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The Communitarian Update
Number 20
August 4, 1999
Government of the Parties, by the Interest Groups, and for the Media Fewer than
40% of Americans agree that the U.S. government is "of the people, by the people,
and for the people." One third of those surveyed said they feel connected to the
government, while two thirds said they do not feel connected to it, according to
a July poll by the Council for Excellence in Government.
Campus Citizenship
Cynicism about government is spreading among college students, as well. But it
is being met with an innovative response: Fifty-one college and university presidents
affiliated with a coalition called Campus Compact have issued a "Declaration on the
Civic Responsibility of Higher Education." The presidents want to assess the current
level of civic engagement on campus, and inspire students to become active members of
society. Voting, political activism, and other forms of participation will be emphasized
Appeal to Hollywood
Concerned about kids & entertainment violence? You can add your name to a major bipartisan
"Appeal to Hollywood," that calls for a communitarian solution-- a voluntary code of
conduct for the entertainment industry. The Appeal is cosponsored by the Institute for
Communitarian Policy Studies. Visit www.media-appeal.org, to read the full text of the
appeal, and see the list of distinguished signers. They include: former Presidents Jimmy
Carter and Gerald Ford, Generals Colin Powell and Norman Schwarzkopf, Nobel Peace Prize
winner Elie Wiesel, Senators Lieberman, Brownback, Conrad, Bailey Hutchison, and McCain,
Communitarian Network founder Amitai Etzioni, as well as entertainers Steve Allen, Naomi
Judd, and over 1,000 others. The site includes an on-line signing form.
Contentment with our Communities is Rising
Sixty-six percent of respondents to a recent study rated their communities as "excellent"
or "very good" places to live. A similar survey in February 1997 reported that fifty-six
percent of Americans were satisfied with their communities.
What Standard?
A cartoon in the August 2 issue of The Weekly Standard features the following exchange.
Woman: "Women have finally gotten past the glass ceiling," Man: (looking upward through
the glass ceiling) "Hey! You can see up her dress."
Privacy Discussions
- Privacy and Community, American Sociological Association Annual Meeting. Hilton Palmer
House in Chicago, Monday, August 9 at 12:30pm. Chair: Amitai Etzioni, panel: Gary Marx,
University of Colorado, Boulder; Susan Silbey, Wellesley College; Steven Nock, University
of Virginia; and Nancy Reichman, University of Denver.
- Genetic Testing, Privacy, & Employment Discrimination, Academy of Management Conference.
Hyatt, Chicago, Monday, August 9 at 2:30. Chair: Cliff Cheng, University of Southern
California, panel: David Hyatt, DeCottis Erhard Strategic Consultants; Amitai Etzioni;
Dianna Stone, University of Central Florida.
New Publications
Community Justice: An Emerging Field (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 1998) David R.
Karp, editor. This second printing assembles seminal articles on community justice along
with several ethnographic accounts of community justice in practice.
The Community Justice Idea (Westview, 1999) by Todd R. Clear & David R. Karp. The authors
set forth a comprehensive plan for increasing public involvement in criminal justice.
Private Action and the Public Good (Yale Press, 1998) Walter S. Powell & Elisabeth S.
Clemens, editors. An original collection of essays that explore the nature of the public
good and how private non-profit organizations relate to it.
The Company of Neighbours: Revitalizing Community Through Action-Research (University of
Toronto Press, 1999) by C. Kenneth Banks & J. Marshall Mangan. The documentation of a
community revitalization project implemented by the authors in Hespeler, Ontario.
To Serve and Protect: Privatization and Community in Criminal Justice (NYU Press, 1998)
by Bruce L. Benson for The Independent Institute. Examines the causes for the success
and failure of historical and modern criminal justice systems- viewing criminal justice
as a market system.
Congratulations to . . .
Michael Bocian, a "graduate" of the Communitarian Network. He recently received an M.A.
from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, and is now working as a project director
for Axiom Research Company, a public opinion and market research polling firm in Cambridge.
The Communitarian Update is compiled by Andrew S. Becker. Send RELEVANT news items to
comnet@gwu.edu. Please consider forwarding the Update to others who may be interested.
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