A common lament among civic leaders is the low level of participation in public matters by young people. Indeed, voting turnout among people 18-24 is lower than other age groups. The problem, as described in a recent report, is that we’re using the wrong measures. In fact, young people are quite engaged, and want to make an even bigger difference, but it may not be in the manner that adults label as engagement.

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President, National Civic League

The League Welcomes New Staff and Fellows

Making Engagement Easier for People with Disabilities

Youth Well-Being is Central for Sacramento

The National Civic League recently welcomed Benita Duran to the staff as Director of Equity and Engagement. The League also added two City Council members as Senior Fellows, bringing its total to nine senior fellows. Councilmembers Angela Lawson from Aurora, CO, and David Luna from Mesa, AZ, are the latest editions, enabling the League to provide an ever-expanding range of services. Read more.

People with disabilities are members of every community and play a valuable role as engaged members of those communities. Centering their experience is important to improving the overall civic health of our communities. To do this, it is necessary to understand how people with disabilities experience barriers to civic participation, learn how to ameliorate them, and discover promising practices from invested communities. Read more.

Not every city has a charity walk for literacy, but then, not every city is an All-America City. Sacramento was one of ten cities honored this summer as an All-America City. And, yes, the city has an upcoming Walk4Literacy, together with a culture of youth engagement that has attracted the support of a new assistance effort from the National League of Cities to help youth access quality postsecondary education and career opportunities. Read more. 

2022 Midterm Elections: Participation Guide

Sequim Residents Mobilize for Good Governance

National Civic Review Focuses on Civic Learning

With midterm elections less than three months award, it’s a priority that we ensure a safe, fair, and trustworthy election experience. To support this positive midterm election experience, Citizen Connect created a single web page that presents, clearly and simply, four essential, nonpartisan actions that every American can take to make our 2022 midterms work: Register, Vote, Work the Polls and Get Out The Vote. Access the election participation guide here. 

After their former mayor publicly embraced QAnon, a group of concerned citizens founded a nonpartisan political movement, Sequim Good Governance League, to take back their community from political extremists. The organization formed to promote good governance in Sequim by supporting transparency, reasoned dialogue, and respect for all community members. This Bloomberg City Lab podcast series tells their story.

Civic learning, a key ingredient of democracy, can take a variety of forms and ought to occur in multiple settings. In this issue of NCR, published in collaboration with the Kettering Foundation, we explore some of the successful strategies that educators, librarians, nonprofit groups, debate associations, public agencies, and collaborative partnerships are adopting to provide or encourage effective civic learning. Access Code NCL22 to read.