Case for Grassroots Collaboration

Dr. John Charles Morris is professor of public administration and Ph.D. graduate program director in the department of urban studies and public administration at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. Dr. William Allen Gibson is professor of political science and chair of the department of political science at Virginia Wesleyan College, Virginia Beach, Virginia, where he teaches environmental policy and public administration.Dr. William Marshall Leavitt is associate professor and MPA director at Old Dominion University. Shana Campbell Jones, J.D., is an environmental lawyer and directs the Virginia Coastal Policy Clinic at William & Mary Law School.

• List of FiguresList of AbbreviationsForewordAcknowledgmentsIntroductionChapter 1: Grassroots Collaborations to Solve Environmental ProblemsChapter 2: A Framework for Collaboration: Building Social Capital, Improving Environmental Outcomes, and Maximizing Democratic ValuesChapter 3: The Chesapeake Bay: Local Efforts, Regional ConnectionsChapter 4: Restoring Princess Elizabeth’s RiverChapter 5: The Return of the Oyster to the Lynnhaven RiverChapter 6: The Nansemond: A Tale of Two RiversChapter 7: Conclusion: One Watershed at a TimeAppendix: List of IntervieweesReference ListAbout the AuthorsIndex

The idea of participatory democracy and citizen involvement in agency decision making is not new. This is especially true for works on participatory decision making in environmental policy and watershed management. Unfortunately, what sounds like a great idea on the surface rarely works in practice as competing interests often get in the way of compromise and collaboration. This is where The Case for Grassroots Collaboration can prove to be a useful addition to the literature. The authors provide three case studies of situations where the approach did work--the Elizabeth River watershed, the Lynnhaven River watershed, and the Nansemond River watershed. . . .The authors synthesize the factors that led to success in these cases in order to provide a template for future use. This is what is necessary if citizens and policy makers are to bridge the gap between a promising theory and a generally elusive practice and make more widespread use of grassroots participation. For this reason, the work is recommended. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduate collections and above.