National Civic Review articles from January 1994

National Civic Review archives from January 1994

Hope for 'suburbanitis.' (urban decentralization)
January 1, 1994... "A genuine cure calls for drastic surgery on the present scheme of local government," but the going will be hard. The Buffalo Evening News a few weeks ago coined a new word -- "suburbanitis" -- to describe a disease which is crippling Buffalo...

The case for an American renewal.
January 1, 1994... American Renewal requires a commitment from every individual and every institution to the principles of collaboration, rather than conflict and counter-productive competition. It also constitutes a new patriotism, founded on the courage to reform...

American renewal: the challenge of leadership.
January 1, 1994... Elected and appointed leaders at all levels of government must summon up the vision, courage and will to confront the serious issues of quality education, work-force competitiveness, economic opportunity, natural resource allocation, etc. that...

American renewal: reconnecting citizens with public life.
January 1, 1994... American Renewal requires a profound shift in our conception of how change is prompted and sustained in communities. Part of the formula is constructive engagement of citizens in public life. Such engagement demands leadership capable of...

Effective citizen involvement: how to make it happen.
January 1, 1994... Citizens possess a central role in the enterprise of renewing their communities. Community involvement is a key instrument in the process. Good citizenship is hard work, and the price of neglecting its broader responsibilities is dramatized in...

Evolving structures and challenges of metropolitan regions.
January 1, 1994... Metropolitan regions, whether growing or declining, face serious strategic issues in the arenas of economic development, infrastructure, environmental protection, and social equity. While these issues contribute to the argument favoring regional...

Hell no, we won't go! California's local pols confront term limits.
January 1, 1994... An analysis of incumbency trends among California's local government office holders suggests a high degree of turnover, except in the largest cities and counties. Since the 1980s, however, incumbency rates among the substantially smaller number...

Resourcing services by charging user fees. (Public Finance)
January 1, 1994... During the early 1990s, municipal governments have witnessed a dwindling in their operating funds while efforts to enhance revenue collection have been stifled. As a result, many of the programs and services on which citizens depend have become...

Ethics for public administrators. (Government Performance)
January 1, 1994... With public attention frequently directed toward private sector scandals, such as the savings and loan debacle and junk bond fraud, as well as equally disturbing political peculations in the public realm, there is ample cause for increased...

An organizational perspective on municipal contracting decisions. (Government Performance)
January 1, 1994... Much recent research of municipal contracting decisions has been guided by public choice theory.(1) This approach, which attributes superior cost efficiency to private over public service delivery, is premised on the profit motive of the free...

P.R. elections in N.Y.C.: effects of preference voting on Asian-American participation.
January 1, 1994... On May 4, 1993, New York City voters cast their ballots in Community School Board elections, which use the single-transferable vote (STV) to elect 32 school boards of nine members each in at-large races. STV is a form of proportional...

North Carolina takes close look at modified at-large voting.
January 1, 1994... In the wake of last year's U.S. Supreme Court ruling on North Carolina's redistricting plan, gerry-mandered single-member districts are under attack across the nation. No state has gone farther to study alternatives to single-member district...

P.R. elections in Cambridge, Mass. (proportional representation)
January 1, 1994... After 52 years of conducting elections using the single transferable vote (STV) form of proportional representation, election officials in Cambridge, Massachusetts run a smooth operation. They had better. The counting area is monitored by...

The future is now: the case for a national sub-state regional policy. (Metro and Regional Governance)
January 1, 1994... Regionalism has entered the "thirty-something" age group. Its form and function have evolved, its ability to perform its original mission of planning has expanded, its funding base has been broadened, and its astonishing capacity for mind...