National Civic Review articles from December 2006

National Civic Review archives from December 2006

Note from the editor.(Editorial)
December 22, 2006... Organized by city officials and community volunteers, the first DeSoto Dining and Dialogue was held on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2004. There were six tables. The hosts invited participants into their home and provided dinner. The idea was...

The future of public libraries in an Internet age.
December 22, 2006... With the Internet reshaping so many aspects of our lives, it has become common for prognosticators to speculate about the ultimate demise of all sorts of institutions that many of us have come to take for granted. So when Public Agenda set out...

Keeping it clean: public financing in American elections.(Reprint)
December 22, 2006... This article was adapted from a report published by the Center for Governmental Studies in May 2006. It is the first comprehensive effort to analyze the effectiveness of state and local public campaign financing systems operating in the United...

The 2006 All-America City Award winners.
December 22, 2006... The National Civic League announced the ten winners of the 2006 All-America Cities Award at the end of a three-day event in Anaheim, California, in June. These communities were chosen from a group of thirty finalists after each delegation...

From the classroom to the council chamber: how town-gown collaborations can support citizen leadership.
December 22, 2006... When Harlan L. Horton joined the Farmville (Virginia) Town Council in 2001 as one of two at-large members, one of the first recommendations he made, according to the local attorney, was to establish a town-university relations committee....

Looking for accountability and efficiency in council-manager government: the case of Cincinnati.(LOCAL GOVERNMENT)
December 22, 2006... After seventy-seven years of council-manager government, Cincinnati dramatically modified its government by combining elements from the strong-mayor and the council-manager forms. The city' first "stronger mayor" and new "weaker" council took...

Bringing the election to the voters with instant runoff voting.(POLITICAL REFORM)
December 22, 2006... Reformers advocate a number of approaches to combating the decline in voter turnout. Universal voter registration, Election Day as holiday, a constitutional right to vote, early voting, more accessible polling places, and more meaningful...

Community building and public health in a south Texas Colonia.(COMMUNITY BUILDING)
December 22, 2006... Since the early 1990s, the media has portrayed the border between the United States and Mexico as "America's third world." Much attention has been focused on the proliferation of shantytowns, or colonias, in Texas where residents experience...

Family and community as the cornerstone of civic engagement: immigrant and youth organizing in the Southwest.(TRENDS IN CIVIC ENGAGEMENT)
December 22, 2006... High school and college age youths are playing an increasingly prominent role in community revitalization, advocacy, and social change initiatives. If, during the panic over juvenile crime and delinquency in the 1990s, young people were often...