The online lists six levels of policy that may affect community initiatives (societal policy and values, regime policy, sector
policy, jurisdictional policy, administrative policy, and street-level policy). In this assignment, we are looking at the societal
policy (values), regime policies, and sector policies that affect your target initiative. Many projects, at first glance, would
seem to have nothing to do with political regimes and government policies (at all levels). However, political landscapes and
policies can and do have direct effects on local community projects. In fact, this is often what calls communities and community
leaders to organize in the first place. For example, faith-based projects can be influenced by underlying government attitudes and
policies toward faith-based initiatives and/or the status of minority religions and self-help groups can be impacted by the types
and amount of services available to their members. Tax laws, economic policies, and military decisions impact all of us.
As society has changed over time, there has been a tendency for social institutions to divide into smaller and smaller functional
areas. In government, these functional areas are usually delegated to separate areas of authority such as departments, projects,
programs, etc. that are linked in the familiar “pyramid” structure of typical bureaucracies. Identify the social sector of your
target initiative and the sectoral policies that may affect it at all governmental levels (federal, state, county, local, etc.).
Write an analytical paper answering the following questions:
1. Analyze the demands and supports for change that impact your target project.
2. Analyze groups, forces, and policies that may oppose your target project.
3. Discuss ways that you might increase demands and supports for your project.
4. Identify key stakeholders for your project and strategies that will be needed to gain their support.
5. Identify any gatekeepers that can either open doors to make your project possible or can keep you from receiving the support you
need.
6. Discuss any political or community processes that will be needed to enable your project to take place as well as the support and
opposition you are likely to encounter there.
7. Identify various outputs of the process including the ideal outcome, compromise outcomes, and undesirable outcomes and your
likely next steps for each.
8. Discuss the feedback (i.e. evaluation) process, how you will demonstrate success, and how you will maintain support for your
project.
9. Identify the underlying social values that may affect your project.
10. Identify a likely majority and minority view of the underlying issue and how each may affect your initiative.
11. Identify and analyze the regime policies that may affect your initiative.
12. Discuss the regime policy of the current US administration (or the administration of your own country) and how it may affect
your initiative.
13. Discuss the regime policy of your state or provincial government and how it may affect your initiative.
14. Identify any other regimes (i.e. county or local government), their policies, and how these policies may affect your
initiative.
15. Analyze congruencies and discrepancies among the policies of the various regimes that impact your project. What challenges will
you face because of them?
PLEASE NOTE: My choice of community that needs to be explored is the community of the children’s shelter called Mercy Home in
Chicago, Illinois.
References
McKnight, J. S., & Plummer, J. M. (2015). Community organizing: theory and practice. Chapter 10, 11 and 12. Boston: Pearson.