The decline in traditional methods of civic engagement is a cause for concern in many Western democracies. Similarly, studies of American party politics point to a transformation from locally-based volunteer organizations to national ones assisting candidate-centered, professionally-run campaigns, leaving little room for volunteer participants. This thesis analyses the recent resurgence of grassroots participation and organization in the United States. Using interpretive methods, I present a study of grassroots participants in Massachusetts Democratic Party primary campaigns in 2006. Primary documents, interviews with volunteers and paid members of field staff, and observations of canvassing work all detail the personal and organizational contexts of participation, illuminating the meanings individuals found in campaign work. Grassroots participation takes place in a loosely organized set of candidate-based campaigns, local party committees, and civic spheres. When participants first engage in this environment, they become socialized into a community with learned norms, practices, and ways of knowing. While those interviewed shared some of the motivations of party activists in previous studies, the motives and beliefs described by both professional organizers and volunteers were less policy focused than expected, and blurred the distinction between ideological and social categories. Indeed, while organizers and volunteers build distinct identities through their campaign participation, they share many more similarities than the literature on activism and professionalism in parties would suggest. Participants also serve a crucial role as translators between party elites and their fellow citizens, with important implications for linkage and the problem of decoupling. Rather than a return to traditional methods and structures of political engagement, the participants observed take part in and are building communities which have much in common with new forms of non-traditional participation. These findings contribute to the development of party organization theories and point towards the need for greater dialogue between scholars of party politics, organizational studies, and civic engagement.

Bad Poetry and Other Short Stories is a collection of social, political, and religious commentary. The last three stories are also commentary from a non-fiction perspective.

This project responds to the question: How do communication educators encourage students to enact the communicative practices necessary for a life of rhetorically engaged civic action? In responding to this question, the academic field of communication studies is recognized as a site for implementing the lessons of rhetoric, democracy, and civic engagement. This project contributes to the civic engagement scholarship from a communication studies perspective by foregrounding human communication as an essential component of the civic engagement process. As an interpretive inquiry, the philosophical thought and the pragmatic action of twentieth-century rhetorician and social activist Jane Addams (1860-1935) provides a hermeneutic entrance point for identifying and understanding the ways in which faculty members in higher education might conduct service-learning in a more responsive and engaged manner. <br> Practicing situated communicative service-learning, a pedagogical approach that embraces the historical moment and the challenges facing service-learning on today's college campus, provides one possibility. Addams's philosophical thought and communicative practices inform the integration of situated communicative service-learning into the communication studies field and college campus through the understanding of commonplace stemming from the Greek understanding of topoi (Aristotle). This praxis-centered approach to service-learning provides ground for students to understand the rhetorical and communicative practices necessary for a life of engaged civic action. By grounding individual communicative practices in a communication classroom setting, communicative habits can grow and flourish in communities. / McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts; / Communication and Rhetorical Studies / PhD; / Dissertation;

Regionalistic Issues in textbooks of Civic Education after 1989 Summary This thesis focuses on civic education textbooks in the period after 1989 to the present. It includes recapitulation of the development of civic education as school subject and of the regional approach too. Contains a list of all the civics textbooks authorized the Ministry of Education for use in primary schools and grammar schools, including textbooks for pupils with special educational needs. The main topic of this thesis is to analyze the status of regionalist curriculum in basic education, while focusing on the 2nd degree and equivalent years of grammar school. In this context, it recapitulated the last major curriculum change in the Czech education system in the form of general educational program with emphasis on the status of regionalist curriculum. The last purpose of the work and its practical aspect is the identification and analysis of the historical homeland of the current contents of civics textbooks, its comparison with the current state of historical knowledge and pointing out the frequent historical inaccuracies and stereotypes, which are topics of regional history in the historical content of the curriculum of civics occur. The conclusion is devoted to recommendations which will be used in the creation of civics textbooks.

Resume Establishment and development of NGOs in the 90's of the 20th century meant the development of the civic associations as an integral part of the nonprofit sector. Civic associations are associations of citizens to use common activities and interests. These activities can be sport, culture (theater), leisure time activities (Sudoku game) or any other leisure activity. The aim of my work hasn't been focusing on the appearance and disappearance of civic associations, but my job was to describe the basic tax obligations. Tax obligations of civic associations are derived depending on what specific activities the association is engaged. Regardless, civic associations are always tax payers of tax on corporate income (income tax of legal person). This obligation arises from the registration of civic associations on the Ministry of Interior and from any operation. The tax applies to entities based in the Czech Republic. Incomes are taxed from the resources of the Czech Republic and abroad. For sources from abroad is necessary to follow the tax laws and tax liability abroad. Foreign incomes are affected by agreements for the avoidance of double taxation. Not all income is subject to income tax of legal person, if it is labeled as income, may be exempt from the law. These incomes can be divided into income...

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction / Margaret Gail Shroyer / Thomas S. Vontz / A foundational mission of our public schools is dedicated to preserving a democratic republic dependent on a literate and actively engaged citizenry. Civic literacy is essential to supporting the rights and responsibilities of all citizens in a democratic society. Civic knowledge is the foundation of our citizens’ civic literacy. National Standards for Civics and Government (Center for Civic Education,1994) promote civic literacy for all students including elementary children. Therefore, understanding important civic concepts is essential knowledge for elementary educators. Civic knowledge has not been required or monitored in teacher preparation or licensure. At the time of this study, there were no comprehensive measures of elementary teachers’ civic knowledge. The purpose of this study was to investigate a project funded by the Center for Civic Education that developed a Civic Knowledge Inventory (CKI) for elementary teachers using a Delphi technique. Specifically, this study analyzed the use of a Delphi process to identify major civic constructs elementary teachers should know and to create a valid and reliable measure of elementary teachers’ knowledge of these selected civic constructs. The Delphi technique engaged eight anonymous civic scholars to work together via the Internet. Through rounds of input and feedback they identified important civic knowledge that elementary teachers should know and created a multiple-choice measurement tool aligned to these constructs. In final analysis, the Delphi panelists collectively created a map of civic concepts that included: Constitutionalism, Representative Democracy, Citizenship, Human Rights, Civic Society, Market Economy and Examples of Non-Democracy as essential constructs accompanied by an outline of related sub-concepts and elements. This outline was then used to design, improve, and ultimately select the best test items for each construct. An item analysis was completed on data produced by 89 volunteer pre-service elementary teachers to identify high performing items to be included in the CKI. Therefore, the CKI could be used to examine the extent to which teacher preparation programs adequately prepare elementary teachers to be civic educators and thus guide teacher preparation as well as related professional development initiatives.

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Jason Brody / It is easier for users to say that they frequent a park because they like the greenery than to say instead, that a park offers opportunities to meet or watch other people (Marcus, 1998).One of the main reasons people visit parks is to engage in both overt and covert social interaction (Gehl, 2010). Many people desire the opportunity to interact with others as a means of fulfilling their social well-being, but it is often unattainable in a civic space due to the lack of activities that promote social interaction. The lack of activities is specifically relevant in and around Washington Square Park, primarily due to a series of physical and social dilemmas the site faces. Washington Square Park is an underused civic space that has the potential to establish itself as a social civic anchor for downtown Kansas City, Missouri. Developing Washington Square Park into a civic space that promotes social interaction will help to achieve this potential. It will also help to bridge the gap with the current physical and social dilemmas that hinder the space. Through a process of literature review, precedent studies, and site analysis, project goals were established. To achieve these goals a set of design interventions were formed to address the physical and social dilemmas in and around the site. These interactions will then inform a final design for Washington Square Park that promotes a healthier lifestyle through social interaction for the users of the site.

The thesis will analyze the current state of life sports club TJ Handball Jindrichuv Hradec, with an emphasis on economic, organizational and internal and external social aspects. Based on the findings will be formulated recommendations for further development of the sports club.

This study analyzes how civic engagement and collaborative governance can be used to build peace in post-conflict societies. A case study approach is used to examine the presence of civic engagement as a precursor to collaborative governance in the reconstruction of segregated areas in post-conflict Ambon, Indonesia. The study evaluates the effective ways that people were engaged in the multiple processes of reconstruction and assesses the readiness of Ambon to apply collaborative governance in current affairs. It finds that collaborative governance can be applied to public policy processes in segregated societies in post-conflict and can promote inter-society engagement. This study suggests that governments and NGOs in post-conflict areas could use a collaborative governance approach to sustain peace in post-conflict areas. The conclusions recognize that integrating collaborative governance into peace building programs is a crucial element of the peace building process in post-conflict areas, creating a greater likelihood for sustainable peace.

Thesis advisor: Kay Schlozman / Much has been said recently about the decline in both political and non-political civic participation in the United States. Many American religious congregations, however, continue to stand strong as voluntary associations connecting people with the political and civic life in our country. This paper explains the role that religious congregations can play as promoters of civic engagement. Specifically, it describes the mechanisms by which religious congregations can provide what I call civic resources to their members, resources members utilize to participate in other forms of civic activity outside of their congregation. These resources can be broken down into three main categories. Civic skills are the communication and organizational abilities that an individual can draw upon to make participation more effective. Congregations provide opportunities for members to gain experience using such skills when becoming involved in church governance or in organizing church committees to take on special tasks or put on special events. Social infrastructure captures the value of the social networks and organizational resources available to members of a congregation. The tight-knit social community within a church serves as an effective network to spread relevant information or recruit volunteers for any collective activity. Finally, there are a number of psychological resources a congregation can bring to bear on an individual. Oftentimes the religious teachings of congregations encourage members to adopt civic-minded values and attitudes that serve as a strong motivation to participate. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2009. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Political Science Honors Program. / Discipline: College Honors Program. / Discipline: Political Science.