Community
“Community” is often invoked to explain outcomes—support, safety, resilience—or to assign responsibility when systems fail. In practice, many things attributed to “community” are produced by decisions about jurisdiction, resources, and authority that communities themselves do not control.
Definition
Community refers to a group of people linked by shared geography, identity, or affiliation, whose collective capacity is shaped by external rules governing recognition, resources, and decision-making authority.
Technical meaning vs common usage
Technical meaning:
A bounded population recognized by institutions for purposes of governance, service delivery, representation, or regulation.
Common usage:
A cohesive social group defined by shared values, relationships, or mutual support.
How the term gets stretched or misused
Used to imply shared responsibility without shared authority
Treated as self-organizing despite external constraints
Invoked to absorb gaps left by formal institutions
Framed as a source of solutions without access to resources or power
Where the power sits
Power affecting communities sits largely outside them. Jurisdictional boundaries, funding formulas, regulatory authority, and enforcement discretion determine what a community can do, not just who belongs to it. Decisions made at higher institutional levels—about zoning, school districts, policing, or service eligibility—shape community outcomes regardless of local cohesion.
This does not mean…
Communities control the conditions they live under
Social bonds substitute for institutional capacity
Local agreement overrides formal authority
Community action can replace system design
Why precision matters
When “community” is treated as an actor, responsibility shifts downward while power remains centralized. Precision makes visible why communities are often asked to solve problems created by rules they did not set and cannot change.
Neutrality note
This definition describes community as a bounded social group shaped by external authority and institutional rules, not as an endorsement or critique of community responsibility, local capacity, or civic engagement norms.
Related HISW
Words Matter: Belonging
Sources
Sources below describe how communities are defined and constrained by institutional authority and governance structures.
U.S. Census Bureau — Geographic Areas Reference Manual (2018) https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/geography/guidance/geographic-areas-reference-manual.html
National Academies of Sciences — Strengthening Community Resilience (2019) https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/25316/strengthening-community-resilience