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 The Spring 2004 issue of the National Civic Review, a quarterly journal published by the National Civic League, features four articles on regionalism, two of them addressing the topic of place-based commitment to problem solving, or stewardship. The others discuss leadership and structural questions central to the effective implementation of regional projects. Synopses of the four articles appear below.
The Regional Civic Movement in California, by Nicholas Bollman. Beginning in the mid-1990s, regional collaboratives supported by the James Irvine Foundation - representing both rural and metropolitan interests in California - began meeting to engage each other on issues and experiences on a statewide level. This exchange has enabled them to mobilize state resources more effectively while focusing the attention of local government leaders on regional issues.
The New Home Rule: A Regionalism Alternative, Supplement or Distraction? by John O'Looney. Radical assertion of traditional home rule has fueled the local government fragmentation that currently frustrates regional cooperation. Can home rule be modified in ways that facilitate regional coordination of effort and curb use-by-right development that threatens shared resources?
Structures Matter, But Leadership Matters More: The Practice of Politics in a Fragmented Region, by Mara A. Marks. The urgency of regional problems in Southern California has prompted numerous structural reform proposals. The trick to introducing new institutions and procedures, however, is convincing citizens that the prosperity of their communities depends on that of neighboring communities, implying a challenge of leadership and salesmanship.
The Rise of the New Civic Revolutionaries: Answering the Call to Stewardship in Our Times, by Doug Henton, John Melville and Kim Walesh. During the two centuries since adoption of the U.S. Constitution, our intergovernmental system has evolved to meet new challenges, both fiscal and functional. At the dawn of the 21st century, our federal-state-local partnership must undertake the task of accommodating regions.
To download an Acrobat-compatible file containing the fourth article by Henton et al., click on the button below. For more information on the National Civic League, to obtain a copy of the Spring 2004 issue of the National Civic Review or to subscribe to the Review, visit the website www.ncl.org.
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