Respect is the foundation of a strong democracy and the core of good governance. Respect for other people’s lives and respect for each other, regardless of our differences. Respect starts with civility, and several state municipal leagues are creating civility guides for communities, including the Municipal Association of South Carolina, whose civility initiative is linked here. Speaking of respect, the 2023 All-America County of Davie County, North Carolina's Respect Initiative encourages and highlights youth respect projects and ideas.

Civic Journalism: New and Improved Local News

The Necessity of Disaster Preparedness Plans

Reflections: 2023 Frontiers of Democracy Conference

Sadly, hundreds of newspapers and other local news sources have closed in the past couple of decades. The good news is that many communities are seeing the emergence of new sources of local news, and many of these new sources are focusing on the positive, not following the long-held news criteria of “if it bleeds, it leads.”

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Natural disasters can happen anywhere, at any time. Fires, earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, and hurricanes are all occurring more frequently and with more veracity. Sharkey County, MS is recovering from tornado damage and is also creating a county-wide emergency management system that is equitable and can hold up in the face of the next disaster.

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The theme of the Frontiers of Democracy conference was Religious Pluralism and Robust Democracy in Multiracial Societies. The League’s Center for Democracy Innovation attended the conference with a focus on joining a session about the emergence, successes & failures of the Deliberative Democracy Consortium over a 20 year period. Read more.

Scott Warren's AAC Keynote Address

National Civic Review:

Summer Edition

Webinar: Harnessing the Power of Engaged Youth

Scott Warren, founder of Generation Citizen and a fellow at the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University, participated in the All-America City Award Event as both a juror and a keynote speaker. In his opening ceremony remarks, Scott stressed the importance of youth involvement and gave practical tips for engaging with young people in authentic and meaningful ways. 

Watch here.

The summer issue of the National Civic Review features insights on innovations and new roles for journalists and artists in engaging the public and strengthening American democracy. The summer issue was published in collaboration with the Kettering Foundation. To access this edition, go to the table of contents where you will be prompted to enter the access code: NCL23. 

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Last month's promising practices webinar focused on how youth councils are are creating meaningful avenues for youth engagement. Speakers, representing three youth councils from across the country, discussed the traits that effective youth councils share and what cities are doing to make their youth councils an authentic part of the decision-making process.

Watch here.