National Civic Review articles from March 1994

National Civic Review archives from March 1994

A plague of special districts.
March 22, 1994... Their services are necessary, but not their waste. The author shows why and suggests a remedy. A complaint frequently heard about local government is that there are altogether too many local officers who have power to impose taxes for this,...

Bridging the divides of race and ethnicity. (Realizing Human Potential)
March 22, 1994... The process of overcoming bias must begin in communities, where people interact and daily face the consequences of racial, ethnic and class antagonisms. Successful programs combine opportunities for face-to-face dialogue among individuals from...

From statistics to soup kitchens: youth as resources in the 1990s. (Realizing Human Potential)
March 22, 1994... Today's advocates for youth are espousing a new approach to youth development. Abandoning the traditional problem-and-solution perspective on children and adolescents, they are focusing instead on the potential of young people for making positive...

Saving youth from violence: charting new paths to safety. (Realizing Human Potential)
March 22, 1994... Winning the war against youth violence will require a public stance that violence is socially unacceptable and that the nation's economic and social policies should reflect a society that despises, rather than tolerates and even glorifies...

Collaboration for youth development: youth action programming. (Realizing Human Potential)
March 22, 1994... While few individuals experienced in community-based work would deny the broad applicability of general principles of collaborative process, most would surely reject the mentality of "one best way," that has informed and shaped the most maligned...

Public school choice in the inner city. (Realizing Human Potential)
March 22, 1994... By restructuring the curriculum, creating student/parent choice programs and establishing true community partnerships, inner-city schools are elevating the achievement levels of underprivileged youth dramatically -- within the traditional system...

Why Johnny still can't read, even after college. (higher education) (Realizing Human Potential)
March 22, 1994... We must re-examine the basic assumptions about the way higher education is structured, administered and delivered. Higher education must focus on the needs of its customers -- students, employers and society as a whole -- as they relate to rapid...

Inventing regionalism: the first two waves.
March 22, 1994... Over the course of a century efforts to achieve regional governance have proceeded in two waves. The first, championed by municipal reformers, stressed structural solutions, such as city-county consolidations. The second wave focused on...

When a right becomes a wrong. (individual rights)
March 22, 1994... Our public dialogue is threatened by the burgeoning practice of framing policy debates in the language of "rights" -- unlimited personal entitlement. KARL W. EIKENBERRY The history of America's political discourse is marked by sharp debates...

Municipal term limits in Orange County, California.
March 22, 1994... Statewide measures to limit the terms of state legislators, in most cases, will not influence incumbency until the late 1990s. What will the effects be? The long experience of term-limited cities in Orange County may offer some clues. Term...

A new tool for renewing the central city: the urban cultural park.
March 22, 1994... The traditional vision of the urban park -- as open space apart and isolated from the residential, economic and social life of the city -- must be expanded. Examples abound of communities where urban history, design and planning form the...

The National Performance Review: substance or symbolism?
March 22, 1994... Throughout our history, U.S. presidents have proposed various plans to reorganize the federal government on behalf of the public. Each plan reflects the mood and aspirations of the country at a particular time. On one level, President Clinton's...

Florida report examines the costs of immigration.
March 22, 1994... Florida Governor Lawton Chiles has released a report, The Unfair Burden: Immigration's Impact on Florida, detailing how much it costs the state to provide critical services to immigrants. The report notes that approximately two million legal...

High court to consider term limits on members of Congress. (US Supreme Court)
March 22, 1994... Fifteen states currently limit the consecutive terms in office of members of their congressional delegations, including Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South...

Las Vegas remains the fastest-growing metro area; rural growth rate rises. (Las Vegas, Nevada)
March 22, 1994... The fastest-growing metropolitan area in the United States since 1990 has been Las Vegas, Nevada, according to population estimates released by the Census Bureau. The area grew by 14 percent between April 1, 1990 and July 1, 1992, increasing from...

Legislative report: abolish county government.
March 22, 1994... Massachusetts State Senator Arthur E. Chase has released a report, County Government: Transferring Its Functions to the Commonwealth, advocating the abolition of county governments and the assumption of their roles and responsibilities to the...

U.S. Hispanic population advances socially, 1983-'93.
March 22, 1994... An examination of the social and economic conditions of the nation's Hispanic population between 1983 and 1993 indicates that while improvements have been made, disparities persist. According to The Hispanic Population in the United States:...

Single-purpose governments on the increase.
March 22, 1994... Citizen demands for increased local government services have caused the number of special districts -- single-purpose local government entities that handle such tasks as solid waste disposal, fire protection, water supply, and cemetary management...

Proportional representation.
March 22, 1994... The media have paid more attention to modified at-large voting systems in recent months than at any other time in U.S. history. The "blitz" began when University of Pennsylvania Law professor Lani Guinier launched a book tour in March and...

Cumulative voting: benefits and drawbacks.
March 22, 1994... Cumulative voting has certain clear benefits. Perhaps most importantly, cumulative voting (CV) can be explained more readily than either the party list form of proportional representation used throughout Europe, or the single transferable vote...

Compliance imperative under A.D.A.'s Title II. (Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990)
March 22, 1994... A Group of Disabled individuals recently won a class action lawsuit against the Philadelphia Streets Department based on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In Kinney v. Yerusalim, the plaintiffs challenged under ADA's Title II the...

We must engage the public on the health care issue.
March 22, 1994... Health care reform is upon us and there is a real possibility for change. Yet the opportunity easily could be squandered by making a hard sell to the public too quickly. In the immediate days ahead, however, Americans will be asked to buy into...

America's Future Work Force: A Health and Education Policy Issues Handbook.
March 22, 1994... The development of a global economy has raised concerns regarding whether the U.S. work force will be able to compete effectively with the work forces of other nations in the future. Of particular concern is the failure of the public health and...

Democracy Efficiently at Work: Better Government for All.
March 22, 1994... Pioneer city manager Leroy Harlow, author of Servants of All and Without Fear or Favor, has published Democracy Efficiently at Work. Fashioned as a "how-to book," Democracy Efficiently at Work is available as Volume 15 (Numbers 1-4) of the...