International Civic Engagement

Let Soldiers Blog, Post YouTube Videos, General Says

From GovExec.com:

By Greg Grant

To compete in the global information war played out on Web sites and e-mail, soldiers in Iraq should upload videos of their experiences in the combat zone to YouTube and post their personal stories online, a top Army general said recently -- a recommendation that appears to run counter to Pentagon policy.

Digital age warfare requires that the Army change its "attitudes and the organizational culture," which has discouraged soldiers from posting to YouTube or blogging, said Army Lt. Gen. William Caldwell in a recent post on the Small Wars Journal Web site.

Insurgents in Iraq frequently post videos of roadside bomb and sniper attacks on Web sites for propaganda purposes. "The first images broadcast become reality to viewers," Caldwell said. "We have to get our images out first." He suggested that unit leaders be given camcorders to document combat operations and daily life.

Full story: http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=39166&dcn=e_gvet

Park University Professor Emeritus Jerzy Hauptmann Passes Away

My mentor, Park University professor emeritus of political science and public administration Jerzy Hauptmann, passed away yesterday afternoon.  See the official University announcement here.

We are working on a tribute web page for Dr. Hauptmann's friends, colleagues and admirers.  Suffice it to say, Dr. Hauptmann influenced greatly the development of our International Center for Civic Engagement.  Fittingly, he wrote the first paper published by the Center, "Toward a Theory of Civic Engagement."

He will be missed...

Combining First-Year Engagement and Civic Engagement

An InsideHigherEd article highlights some speeches at the recent Association of American Colleges and Universities annual meeting in Washington, DC, which my colleagues Laurie DiPadova-Stocks and Kay Barnes attended.

Like other academic institutions, we at Park University are still attempting to grasp what civic engagement means and how it can be applied within the undergraduate and graduate curricula, for traditional students and adult learners, and for traditional classroom and online learners.  Some advocate service-learning as a critical and effective pedagogy, while I tend to take a broader perspective of civic engagement

[Thanks to my colleague Gary Bachman for sharing this article with me.]

Suzanne Morse on Volunteerism for 2008

Today on her Smart Communities blog, Suzanne Morse proposes three general strategies for enhancing volunteerism in the US this year.  She writes:

As we enter this new year, we need clearer goals for what citizens can do, how government can help, and when government needs to get out of the way. Here are some ways that I think we should begin: 1) have all the nonprofit agencies meet and think about ways to make volunteerism easier and more effective in the community. This would be a great convening opportunity for United Ways. Ask the local banks to underwrite the day. 2) Make it clear to your representatives in Washington, DC, that we want Americorps fully funded and operated as the domestic Peace Corps. Our communities needs the talents and wisdom of the young. This program has done great things and could do even more. 3) Let religious organizations be religious organizations. We need to think long and hard about the critical role that religious organizations play in our communities and what the appropriate role by government is in their operation and their funding. That discussion will allow us to think about what a 2008 version of the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives should look like and focus on going forward.

The Age of Ambition

Writing from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the New York Times' Nicholas D. Kristof suggests that social entrepreneurship is replacing political activism as the favored path for young people who want to "change the world."  He writes:

In the ’60s, perhaps the most remarkable Americans were the civil rights workers and antiwar protesters who started movements that transformed the country. In the 1980s, the most fascinating people were entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, who started companies and ended up revolutionizing the way we use technology.

Today the most remarkable young people are the social entrepreneurs, those who see a problem in society and roll up their sleeves to address it in new ways.

Citing Global Economic Instability, UN Predicts 5 Million More Jobless This Year

[courtesy of the UN News Centre]

The United Nations labor agency predicts that economic turbulence resulting from credit market turmoil and rising oil prices could lead to another 5 million people becoming unemployed this year.

That is just one of the key findings the International Labor Office (ILO) released yesterday in its annual Global Employment Trends report, which analyses the impact of factors – ranging from population and economic growth to financial crises – on labor markets.

The report notes that the decrease in growth in developed economies owing to the credit market crisis and higher oil prices had so far been “compensated for in the rest of the world,” especially in Asia, which has witnessed strong economic and job growth.

However, an expected slowdown in growth during 2008 could increase the global unemployment rate to 6.1 per cent, resulting in an increase of at least 5 million unemployed worldwide, the report warns.

The forecast for this year differs from 2007, considered by ILO to be a “watershed year” in that it saw a stabilization of global labor markets with more people in work, some 45 million new jobs and only a small increase in the number of those unemployed, to a total of nearly 190 million worldwide.

“This year’s global jobs picture is one of contrasts and uncertainty,” said ILO Director-General Juan Somavia. “While global growth is annually producing millions of new jobs, unemployment remains unacceptably high and may go to levels not seen before this year.”

He added that although more people are currently employed than ever before, more jobs does not necessarily mean decent jobs. “Too many people, if not unemployed, remain among the ranks of the working poor, the vulnerable or the discouraged.”

According to the ILO, an estimated 487 million workers – or 16.4 per cent of the total – still do not earn enough to surpass the $1 a day poverty line, and 1.3 billion workers (or 43.5 per cent) still live below $2 a day.

“What is apparent is that economic progress doesn’t automatically translate into new and decent jobs,” said Mr. Somavia, emphasizing that “labor market policies must be at the centre of macroeconomic policies to ensure that economic growth is inclusive and that development involves good, decent work.”

Decent work, as defined by the ILO, provides for opportunity and income; rights, voice and recognition; family stability; personal development; and fairness and gender equality.

Interactive Global Economic Data

From the World Bank:

After four years of robust GDP and trade growth, conditions in global financial markets have turned from favorable to less stable and less predictable. Global GDP growth eased to 3.6 percent in 2007 from 3.9 percent in the preceding year, and gains will moderate further in 2008, led by the high-income countries. Importantly, developing countries should provide a modicum of support for trade, such that more adverse global GDP outturns are avoided. Read more

Targeted Health Strategies Necessary to Save Children's Lives - UNICEF

[Courtesy of the UN News Centre]

With some 26,000 children under the age of five dying every day, bolstered strategies are crucial to save lives, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said in its annual flagship report released yesterday which stresses that investing in the health of children and their mothers is both a human rights and development imperative.

While in 1960 approximately 20 million children did not live to see their fifth birthday, that figure dipped below 10 million – to 9.7 million – for the first time in 2006, marking a 60 per cent drop in child mortality rates.

“However, there is no room for complacency,” writes Ann M. Veneman, UNICEF’s Executive Director, in her forward to the 164-page State of the World’s Children 2008 report launched yesterday in Geneva.

She characterized the 9.7 million young lives lost every year as “unacceptable, especially when many of these deaths are preventable,” and appealed for the integration at the community level of essential services for mothers and children.

The new study, which stresses the need for increased access to treatment and avenues of prevention, underscores the impact that simple and affordable measures – including immunization, insecticide-treated bed nets and vitamin A supplements – can have on saving children’s lives.

In spite of progress made in the realm of children’s health, dozens of countries are not on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to reduce child mortality by two thirds by 2015.

“Stepping up investment in health systems will be crucial if we are to meet the child health targets set by the United Nations, but progress can be made even when health systems are weak,” said Margaret Chan, Director-General of the UN World Health Organization (WHO). “Innovative programs in many countries show that an integrated approach where each child is reached with a package of interventions at one time can bring immediate benefits.”

The report – which draws on information from household survey data and materials from partners such as the WHO and the World Bank – urges an approach merging disease-specific initiatives with strengthened national health systems to create a “continuum of care” spanning the household, local clinics and communities, and beyond.

Three-quarters of the 62 countries not making necessary advances towards reaching that target are in Africa. In sub-Saharan Africa, one in every six children dies before his or her fifth birthday, accounting for nearly half of all of the world’s under-five deaths in 2006.

To accelerate progress in curbing child and maternal mortality in Africa and elsewhere, UNICEF, WHO and the World Bank have created a framework that urges more rigorous collection of data for research and evaluation, as well as providing a “continuum of care” by combining disease-specific and nutrition interventions.

In addition, they advocate bolstering health systems, as well as increasing political commitment to integrated health strategies and harmonizing global health programmes and partnerships.

November 5th Coalition

I received two versions of this e-mail yesterday, one from Dani Fisher at the Center for Democracy and Citizenship and the other from Matt Leighninger of the Deliberative Democracy Consortium:

Dear Friend,

Are you tired of the same old politics? So are we.

And so are millions of other Americans, who, polls show, are frustrated by campaigns and politics dominated by mudslinging, sound bites, money, and polarizing partisanship.

But the answer isn't to walk away. More participation is.

We need to put people back into politics. And we need to start now.

The good news is that there's a new national coalition focused on doing just that. It's called the November 5th Coalition, named to send the message that politics and civic engagement isn't just about election. It's about what happens after and between elections. It's about creating what we're calling a new civic politics—one that truly believes in government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

Members of the November 5th Coalition—an all-partisan, grassroots effort—include groups as diverse at the National Civic League, American Association of State Colleges and Universities' American Democracy Project, Mobilize.org, and the Association of Young Americans.

Our Declaration (see full text below) is endorsed by a network of citizens, including former governors William Winter (D-Miss.) and Al Quie (R-Minn.), former civil rights leader Dorothy Cotton, former USA Freedom Corps director John Bridgeland, former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros, and many others.

Already, this group is challenging candidates to rise above needless polarization and talk about how they'll work with all of us, as fellow citizens, to address difficult problems from health care to education reform, from climate change to keeping communities safe.

But we're doing a lot more. And we need your help—and the help of all those who believe politics shouldn't be a spectator sport.

     **What can you do? Here's a few suggestions:**

     • Join others around the country in signing and publicizing the November Fifth Coalition Declaration:

             www.novemberfifth.org/manifesto.html

     • Push out our message of "citizen politics" by writing a letter to the editor, posting a comment on a blog, or calling in to a radio show.

     • Get other people thinking and talking about how to change politics through house meetings, community discussions, or conversations in your congregation, neighborhood, or workplace (see guide on housemeetings at www.novemberfifth.org
      
     • Attend political debates and ask questions that challenge candidates to think differently about their role and working with citizens - see sample questions at www.novemberfifth.org
      
     • **Contribute to the November 5th Coalition
      
     • Tell us what you’re doing in your community by contacting us      citizen@novemberfifth.org.

We believe that we have the momentum, the opportunity, and the power to help make "we the people" the architects and agents of a new democracy. And we hope you'll join us.

     Sincerely,

     Harry Boyte, Elaine Eschenbacher, and Nan Skelton, Center for
     Democracy and Citizenship, University of Minnesota's Humphrey
     Institute of Public Affairs
     Maya Enista, Mobilize.org
     Will Friedman & Alison Kadlec, Center for Advances in Civic
     Engagement, Public Agenda
     Archon Fung, Harvard University
     Chris Gates, Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement
     Cynthia Gibson, Principal, Cynthesis Consulting/Tisch College of
     Public Service & Citizenship, Tufts University
     Joe Goldman, AmericaSpeaks
     Elizabeth Hollander, Tisch College of Public Service &
     Citizenship, Tufts University
     Sandy Heirbacher, National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation
     Matt Leighninger, Deliberative Democracy Consortium
     Peter Levine, CIRCLE (The Center for Information and Research on
     Civic Learning and Engagement)
     Martha McCoy, Study Circles Resource Center
     George Mehaffy, American Democracy Project, AASCU
     Carmen Sirianni, Brandeis University
     Mica Stark, Saint Anselm College
     Max Stephenson, Virginia Tech Center for Policy & Governance

**Full text of the November 5th Coalition Declaration**

Enough is enough. America’s politics should be driven by the priorities of the people, not sound bites, special interest money, partisan gridlock, and polarizing rhetoric.

It is time for a change.

We believe that politics cannot and should not be a spectator sport. No politician, party or ideology will solve America’s mounting problems alone. Only by providing authentic opportunities for the people to be part of the solution can we rebuild trust in our political institutions and create mandates for meaningful action on the critical issues facing our nation.

We challenge candidates and each other to recognize lessons from communities across the nation and around the world where citizens have played vital roles in addressing difficult problems that range from health care to education reform, from keeping communities safe to climate change. We need an outpouring of ideas about how Americans can build on this history, developing skills of working together across divisions of party, faith, race, income, and geography to address common issues. Such work is difficult. But it is crucial.

The November 5th Coalition is an all-partisan alliance committed to civic partnerships that address our biggest challenges. The Coalition is named for the day after the election in 2008 when a new chapter of America’s civic history begins. Wherever the people gather they should be able to ask candidates "November 5th questions" about how they plan to tap the talents of the whole society, instead of posing as superheroes who will solve our problems for us. We will also develop leadership networks and civic policies that can serve as resources for a new administration. We encourage our fellow citizens to join with us in calling on candidates to rise above excessively divisive partisanship and to promote the common good.

We invite all Americans to help us shape a new civic politics that can galvanize the energies of the nation, drawing us from the shopping mall back into the public square. We must renew Abraham Lincoln’s "government of the people, by the people, for the people," to achieve a rebirth of liberty and justice for all in the 21st century.

AoM/IAoM and MELT Paradigm

I received yesterday afternoon a call for papers from the Association of Management and the International Association of Management (AoM/IAoM) for their 2008 annual conference in Amsterdam, October 2-4.  I was intrigued by a reference to the AoM/IAoM "MELT Paradigm," so I visited the AoM/IAoM web site and came across this description:

The AoM/IAoM has created an integrated, networked paradigm know as MELT (Management, Education, Leadership, and Technology) to facilitate a multidisciplinary, global discourse between scientists and practitioners in these disciplines which challenges prevailing assumptions and theories. One of the fundamental issues undergirding MELT is the notion that management, education, leadership, and technology are on the cusp of a paradigm shift.

In MANAGEMENT, the philosophies of Peter Drucker and Edward Deming created during the industrial era continue to drive management practices intended for post-industrial organizations but are becoming dysfunctional in organizations structured as networks of knowledge workers, free agents, and team-based systems.

In EDUCATION, distance education is challenging the pillars of the educational systems from Dewey’s philosophy to the architecture of the brick-and-mortar classroom with students going to the classroom, the faculty acting as the sage on the stage and the very nature of traditional pedagogy which has not changed significantly over centuries.

In LEADERSHIP, the myths of autonomy, control, and omnipotence of the single leader at the apex of the organization are being debunked as followership and the importance of context for organizational survival and fitness are factored into the leadership equation. Leading in an interconnected, adaptive, complex, dynamic environment requires a fundamentally different style of leadership.

In TECHNOLOGY, because of the rapidly changing nature of information and communication technologies, paradigm shifts are more subtle and frequent and seem to take less time to take root since professionals in this domain are used to view change as a constant the drives the future and next innovation.

Taken together, these four domains seen in their political, social, and economic context, provide the framework for many AoM/IAoM activities including the annual conferences, special events, and publications.

We have embarked upon an Unscripted Future Initiative at Park University "to create dynamic learning opportunities to prepare individuals for service in this era of relentless global change."  We will undoubtedly draw upon this paradigm as we develop our framework.