Over the past two decades, Western countries have witnessed changes in the governance of local authorities. During that period, governmental authority and traditional governmental functions have gradually shifted to local authorities at the municipal level. In keeping with this trend, the governments have attempted to diminish their role in the provision of social, human, and communal services and encouraged nongovernmental organizations to penetrate the arena of services previously supplied by the government. In the community domain, neighborhood organizations that encourage citizen involvement and participation in policymaking and decisions concerning their life and well-being have gained increasing influence. In this regard, the emergence of the community council and its development as a unique entity in the municipal arena is particularly noteworthy. The community council reflects an advanced stage in the development of community and voluntary organizations that lacked the organizational and professional infrastructure, know-how, and technologies, as well as the competence to cope with the powerful governmental and municipal establish ment. The community council reflects the developed civic consciousness of the city's residents, who demand responses to their changing and heterogeneous needs. In this context, neighborhood residents have sought to establish a powerful and influential organization that serves them and represents their interests vis-a.-vis the municipal and governmental authorities.

Inhalt
1: Introduction.- Structure of the Book.- 2: Theoretical Framework.- Organizational and Structural Factors Influencing Decentralization of Authority.- 3: The Neighborhood Self-Management Organization: Background, Vision, Ideology, and Organizational Domain.- The Changing Context of Human and Social Services.- The Role of Voluntary Nonprofit Organizations in Providing Social and Communal Services.- The Nature of Neighborhood Organizations.- Domain Consensus of the Neighborhood Organization.- Vision and Espoused Goals.- 4: Neighborhood Self-Management Organizations: An International Perspective.- Community Councils in Scotland.- Community Councils in England.- Community Councils in Wales.- Neighborhood Committees in the Netherlands.- Neighborhood Councils in Italy.- Neighborhood Councils in the Nordic Countries.- Community Councils in Canada.- Neighborhood Self-Management in the United States.- Neighborhood Associations in Japan.- Community Boards in Christchurch, New Zealand.- 5: The Community Council as a Merger of Two Neighborhood Organizations: Neighborhood Self-Management and Community Centers.- The Population of Jerusalem: A General Description.- The Emergence of Neighborhood Self-Management Organizations in Jerusalem.- The Merging Process: Driving and Restraining Forces.- Findings of a Study on Community Councils in Jerusalem, 19921997.- 6: Ideological, Structural, and Organizational Dilemmas of Neighborhood Organizations in International Perspective.- Lack of a Defined Legal Status and Political Legitimation.- Dependence on External Funding Sources.- Lack of Public Legitimation.- The Unique Identity of the Neighborhood Organization.- Voluntary Nonprofit Organization or Bureaucratic System?.- Representative Democracy and Participatory Democracy.- Equity inAllocation of Public Resources.- 7: Vision and Reality in the Community Council.- Obstacles to Positioning the New Entity in the Metropolitan Area.- The Vision Has It Been Fulfilled?.- Organizational and Structural Patterns in the Development of Neighborhood Organizations.- The Unique Contribution of the Community Council Prospects for the Future.- References.