Abstract
The increasing scale of urban life suggests that the autonomy of small communities is lessened as verticalization and massification occurs. The processes of urbanization, industrialization, and bureaucratization which accompany growth are of great significance for the social organization of local communities. It is therefore salient for local communities to be in control of decisions which affect growth. This study examines how local leaders control or fail to control the direction of social change resulting from growth opportunities and implications for community members. Rural industrialization has been the most widely advanced means for securing the dual developmental goals of population and economic growth. Such growth, however, may not directly result in an increase in social well-being for local community residents. Therefore, while growth is heralded in public policy and programs, the experience at the local community level brings growth as a goal into question. Moreover, while many small communities face growth opportunities, not all see growth in a positive manner, preferring a nongrowth orientation. Small community leaders may choose to seek growth or they may decide to block growth. This choice signifies a major difference in the orientation of local people regarding community and what they feel is best for them. Four small communities in Central Texas were selected for study based on their population size between 3,000 and 6,000; nonmetropolitan geographical location; and exposure to growth opportunities. Face-to-face interviews with local leaders in each of the four study sites provided the primary data for this research. Additional interviews with extra-local leaders and secondary published materials provided further data. Interview information focused on leadership growth policy and orientation. The community literature suggests that as a community grows, it becomes increasingly tied to larger social systems at a reduced level of autonomy. Growth communities included in this analysis did exhibit more densely knit linkages to extra-local systems, but did not necessarily lose degrees of decision making freedom as a result of those ties...
Ballard, Chester Charles (1980). Local leadership control of small community growth/nongrowth. Texas A&M University. Texas A&M University. Libraries. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /DISSERTATIONS -665117.