An area of ongoing debate is whether neighborhood organizations contribute to civic governance by enabling citizen influence in government, mobilizing constituents, and improving policy outcomes through localized knowledge, community organizing, and civic engagement. This article presents the findings of a study to understand the roles and contributions of neighborhood organizations in civic governance. The research design consisted of an exploratory and qualitative case study of individual interviews with 46 board presidents who described the roles of their neighborhood organizations within communities, in relationship to a city, and whether, and to what extent, they contributed to civic governance. Study participants characterized their neighborhood organizations’ roles according to three core themes: developing community and improving the neighborhood, educating and engaging citizens, and representing and advocating for the neighborhood. The findings reveal significant resource limitations that constrain civic engagement and participation capacities. Thus, as a result of the findings, I contend that there are several opportunities to strengthen their roles and contributions in civic governance.

一个持续争论的领域是邻里组织是否通过在政府中增强公民影响力、动员选民以及通过本地化知识、社区组织和公民参与来改善政策结果来为公民治理做出贡献。本文介绍了一项旨在了解邻里组织在公民治理中的作用和贡献的研究结果。研究设计包括对 46 位董事会主席的个人访谈的探索性和定性案例研究，他们描述了他们的邻里组织在社区中的作用、与城市的关系，以及他们是否以及在多大程度上对公民治理做出了贡献。研究参与者根据三个核心主题描述了他们邻里组织的角色：发展社区和改善社区，教育和吸引公民，代表和倡导社区。调查结果揭示了限制公民参与和参与能力的重大资源限制。因此，作为调查结果的结果，我认为有几个机会可以加强他们在公民治理中的作用和贡献。