It’s my understanding that, in chemistry, a precipitant is a reagent that produces a reaction of which it is not a part. It is analogous to one form of institutional action in relationship to a local neighborhood.
Most neighborhood-focused institutional actions involve introducing a substantive program that serves the interests of the institutions. Therefore, the people in the neighborhood are not involved in determining what should be done, how it should be done and who should do it. However, these three activities are critical if neighbors are to act as citizens defining and producing the future.
Determining what should be done, how it should be done and who should do it are three critical activities if neighbors are to act as citizens defining and producing the future.
There is one possibility for institutions to enable citizen action if they can be a precipitant rather than a programmatic intervener. A precipitating action would avoid defining for neighbors what should be done, how it should be done and who should do it. However, it could act to precipitate citizens performing these three actions.
Two examples of institutional precipitation are: (see post)