Effective Citizens' Advisory Committees: A Blueprint for Success


Book Description

Many of the problems faced by local government officials are fairly traditional and can be solved with the application of the right amount of staff time, consultant contracts, or just plain cash. Every so often, however, a complex new problem or opportunity arises that cannot be handled within the scope of the regular set of municipal problem-solving processes. In such instances, citizens’ committees can be a great asset to a local government. Effective Citizens' Advisory Councils: A Blueprint for Success is intended to provide the potential user of a citizens’ committee with a blueprint for establishing a committee that can assist in solving community problems. Case studies illustrate three situations in which citizen groups, with adequate guidance and staffing, managed to resolve controversial issues. Samples are provided for bylaws, meeting agendas, and orientation materials.













Records, Computers, and the Rights of Citizens


Book Description







The Nonprofit Board Answer Book


Book Description

“Think for a moment of the best conversations you’ve had with friends and colleagues. You were honest with one another—not shy about speaking up but relaxed, even if the topic being discussed was serious in nature. That’s the type of conversation The Nonprofit Board Answer Book aims to have with you in the pages that follow. It follows a question-and-answer format, enabling you to quickly find an answer to a burning question you have right now. At the same time, it’s easy to pick up and read straight through, either cover to cover or one section at a time. At the end of each question-and-answer pairing you’ll find suggested action steps. These offer ways to put the information to a practical use on your own board and within your own nonprofit organization. Implementing some of these steps may lead to more questions as you become even more committed to fulfilling your responsibilities as a board member. Remember: behind every good answer lies a good question. So keep asking those questions.”--from the Introduction




Super PACs


Book Description

The passage of Citizens United by the Supreme Court in 2010 sparked a renewed debate about campaign spending by large political action committees, or Super PACs. Its ruling said that it is okay for corporations and labor unions to spend as much as they want in advertising and other methods to convince people to vote for or against a candidate. This book provides a wide range of opinions on the issue. Includes primary and secondary sources from a variety of perspectives; eyewitnesses, scientific journals, government officials, and many others.







Citizen Participation in Planning


Book Description

The author's aim has been to draw together the threads of political and social science and of sub-specialisms within those broad areas of study and to interpret them in the context of urban and regional planning. Consideration is given to various interpretations of decision making in a democracy, to 'representation' and the public interest, to the opportunities for citizen participation in the planning process, to the range of potential participants, their motivation and competence, to the means which may be employed to secure different levels of citizen involvement; and to the impediments to meaningful participation. Therefore this book will contribute to the closing of the existing gap between theory and practice by drawing together a diversity of themes from political science, philosophy and psychology, community theory and regional science, rendering them comprehensible in the context of planning