Citizen participation overplanned: The case of a health project in the Guatemalan community of San Pedro La Laguna

Benjamin D. Paul and William J. Demarest

Social Science & Medicine, 1984, vol. 19, issue 3, 185-192

Abstract: Citizen involvement is a widely endorsed but often elusive goal in community betterment projects. An initiative by the mayor of San Pedro attracted funds to build a clinic and hire a doctor and attracted an American health educator to direct the project. Contrary to plan, the director's insistence on creating a representative community committee discouraged rather than increased participation. The case chronicles the interplay of interests and strategies and points toward potentially more productive approaches to issues of leadership, factionalism and public participation.

Date: 1984
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