A new report shows that Illinois citizens are disappointed, frustrated and disillusioned by recent political scandals and the pressures of the recession. The report, co-sponsored and funded by the Chicago-based McCormick Foundation and the McCormick Freedom Project, reveals a badly fractured civic culture, with Illinois ranking 40th in the nation. The study also found that young people in Illinois are significantly less engaged than those in other states.
The Corporation for National and Community Service released a Notice of Federal Funds Availability (NOFA) for the newly-created Social Innovation Fund (SIF). Applications are due by April 8, 2010, 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
The SIF, authorized by the 2009 Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, is specifically designed to: Promote public and private investments in effective nonprofit community organizations to help them replicate and expand to serve more low-income communities; create new knowledge about how to solve critical social challenges; and develop the grantmaking infrastructure necessary to support the work of social innovation in communities across the country.
Most measures of Arizona’s civic health lag those for the rest of the nation according to a report released today by the Center for the Future of Arizona and the National Conference on Citizenship. The study, entitled the "Arizona Civic Health Index," provides a detailed look at the serious disconnect between Arizona citizens, their elected leaders and their neighbors. The study also identifies opportunities for improving the state’s civic health.
The Missouri Civic Health Index is the first of its kind and is designed to help the state document the health of Missouri’s civic sector. It finds that while Missouri out-performs national trends for volunteering, community engagement and voter turnout, some forms of civic involvement, such as one-on-one interactions with neighbors, may be waning.
The North Carolina Civic Health Index 2010 indicates that North Carolina has the potential to flex its civic might, but there are serious gaps in civic participation that are cause for concern. North Carolina’s young people—the future leaders of our state and our communities—are the least civically engaged of any age group in North Carolina. Without civic engagement among young people, the civic health of the state lies in the balance.
The Virginia Civic Health Index examines voter turnout and other measures of civic engagement, such as volunteering, attending public meetings and donating to charitable causes. The trends among Virginia’s youth are generally discouraging – but show a few bright spots – leading the institutions to call for more and better civics education.
The good news is, Ohio has strong assets in its community leaders and the state ranks first in the nation for its leadership rate of civic-minded people serving as officers or committee members in community groups and associations. The bad news is, Ohioans have modified their civic behavior, and their community life and sense of belonging have been affected by unemployment and the foreclosure crisis.
Released as part of a major collaboration, part of a major collaboration, the Missouri Civic Health Index reveals how Missouri residents engage in important civic activities such as voting, volunteering, and interacting with neighbors. This type of engagement is critical because it is linked to the economic and personal health of individuals and communities.
Mayor Vincent C. Gray, Serve DC and the National Conference on Citizenship announced the release of the first–ever District of Columbia Civic Health Index, which reveals how District residents engage in key civic activities, such as voting, volunteering and interacting with neighbors.
With the 2014 general election just 13 months away and voter registration numbers at an all-time low, hundreds of volunteers took to Chicagoland streets Tuesday to mark National Voter Registration Day in an effort to get as many new voters on the rolls as possible.
Planning for Stronger Local Democracy is a new guide from DDC and the National League of Cities. It is intended for local leaders of all kinds – traditional or nontraditional, established or emerging. It is designed to help them use the lessons we’ve learned about engagement, take stock of the strengths and weaknesses of democratic governance in their communities, and formulate a comprehensive, sustainable, long–term strategy for vitalizing public life.
Mickey Edwards served Oklahoma and America for 16 years in the United States Congress and currently directs the Rodel Fellowships at the Aspen Institute. He is the author of a new book, “The Parties Versus the People: How to Turn Republicans and Democrats into Americans.” NCoC’s Kristen Cambell chatted with him recently about the state of politics in our country—how we got into what he believes is a dysfunctional system, and what can be done to correct this moving forward.