도봉구 시민운동의 역사와 가치

Abstract

Dobong-gu has developed the citizens' campaign based on a residentparticipation model, in harmony with excellent natural environment,eco-friendly life style, high levels of education and settlement,relatively homogeneous economic standards, and communal localcultures. Since civic groups in Dobong-gu worked together in the campaignfor helping Northern brethren in 1997, more organizations have beenmade and their joint activities have become vigorous. Recently, theenergy of the citizens' campaign in Dobong-Gu has spread intovarious areas such as village libraries established and run by residents,'Dobong Environment Class' exemplifying the cooperation between thegovernment and the civil sectors,'Happy Table' as a social enterprise,and 'DobongN' published by residents. The citizens' campaign in Dobong-gu has a unique tradition of civilpolitical movement, which implies the attempt to participate in politicsby producing local assembly members in order to check the corruptionof the local government, the disregard of residents, and recklessdevelopment. Since 1995, four civil candidates have been elected as alocal assembly member. All of them have performed an excellentassembly activities and played a crucial role in making residents more interested in the local administration. The value the citizens' campaign in Dobong-gu pursues issummarized as civil initiative in a word. The phrase civil initiativemeans the local community where civil society becomes a more activeparticipator in public sectors than local self-governing bodies. Civilsociety here refers to the citizens' public energy, network, andparticipation process, coping with the social issues not by waiting forgovernment but by solving problems on their own. In the future, thecitizens' campaign in Dobong-gu will strive to make a localcommunity whose residents become a master.