Reliance on litigation eroded the community’s own organizing capacity.

Evidence

On another level, however, the struggle has been a failure: not only is the dump expansion moving forward, but many Padres members have been demoralized by the seven-year struggle. “I feel like I’m throwing rocks at the moon,” sighs Paco Beltran, “and catching them on my head.” The residents were forced to rely on litigation when all other avenues to achieving community victory had been closed off. The loss of momentum in Padres during the late stages of litigation was palpable; people saw the lawsuit as the only way to beat the county. The reliance on the law, and on outsiders, came at the expense of the self-reliant, cohesive, and dynamic group of just a few years before. — Luke W. Cole and Sheila R. Foster, From the Ground Up, 487

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Litigation absorbed the movement’s energy and left the community dormant. — Luke W. Cole and Sheila R. Foster, From the Ground Up: Environmental…, 468; Reliance on litigation atrophied the community group’s own organizing; Legal help must build community capacity rather than substitute for community action. — Luke W. Cole and Sheila R. Foster, From the Ground Up: Environmental…, 456 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Governing itself erodes the cohesion that made a group fit to rule. #corroborates (0.92) — Diego Gambetta, Trust - Making and Breaking Cooperative…, 1985
• Ad hoc adjudication breaks litigant participation and undermines its legitimacy #corroborates (0.80) — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process, 3312