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Communities Organized for Public Service (COPS) is a coalition of non-partisan, grassroots community pressure groups based in San Antonio, Texas. It is an affiliate of the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), a group dedicated to grassroots community organizing that was developed by Saul Alinsky in Chicago during the 1930s. Founded in 1974, COPS’ mission is to secure specific, concrete standard of living improvements for neighborhoods traditionally neglected by city leaders through relational organizing. Though advocating primarily for the interests of lower-middle class and working class Mexican-Americans on the city’s west and south sides, COPS avoids the label of civil rights organization, instead projecting itself as an agent for fair and equitable distribution of city resources and services. COPS success in this endeavor to date is remarkable, amounting to over one billion dollars in group-sponsored projects and initiatives.〔Mark Warren, Dry Bones Rattling, 3-4〕 == Goals and Methods == One of its stated aims is to create give and take relationships between diverse interest groups in the greater community that can lead to the realization of goals defined within discrete neighborhoods. On the other hand, relational organizing leads to initiatives that benefit the larger community, such as economic development, aquifer protection, infrastructure development, and improvement of educational opportunities. Inherent in this process is the development of local leaders, who work to express the values and interests of the membership. The role of IAF and COPS organizers is to identify natural community leaders and stimulate their growth. In this sense, COPS and the IAF represent an impulse for the practice of genuine democratic participation in the American political system.〔Mark Warren, Dry Bones Rattling, 51〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Communities Organized for Public Service」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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