On the Success of AmeriCorps Programs in Strengthening Communities: Evidence from Florida

In 1993 President Clinton signed into law the National and Community Service Trust Act, the centerpiece of which was a new national service initiative—AmeriCorps. The overall purpose of AmeriCorps was to promote community building through volunteer service. AmeriCorps was one high-profile program established in part to highlight government-nonprofit partnerships and their capacity to improve communities and service delivery to the most vulnerable in communities—poor children, frail elderly, and teenagers who are at risk of dropping out of school or getting into serious juvenile delinquency problems. AmeriCorps' programs nationally work to achieve three goals—Getting Things Done, Member Development, and Strengthening Communities. Few of the studies on AmeriCorps have explicitly studied their impact on community strengthening. This article reports on a two-year study of twenty two AmeriCorps programs in Florida from 1997–2000, emphasizing their objectives and success in community strengthening. Program results are limited. The programs increased the number of volunteers delivering their services and developed one or more community partner organizations at each site. Nearly all of the program staff and community partners believed that the AmeriCorps programs positively influenced the community's self-help capacity to some extent. However, data indicating broader community strengthening impacts were hard to find and difficult to track. Reasons for this relatively modest impact on broader community strengthening goals are articulated based on surveys, interviews, and site visits.     

The Politics of History and the “War of Monuments” in Estonia

Early commentators on the newly independent Belarusian state of the 1990s indicated that there was something lacking in Belarusian identity. The people did not seem to respond powerfully to the new symbols of the state, use of the national language intermingled with Russian, and economic concerns appeared to trump popular concerns with promoting Belarusian language or culture. Other former Soviet states were embracing ethnic national ideals, and as such, many assumed that Belarus should follow a similar path. However, as an examination of the history of the Belarusian territory demonstrates, a national ideal based on ethnicity was problematic in Belarusian society, and as such, the ethnic notions of Belarusian identity forwarded by some Belarusian elites failed to appeal to the masses. Instead, Belarus seems better suited to a more inclusive civic identity than an exclusive ethnic one. This research examines the nature of contemporary Belarusian identity, with particular attention to the civic versus ethnic aspects of that identity. We argue that although Belarusian identity is obviously in flux and subject to heavy debate, it is currently demonstrating more civic aspects than ethnic ones. This finding is based on original survey data obtained in Belarus in 2009 and 2010.     

Citizenship,nation-building and diversity: What is the role of the media in all this?

Abstract

This article explores concepts and discourses regarding citizenship, nation-building and civic solidarity in particular with regard to diverse societies. Attention is given to diverging viewpoints on nation-building and different models on how civic solidarity could be achieved in heterogeneous societies. A distinction is made between Jacobinistic and syncretistic approaches to nation-building and citizenship, as well as between constitutional patriotism, liberal nationalism and deep diversity as models for achieving feelings of belonging, patriotism and social cohesion in heterogeneous societies. Nation-building in Africa and South Africa – and the implications thereof for sub-national groups – are furthermore considered. The role of the media in nation-building, on the one hand, and the accommodation of diversity, on the other, are also considered. The article ends with conclusions and recommendations on the role of the media in promoting discourses on diversity.     

A Review Of: “Freaks Talk Back: Tabloid Talk Shows and Sexual Nonconformity”, “The Money Shot: Trash,Class, and the Making of TV Talk Shows” and “Talking Trash: The Cultural Politics of Daytime TV Talk Shows”

We predict that the Internet will have little effect on political interest, efficacy, and knowledge. We use American National Election Survey monthly panel survey data from 2008 to 2010 to test the role of the Internet. We exploit the fact that the firm who conducted the survey—Knowledge Networks—gives out Internet access for free to those who have never had the Internet before in staggered waves, allowing us to create a novel control-waitlist research design. This allows us to analyze the quasi-random assignment of the Internet to new users for a period of nine months compared to a group that has not yet been given free Internet access. We find that nine months of Internet usage does not increase political interest, political efficacy, or political knowledge. An additional wave done after two and a half years of access also shows little change. Our findings thereby raise serious doubts about the previous observational findings of the benefits of Internet usage for political interest, efficacy, and knowledge.     

The social factory of democracy in underdeveloped Spain

This article aims to analyse the contribution made by Christian movements towards constructing a democratic citizenship in an authoritarian context in the backward province of Albacete. Our study attempts to analyse the efforts made by grassroots Catholic sectors to foster democratic enclaves free from the interference of the Francoist state in 1960s and 1970s Spain. These alternative social spaces enabled new habits of civil resistance that confronted the socio-cultural hegemony of authoritarian values. As a result, throughout these years, various social groups started to challenge the sense of the regime's impregnable unity. This grassroots experience with the “power of the powerless” laid the foundations for negotiations among the political elites during the transition to democracy in Spain.     

写好民生新闻 增强媒体吸引力

民生新闻本着贴近群众、贴近实际、贴近生活的原则,创新观念、创新思维,不断满足广大人民群众的诉求和愿望,实现自身又好又快的发展。     

Sponsored study abroad and civic engagement in Kyrgyzstan

ABSTRACT

The article explores whether study abroad programmes sponsored by multilateral and bilateral development organizations and private philanthropic foundations promote civic engagement of their alumni upon their return to their home country. The article focuses on the case of Kyrgyzstan, which has had a number of international study abroad scholarship programmes since its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. The research was exploratory and utilized in-depth interviews for collecting data.

In agreement with the literature, the research found that the alumni of scholarship programmes had experienced changes in their values and worldviews as a result of being exposed to a new environment but also of having a formalized study programme that enabled them to critically reflect on their own country and culture and to expand their knowledge in the new context. These changes prompted most participants in the research to be civically engaged in the social and political issues of their society in their home country through voluntarism. Importantly, the article expands the literature by arguing that this civic engagement has positive implications for the development of civil society and democratic values and practices in Kyrgyzstan.     

Marks on the city: the impacts of coastline emergence and bombing on Tallinn’s anachronistic pockets

ABSTRACT

With its complex history, Tallinn is a puzzling patchwork of contrasts – old and new, historic and revisionist. Tallinn’s abrupt contrasts in urban form originate largely from two types of historic disturbance: shoreline emergence and bombing. Through an analysis of archival maps and planning documents, this paper examines how natural shifts in the city’s shoreline combined with bombing during World War II to create anachronistic pockets within Tallinn and divergent densities and access to green space within Tallinn’s districts. Little is written in English about the history of Tallinn’s urban development. This paper analyzes Tallinn’s history of disturbance and poses challenges and opportunities to consider in the city’s future development.     

Activists’ Perceptions of their Roles in Civic Organizations: A Case from Poland

This article presents a typology of meanings which Polish activists attribute to their roles in Polish organizations of civil society. The main object of interest is the social identity of activists which emerges through the process of engagement in an organization. After analysing interviews with members of organizations, six ways of playing the role of an activist were distinguished. First of all, it turns out that most activists understand their role as a particular job. However, it is also equated with being an expert. Further meanings emerging from the interviews link such activism with being a representative and having a task to fulfil. Finally, there is also a definition which is shared by those who treat their activism as an inherent part of their lives. It is often connected with perceiving it as a particular kind of sociability. The findings of this study point out the professionalization of civil society organizations.     

1987年以来韩国NGO与政府关系

本文以韩国1987年以来的政治民主化转型为背景,通过观察NGO与政府关系的变迁过程,探讨民主化进程中NGO的状况及其对政治民主化、国家与社会关系的塑造功能,以期为准确理解和把握韩国民主政治的转型与发展以及NGO的功能和价值提供新的解读视角和阐释空间。