National Civic Review articles from June 2008

National Civic Review archives from June 2008

Note from the editor.
June 22, 2008... If, as some observers have noted, there was such a thing as a "civic renewal movement" in this country, John Parr was one of its founding members. During his tenure as president of the National Civic League, a venerable Progressive Era reform...

Tribute to John Parr.
June 22, 2008... A NOTE FROM GLORIA RUBIO-CORTES AND DEREK OKUBO We were shocked and saddened by the death of John Parr, his wife, Sandy Widener, and daughter Chase, in a Wyoming car accident on December 22, 2007. Our thoughts are with daughter Katy as she...

Civic infrastructure a new approach to improving community life.(Reprint)
June 22, 2008... In their book Civic Innovation in America, Carmen Sirianni and Lew Friedland describe an incident in the late 1980s. John Parr, who was then president of the National Civic League, was trying to convince a skeptical audience of city and county...

Regional system of Greenways: if you can make it in St. Louis, you can make it anywhere.
June 22, 2008... Note: The research for this article was supported by the Macarthur Foundation under their Building Resilient Regions Project. Since the 1990s, regions around the country have turned to greenways as the latest trend in park development....

Increasing public participation, understanding, and transparency of the legislative process through the use of Web dialogue.
June 22, 2008... The Washington State House of Representatives has undertaken steps to increase transparency of and expand public access to the legislative process. One new strategy is to inform and solicit dialogue from the public through Web-based...

Community capitalism: going back to basics to revitalize cities.
June 22, 2008... During the past twenty-five years, sages have come up with countless new economic development theories about what cities, regions, and states need to do to remain competitive. It was all about building speculative office buildings and corporate...

Fifteen things every journalist should know about public engagement.
June 22, 2008... When a politician stands at a lectern and speaks to supporters, is this public engagement? When a corporation deploys a multimillion dollar public relations campaign aimed at "educating" the public, is it public engagement? The social...

A municipal right to vote.
June 22, 2008... Since the U.S. Constitution was ratified, the United States has moved closer to a system of equality in which all people have the right to vote regardless of sex, race, ethnicity, or location. Although there are still serious problems in...

Clean elections and public campaign financing: new strategies for a healthy democracy.(POLITICAL REFORM)
June 22, 2008... In 2007, advocacy efforts to win public campaign financing at the state and federal levels advanced with unprecedented momentum. They were fueled by public outrage over campaign finance, lobbying, and ethics scandals and fed by an electoral sea...