National Civic Review articles from September 2008

National Civic Review archives from September 2008

Note from the editor.
September 22, 2008... In a 2005 issue of the National Civic Review, philanthropist and entrepreneur Eugene Lang, founder of Project Pericles, noted a dichotomy between the "wave of voluntarism" that swept across university and college campuses in the 1990s and the...

Don't shut the door on your way out: stopping the threat to city operations posed by the aging municipal workforce.
September 22, 2008... The perfect storm in city government has long been brewing, and it can no longer be ignored. Tens of thousands of baby boomers who make up the invaluable knowledge base of municipal operations are at or reaching retirement age just as cities...

Public library strategies for building stronger economies and communities.
September 22, 2008... The business of local economic development today is in flux. Communities face considerable challenges as they assess their strengths and competitive position amid changing global markets, technology advances, and the transition to new economies...

A funny thing happened on the way to the blog.
September 22, 2008... I became a "civic junkie" in early 1992. I sought--and got--a job in politics working for a state elected official. Since that decision, fifteen years ago, my career has been tied to various aspects of community and civic life. I eventually...

CBOs and affordable housing.
September 22, 2008... Since the late 1960s, community-based organizations (CBOs) have become increasingly responsible for implementing affordable housing policy. Scholars have referred to this process as the nonprofitization and devolution of affordable housing...

Democracy 2.0: millennial-generated change to American governance.
September 22, 2008... Beginning a process to upgrade a democracy can be quite simple. It can, and did, start with one "millennial" at a university campus in Berkeley, California. Over the last six years, the now-national youth civic engagement organization...

Township government: a tale of one state.
September 22, 2008... When in 1917 H. S. Gilbertson designated counties "the Dark Continent of American politics," he was referring to the lack of interest in county government on the part of reformers and academics. Even though there has been more interest in, and...

First-of-its kind tool to measure community support for public schools now available from public education network.(COMMUNITY BUILDING)
September 22, 2008... There is growing consensus among education and community groups alike that in order to help all children achieve at a high level, schools can't do their job alone. They need the support of their community--both from formal institutions and from...

Service 2.0 and cities.(TRENDS IN CIVIC ENGAGEMENT)
September 22, 2008... Champions of service have every reason to be upbeat going into this presidential election, in which both parties are promoting expanded government support for civic engagement. Their advocacy complements the efforts of a new set of social...

Provisional voting: a fallible fail-safe for voters.(POLITICAL REFORM)
September 22, 2008... Americans by now are well aware of the problems that shook our electoral system in the presidential elections of 2000 and 2004. Congressional leaders and state legislators have introduced legislation to address these issues and research studies...