Ground-Up
Definition
Ground-up refers to governance and social change achieved outside of political institutions, through voluntary cooperation, private frameworks, and decentralized models.
Discussion
Overview
Ground-up initiatives seek to build functioning governance structures from the bottom up, without relying on top-down political authority. See also: top-down.
Ground-up initiatives are particularly important for resolving localized issues. Cooperation among community members allows for addressing local challenges through voluntary arrangements rather than imposed rules.
A wider benefit is that the more localized issues are resolved through ground-up means, the less dependency communities have on larger political actors.