationships among forms of empowerment, citizen participation, and local environmental hazards, and offer a model of the processes of empowerment and disempowerment appropriate to a broad range of citizen issues. On the basis of this analysis we recommend a partnership approach to community decision making that is designed both to reduce the likelihood that local environmental hazards will develop and to minimize the disempowering impact of any threats that do occur.

Research into the distribution of public services in urban America has made impressive empirical, theoretical and methodological progress. To date, however, this work has exhibited several limitations which restrict its contribution to our understanding of the political significance of municipal services. This paper reviews existing research, examines its limitations and suggests ways in which future research could overcome these failings by focusing on outcome rather than output measures of services, interjurisdictional differences, the influence of neighborhood organisations on service patterns, the role of private service options, and equity rather than equality as a standard against which to judge observed distributions.

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It is important that students of urban life develop an understanding of the dynamics by which community associations influence the quality and quantity of public services available in their neighborhoods. Employing collective goods theory to analyze the activities of neighborhood organizations suggests that their efforts to influence public services may usefully be conceptualized in terms of three primary roles. Community associations act as consumers' cooperatives seeking to secure public services from other organizations, as alternative producers of desired services, and as organizers of citizens' coproductive efforts whereby service levels are determined through the joint efforts of neighborhood residents and public service personnel. The three roles differ significantly in the effectiveness and efficiency with which citizens can employ them to secure services, and require different resources from the community associations. The design of governmental arrangements for service delivery are closely related to the availability and effectiveness of the three strategies and must be considered as part of any effort to enhance citizens', role in public service delivery.