Those in philanthropy who value community and resident engagement do so because of their overall mission for improving social and economic well-being and supporting social innovations and advocacy that encourage equitable opportunities. Neither objective can be achieved without critical voices at the table to guide the way and foster accountability.
Ten years ago, a temporary “visioning” process in a mid-sized Wisconsin community was initiated to address community problems and overcome the mutual “democratic trust deficit” that exists in many communities. Later, the initiative’s ad hoc, interim structure was formalized into a nonprofit organization with a focused public narrative about active citizen engagement, public problem-solving, and essential democratic practices.
Institutions matter, and different institutions, all else be-ing equal, produce different results. But institutions are not insulated from historical conditions, policy makers’ choices and citizens’ preferences.
As the National Civic League was approaching its centennial in 1994, its board and staff were focused on how the league could most effectively address contemporary problems of governance and community-building. One answer was to use their quarterly National Civic Review as sounding board for the latest thinking about democratic practices and civic renewal.
A city in southern California is showing how residents and local government managers can forge new relation-ships and work together to meet the needs of a once neglected area of the city. How these issues are resolved may not always please everyone, but a productive dialogue has been established.
In analyzing the applications for All-America status, the authors found an evolution in the understanding and scope of sustainability and changing conceptions and ways of implementing collaborative problem-solving efforts.
Schools can’t educate students by themselves. It takes all the skills and resources of a community to do the job. Citizen initiatives are different from more formal youth development and youth services programs. They are organic grassroots enterprises that arise in direct response to local education values, problems, and life skill developments.
Evolving ideas about “best practices” are highlighted in this article about changes in the policies and practice of police departments.
With the help of a group of researchers, the Government Finance Officers Association has developed a frame-work for fiscal policy-making at the local level based on Elinor Ostrom’s Nobel Prize-winning theories about the sustainable consumption of finite, common pool resources.
