The Civic Index for Quality Public Education
August 19th, 2008
Many have lamented the loss of public support for public education. Indeed, Dave Matthews 1996 book, Is there a Public for Public Schools? tackled this question head on. Now, the Public Education Network, long a leader in promoting civic engagement in public education, has published The Civic Index for Quality Public Education. This tool:
Helps communities [...]
Champions of Participation: Engaging Citizens in Local Governance
August 19th, 2008
UK institutions continue to set the pace in efforts to promote authentic civic engagement. The newest publications from the Development Research Centre on Citizenship, Participation and Accountability (Citizenship DRC) at the University of Sussex offer lessons learned from a cross country comparison across 15 nations. The Centre, an international network of researchers and activists exploring [...]
Enough is Enough
January 28th, 2008
Enough is enough.
America’s politics should be driven by the priorities of the people, not sound bites, special interest money, partisan gridlock, and polarizing rhetoric.
It is time for a change.
We believe that politics cannot and should not be a spectator sport. No politician, party or ideology will solve America’s mounting problems alone. [...]
New UK Pub on Best Practices in Community Engagement
January 28th, 2008
The Local Government Association in the UK sponsors IDEA, the Improvement and Development Agency, a very active learning network for local government. In addition to an active website, they also produce high quality guides. One of their newest publications, Local Development Frameworks: Effective Community Involvement, provides a thoughtful guide to constructing a multi-layered [...]
Collaboration DC helps Near SE, SW Aim for Consensus
June 24th, 2007
Collaboration DC, a network of practitioners working to build civic capacity and solve community problems in the Nation’s Capital, has been working with residents and community based organizations in Near Southeast and Southwest for over a year to help forge a collective approach to neighborhood change. Collaboration within the community has not always been the case. As [...]
New Handbook on Democratic Dialogue
June 19th, 2007
Colleagues around the world are working to improve their public conversation. The Canadian International Development Agency, UN Development Program, and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance and several other organizations have published Democratic Dialogue: A Handbook for Practitioners. Backed by a technical assistance team of 90 practitioners, the Handbook is [...]