Integrating into the “Nearby”: A Study on the Dilemmas, Emergence Mechanisms and Facilitation Mechanisms of Community Participation

Beginning with the phenomenon of “weak community participation”, this article examines the dilemmas and barriers to community participation. It points out that although the CLEAR model of citizen participation, proposed by Stoker and colleagues, offers a relatively comprehensive and systematic analysis of the emergence mechanisms of citizen involvement, its discussion of the facilitation mechanisms remains unclear. Grounded in the context of grassroots governance practices in China, the study further proposes a five-dimensional facilitation mechanism for community participation, abbreviated as the TOPIC framework—Technology, Organization, Place, Institution, and Culture. Through multiple case studies, this article illustrates the practical logic of each mechanism. This effort not only extends the participation theory advanced by Stoker and colleagues, but also provides policy tools, implementable pathways and Chinese experiences for enhancing grassroots governance and promoting residents’ integration into the “Nearby”.