Associational structure and community development: a comparative study of two communities

The comprehensive development of a local community requires coordination & integration among its diverse interest fields. Coordination & comprehensiveness of the community structure are observable in all 3 analytical units of the community field: actors, actions, & associations. In an ideal integrated community there would be a central coordinating organization -- a Community Development association, expressly organized to coordinate & initiate programs in a variety of interest fields along with other coordinating & participating organizations. The objective is to elaborate on a conceptual model of an effective coordinating associational structure for comprehensive community development & examine the validity of the model by comparing 2 communities in a southern US state. The comparison tended to support the proposition that "communities following an integrative style of development are characterized by coordinative structures including associational, while the contrary is true for communities following the autonomous style." A quantitative scale is developed to measure the coordinativeness of associational structures in the communities. 7 Tables. Modified AA.