Download or read book Civic Innovation in America written by Carmen Sirianni and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2001-07-01 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book, two leading experts on community action provide the first scholarly examination of the civic renewal movement that has emerged in the United States in recent decades. Sirianni Friedland examine civic innovation since the 1960s as social learning in four arenas (community organizing/development, civic environmentalism, community health, and public journalism), and they link local efforts to broader networks and to the development of "public policy for democracy." They also explore the emergence of a movement for civic renewal that builds upon the civic movements in these four arenas. In contrast to some recent studies that stress broad indicators of civic decline, this study analyzes innovation as a long process of social learning within specific institutional and policy domains with complex challenges and cross-currents. It draws upon analytical frameworks of social capital, policy learning, organizational learning, regulatory culture, democratic theory, and social movement theory. The study is based upon interviews with more than 400 innovative practitioners, as well as extensive field observation, case study, action research, and historical analysis.
Download or read book Democracy Reinvented written by Hollie Russon Gilman and published by Brookings Institution Press. This book was released on 2016-01-05 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Participatory Budgeting—the experiment in democracy that could redefine how public budgets are decided in the United States. Democracy Reinvented is the first comprehensive academic treatment of participatory budgeting in the United States, situating it within a broader trend of civic technology and innovation. This global phenomenon, which has been called "revolutionary civics in action" by the New York Times, started in Brazil in 1989 but came to America only in 2009. Participatory budgeting empowers citizens to identify community needs, work with elected officials to craft budget proposals, and vote on how to spend public funds. Democracy Reinvented places participatory budgeting within the larger discussion of the health of U.S. democracy and focuses on the enabling political and institutional conditions. Author and former White House policy adviser Hollie Russon Gilman presents theoretical insights, indepth case studies, and interviews to offer a compelling alternative to the current citizen disaffection and mistrust of government. She offers policy recommendations on how to tap online tools and other technological and civic innovations to promote more inclusive governance. While most literature tends to focus on institutional changes without solutions, this book suggests practical ways to empower citizens to become change agents. Reinvesting in Democracy also includes a discussion on the challenges and opportunities that come with using digital tools to re-engage citizens in governance.
Download or read book Beyond Transparency written by Brett Goldstein and published by . This book was released on 2013-09-30 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The rise of open data in the public sector has sparked innovation, driven efficiency, and fueled economic development. While still emerging, we are seeing evidence of the transformative potential of open data in shaping the future of our civic life, and the opportunity to use open data to reimagine the relationship between residents and government, especially at the local level. As we look ahead, what have we learned so far from open data in practice and how we can apply those lessons to realize a more promising future for America's cities and communities? Edited by Brett Goldstein, former Chief Data Officer for the City of Chicago, with Code for America, this book features essays from over twenty of the world's leading experts in a first-of-its-kind instructive anthology about how open data is changing the face of our public institutions. Contributors include: Michael Flowers, Chief Analytics Officer, New York City Beth Blauer, former director of Maryland StateStat Jonathan Feldman, CIO, City of Asheville Tim O'Reilly, founder & CEO, O'Reilly Media Eric Gordon, Director of Engagement Game Lab, Emerson College Beth Niblock, CIO, Louisville Metro Government Ryan & Mike Alfred, Co-Founders, Brightscope Emer Coleman, former director of the London Datastore Mark Headd, Chief Data Officer, City of Philadelphia "As an essential volume for anyone interested in the future of governance, urban policy, design, data-driven policymaking, journalism, or civic engagement, "Beyond Transparency" combines the inspirational glow and political grit of Profiles in Courage with the clarity of an engineer's calm explanation of how something technical actually works. Here are the detailed how-to stories of many members of the first generation of open government pioneers, written in a generous, accessible style; this compilation presents us with a great deal to admire, ample provocation, and wise guidance from a group of remarkable individuals." -Susan Crawford, author of Captive Audience "Just as he did during his time in my administration, Goldstein has brought together industry leaders to discuss issues of relevance in the open data movement and the practical implications of implementing these policies... This book will help continue the work to make open government a reality across the country." - Mayor Rahm Emanuel, City of Chicago "A must-read for anyone who is passionate about what open data can do to transform city living." - Boris Johnson, Mayor of London
Download or read book Democracy Civic Engagement and Citizenship in Higher Education written by William V. Flores and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2019-05-24 with total page 411 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the most recent Democracy Index, the Economic Intelligence Unit downgraded the United States from a “full democracy” to a “flawed democracy.” Democracy, Civic Engagement, and Citizenship in Higher Education takes a hard look at the state of American democracy today through the lens of one of the nation’s most important actors: colleges and universities. Democracy is more than voting: it includes a wide range of democratic practices and depends on a culture of civic participation. Critical for strengthening democracy is the role that higher education leaders play in educating their constituencies about their responsibilities of citizenship. During a period of time when higher education is under pressure to meet 21st century workforce needs, the authors here exhort to remember the public mission of education to serve the needs of the democracy, a government by the people means that the people must be ready to govern. It is in this spirit that these stories are offered to show how institutions across the country are reclaiming and reinvigorating one of the essential pillars upon which American democracy is based.
Download or read book Power to the Public written by Tara Dawson McGuinness and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2021-04-13 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Worth a read for anyone who cares about making change happen.”—Barack Obama A powerful new blueprint for how governments and nonprofits can harness the power of digital technology to help solve the most serious problems of the twenty-first century As the speed and complexity of the world increases, governments and nonprofit organizations need new ways to effectively tackle the critical challenges of our time—from pandemics and global warming to social media warfare. In Power to the Public, Tara Dawson McGuinness and Hana Schank describe a revolutionary new approach—public interest technology—that has the potential to transform the way governments and nonprofits around the world solve problems. Through inspiring stories about successful projects ranging from a texting service for teenagers in crisis to a streamlined foster care system, the authors show how public interest technology can make the delivery of services to the public more effective and efficient. At its heart, public interest technology means putting users at the center of the policymaking process, using data and metrics in a smart way, and running small experiments and pilot programs before scaling up. And while this approach may well involve the innovative use of digital technology, technology alone is no panacea—and some of the best solutions may even be decidedly low-tech. Clear-eyed yet profoundly optimistic, Power to the Public presents a powerful blueprint for how government and nonprofits can help solve society’s most serious problems.
Download or read book Civic Innovation in America written by Carmen Sirianni and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2001-07 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A new philosophy of organizing is afoot in the land. It works with, as well as opposing, City Hall. It forms ongoing relationships. It takes the long view. It works from the bottom up. It deliberates about ends and means. It crafts voluntary agreements. It fosters common work. After reading this book, you think, 'Maybe we are entering a new era of citizen activism and self-government.' We've learned. I recommend this book to any activist, and to anyone who wants to understand activism in America."—Jane Mansbridge, Adams Professor of Political Leadership and Democratic Values, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University "This book is an extraordinarily useful and comprehensive account of the wave of renewal that is occurring in the United States today. . . . Americans should read this excellent book."—John Gardner, founder of Common Cause and former U.S. Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare "Civic Innovation in America by Carmen Sirianni and Lewis Friedland is a wonderful book, rich in insights and stories of the growth of civic learning, dazzling in its facility with issues of contemporary democratic and social theory. It is also a book of democratic hope. As the authors weave together an account of the steady accumulation of learning that has developed over the last generation, they also help to give this growing movement depth and visibility and self-consciousness. Civic Innovation in America not only chronicles the broad and diverse stirrings of a movement for democratic revitalization, it aids in bringing the movement into being. It could not come at a more crucial time."—Harry Boyte, Co-Director, Center for Democracy and Citizenship, University of Minnesota "This book offers a fresh, innovative approach to social movements, especially with its focus on the emergence of partnership strategies (as distinct from more purely adversarial strategies). The book reminds us of the importance of designing public policies that build civic capacity. There is important and insightful information here for scholars, agency professionals, and community activists alike."—Anne Schneider, Dean of the College of Public Programs at Arizona State University "Civic Innovation in America is a remarkably detailed catalog of major efforts at civic renewal in health, the environment, journalism, and community organizing—taking place in scores of cities and towns around the country in the past 20 years. Yes—vital, innovative, in-the-trenches civic work in the midst of the Reagan-Bush-New-Democrat era. To document these efforts and to persuasively show in them common origins, common patterns, and common problems is a civic achievement in itself. Sirianni and Friedland not only describe important social change but contribute to it."—Michael Schudson, Professor of Communication, University of California, San Diego
Download or read book Civic Education in the Twenty First Century written by Michael T. Rogers and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2015-09-18 with total page 529 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Imagine an America where politicians, governmental institutions, schools, new technologies, and interest groups work together to promote informed, engaged citizens. Civic Education in the Twenty-First Century brings together scholars from various disciplines to show how such a United States is possible today. Inspired by Alexis de Tocqueville’s analysis of American democracy in the early 1800s, this edited volume represents a multidimensional evaluation of civic education in its new and varied forms. While some lament a civics crisis in America today, Civic Education in the Twenty-First Century raises hope that we can have an informed and active citizenry. We find the activities of a number of politicians, government institutions, schools and interest groups as promising developments in the struggle to educate and engage Americans in their democracy. New technologies and new innovations in civic education have laid the foundation for a revitalized American civic ecology. With Civic Education in the Twenty-First Century, we call for the United States to make these practices less isolated and more common throughout the county. The volume is broken into three major sections. First there are four chapters exploring the history and philosophical debates about civic education, particularly with respect to its role in America’s educational institutions. Then, the second section provides seven groundbreaking inquiries into how politicians and political institutions can promote civic education and engagement through their routine operations. As some examples, this section explores how politicians through campaigns and judiciaries through community programs enhance civic knowledge and encourage civic engagement. This section also explores how new technologies like the Internet and social media are increasingly used by government institutions and other entities to encourage a more politically informed and engaged citizenry. Finally, the third section contains six chapters that explore programs and practices in higher education that are enhancing civic education, engagement and our knowledge of them. From the virtual civics campus of Fort Hayes State to citizens’ academies throughout the country, this section shows the possibilities for schools today to once again be civics actors and promoters.
Download or read book The First Freedoms and America s Culture of Innovation written by Narain D. Batra and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2013-10-18 with total page 251 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a book about the dynamics of the aspirational society. It explores the boundaries of permissible thought--deviations and transgressions that create constant innovations. When confronted with a problem, an innovative mind struggles and brings forth something distinctive--new ideas, new inventions, and new programs based on unconventional approaches to solve the problem. But this can be done only if the culture creates large breathing spaces by leaving people alone, not as a matter of state generosity but as something fundamental in being an American. Consequently, the Constitutional mandate of “Congress shall make no law…” has encouraged fearless speech, unrestrained thought, and endless experimentation leading to newer developments in science, technology, the arts, and not least socio-political relations. Most of all, the First Freedoms liberate the mind from irrational fears and encourage an environment of divergent thinking, non-conformity, and resistance to a collective mindset. The First Freedoms encourage Americans to be iconoclastic, to be creatively crazy, to be impure, thus, enabling them to mix and re-mix ideas to design new technologies and cultural forms and platforms, anything from experimental social relations and big data explorations to electing our first black president.
Download or read book The Future of Democracy written by Peter Levine and published by Tufts University Press. This book was released on 2015-01-06 with total page 434 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We need young people to be civically engaged in order to define and address public problems. Their participation is important for democracy, for institutions such as schools, and for young people themselves, who are more likely to succeed in life if they are engaged in their communities. In The Future of Democracy, Peter Levine, scholar and practitioner, sounds the alarm: in recent years, young Americans have become dangerously less engaged. They are tolerant, patriotic, and idealistic, and some have invented such novel and impressive forms of civic engagement, as blogs, "buycott" movements, and transnational youth networks. But most lack the skills and opportunities they need to participate in politics or address public problems. Levine's timely manifesto clearly explains the causes, symptoms, and repercussions of this damaging trend, and, most importantly, the means whereby America can confront and reverse it. Levine demonstrates how to change young people's civic attitudes, skills, and knowledge and, equally importantly, to reform our institutions so that civic engagement is rewarding and effective. We must both prepare citizens for politics and improve politics for citizens.
Download or read book Archaeology as a Tool of Civic Engagement written by Barbara J. Little and published by Rowman Altamira. This book was released on 2007 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Little and Shackel use case studies from different regions across the world to challenge archaeologists to create an ethical public archaeology that is concerned not just with the management of cultural resources, but with social justice and civic responsibility.
Download or read book Civic Imagination written by Gianpaolo Baiocchi and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-11-17 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Civic Imagination provides a rich empirical description of civic life and a broader discussion of the future of democracy in contemporary America. Over the course of a year, five researchers observed and participated in 7 civic organisations in a mid-sized US city. They draw on this ethnographic evidence to map the 'civic imaginations' that motivate citizenship engagement in America today. The book unpacks how contemporary Americans think about and act toward positive social and political change while the authors' findings challenge contemporary assertions of American apathy. This will be an important book for students and academics interested in political science and sociology.
Download or read book Civic Work Civic Lessons written by Thomas Ehrlich and published by University Press of America. This book was released on 2013-07-11 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Civic Work, Civic Lessons explains how and why people of all ages, and particularly young people, should engage in public service as a vocation or avocation. Its authors are 57 years apart in age, but united in their passion for public service, which they term “civic work.” The book provides unique intergenerational perspectives. Thomas Ehrlich spent much of his career in the federal government. Ernestine Fu started a non-profit organization at an early age and then funded projects led by youth. Both have engaged in many other civic activities. An introductory chapter is followed by seven key lessons for success in civic work. Each lesson includes a section by each author. The sections by Ehrlich draw mainly from his experiences. Those by Fu draw on her civic work and that of many young volunteers whom the co-authors interviewed. The concluding chapter focuses on leveraging technologies for civic work. All profits received by the authors from the sale of this book will be donated to philanthropic organizations.
Download or read book Varieties of Civic Innovation written by Jennifer Girouard and published by Vanderbilt University Press. This book was released on 2014-12-22 with total page 387 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this collection of original essays, empirical analysts and theorists across disciplines turn a critical eye to a variety of recent institutional forms and styles of innovation. They examine lived reality and theoretical underpinning, promise and accomplishment, but also the pitfalls and capacity-building challenges that face virtually all attempts to bring citizen voice, knowledge, and skill to the center of public problem solving. Their analyses are both hopeful and hard-headed and are guided by commitments to help understand appropriate fit and realistic sustainability. Cases include face-to-face deliberation, online networking and citizen journalism, policy forums, and community and stakeholder planning sessions across local, state and federal contexts. Policy issues run a broad gamut from community and regional economic development and environmental sustainability to minority rights and gay marriage.
Download or read book Civic Engagement and Politics written by Information Resources Management Association and published by Information Science Reference. This book was released on 2019 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Creating transparency between government and citizens through outreach and engagement initiatives is critical to promoting community development and is also an essential part of a democratic society. This can be achieved through a number of methods including public policy, urban development, artistic endeavors, and digital platforms. Civic Engagement and Politics: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications is a vital reference source that examines civic engagement practices in social, political, and non-political contexts. As the world is now undergoing a transformation, interdisciplinary collaboration, participation, community-based participatory research, partnerships, and co-creation have become more common than focused domains. Highlighting a range of topics such as social media and politics, civic activism, and public administration, this multi-volume book is geared toward government officials, leaders, practitioners, policymakers, academicians, and researchers interested in active citizen participation and politics.
Download or read book Urban Environmental Stewardship and Civic Engagement written by Dana R. Fisher and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-02-11 with total page 127 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Once considered the antithesis of a verdant and vibrant ecosystem, cities are now being hailed as highly efficient and complex social ecological systems. Emerging from the streets of the post-industrial city are well-tended community gardens, rooftop farms and other viable habitats capable of supporting native flora and fauna. At the forefront of this transformation are the citizens living in the cities themselves. As people around the world increasingly relocate to urban areas, this book discusses how they engage in urban stewardship and what civic participation in the environment means for democracy. Drawing on data collected through a two-year study of volunteer stewards who planted trees as part of the MillionTreesNYC initiative in the United States, this book examines how projects like this can make a difference to the social fabric of a city. It analyses quantitative survey data along with qualitative interview data that enables the volunteers to share their personal stories and motivations for participating, revealing the strong link between environmental stewardship and civic engagement. As city governments in developed countries are investing more and more in green infrastructure campaigns to change the urban landscape, this book sheds light on the social importance of these initiatives and shows how individuals’ efforts to reshape their cities serve to strengthen democracy. It draws out lessons that are highly applicable to global cities and policies on sustainability and civic engagement.
Download or read book Emerging Techniques and Applications for Blended Learning in K 20 Classrooms written by Kyei-Blankson, Lydia and published by IGI Global. This book was released on 2019-10-04 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many learning options are possible in education, from traditional to blended/hybrid to fully online. Of the three delivery formats, the blended mode, which involves the fusion of online and traditional face-to-face instruction and learning activities, is considered to have the greatest potential to provide the best learning environment. As blended learning continues to evolve and expand, it is important that information regarding what constitutes the ideal combination of online and traditional pedagogical strategies in blended education and at all levels is illuminated and shared. Emerging Techniques and Applications for Blended Learning in K-20 Classrooms is an academic publication that focuses on pedagogical strategies and technologies that have been successfully employed by educators in blended instruction. In addition, the student outcomes from the use of these techniques are presented. Covering a wide range of topics such as gamification, civic education, and critical thinking, this book is essential for academicians, administrators, educators, instructors, researchers, instructional designers, curriculum developers, principals, early childhood educators, higher education faculty, and students.
Download or read book A Civic Technologist s Practice Guide written by Cyd Harrell and published by . This book was released on 2020-09-03 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
