How does Participation and Dialogue in Community Development Bring about Changes in People?: Research Design on the Effects of Dialogue in Community Development Workshops

Abstract

For more than a quarter of a century, the author has conducted research from the standpoint of public administration, local government, and public policy on community development workshops, in which citizens discuss community development and regional issues. Meanwhile, the author has discovered the possibility that "dialogue" in community development workshops may cause some kind of "phase transition" among the citizens who participate in them. Based on the above recognition of the problem, this paper will present a research design to empirically elucidate what kind of phase transitions are brought about among participants through dialogue and what kind of mechanisms cause such transitions, targeting community development workshops organized by local governments.