Is there a 'new community power' and why should we need one?

This article asks why the notion of community power, along with more recent but analagous concepts drawn from urban political economy such as growth coalitions and urban regimes, belatedly appear to be attracting attention beyond their native US. In trying to answer this question, the article first critically reassesses the North American literature on community power and urban political economy and asks whether, despite the generally lukewarm reactions they initially received in Europe, they can provide helpful lessons for studies of the way localities are now governed. The US literature is found to be ethnocentric, particularly in its overemphasis on localism, but not nearly to the extent that social scientists outside the US have often assumed. Indeed, the article argues that the nation of community power, suitably modernized and refocused, could make an important contribution to cross-national urban analysis. It is suggested that there is continuing mileage in looking at how power is wielded within communities but that, in an age of globalization, it is also necessary to talk of the power of communities within wider spheres of influence. The article ends with suggestions as to what might be included in a cross-national research agenda based on this dual analysis of community power.