Explores why service-learning students have only rarely been engaged directly as neighborhood organizers, then employs John Dewey's understanding of democracy to analyze one program which has succeeded in making widespread use of college students as front-line organizers. Describes how the complementarity between what students do at their…

Describes two participatory action research projects completed by undergraduate students for community-based organizations in New York City (New York) that dramatically affected municipal economic development and affordable housing policies in two low-income minority communities. Argues that such projects are valuable in helping students gain…