Civic Participation and Politics
EPN's Recommended Links

• The Tocqueville Files
• Civic and Public Interest Organizations
• Voting and Elections
• Campaign Finance
• Election News and Voter Information
• Government Resources
• Political Parties
• Political Ideas
• Liberal
• Conservative
• New Technology, Government, and Civic Life
• Professional Associations
• Civic Participation Virtual Library
• Online Bibliographies and Resource Lists
• Online Publications
• Women's Issues

Edited by Paul Starr for the Electronic Policy Network.

Back to Idea Central's Civic Participation Page

THE TOCQUEVILLE FILES

ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE, Democracy in America, full text of the Henry Reeve translation, at the University of Virginia. Key chapters on the role of associations:

• Political Associations in The United States
• C-span announces a project to trace Tocqueville's footsteps through America.

ROBERT PUTNAM ON CIVIC PARTICIPATION

• Robert Putnam, "Bowling Alone" adapted from an article published in the Journal of Democracy January 1995.
• Robert Putnam, "The Prosperous Community: Social Capital and Public Life," The American Prospect no. 13 (Spring 1993): 35-42.
• Robert Putnam, "The Strange Disappearance of Civic America," The American Prospect no. 24 (Winter 1996).

MORE ON ROBERT PUTNAM

• Michael Schudson, "What If Civic Life Didn't Die," The American Prospect no. 25 (March-April 1996).
• Theda Skocpol, "Unravelling From Above," The American Prospect no. 25 (March-April 1996).
• Richard M. Valelly, "Coach-Potato Democracy," The American Prospect no. 25 (March-April 1996).
• Robert Putnam, "Robert Putnam Responds," The American Prospect no. 25 (March-April 1996).
• William A. Galston, "Won't You Be My Neighbor," The American Prospect no. 26 (May-June 1996).
• Alejandro Portes & Patricia Landolt, "The Downside of Social Capital," The American Prospect no. 26 (May-June 1996).
• Nicholas Lemann, "Kicking in Groups," The Atlantic Monthly (April 1996).

CIVIC AND PUBLIC INTEREST ORGANIZATIONS

LISTINGS AND NETWORKS

• Alliance for National Renewal. An alliance of over 100 organizations; useful directory.
• America's Charities. Listings of charities in human services, human rights, health, and education.
• Center for Living Democracy. Ideas on awakening civic virtue.
• Civic Practices Network.
• Essential Information. The Nader network and other public interest groups.
• HandsNet. Social service and activist organizations.
• HandsNet. Social service and activist organizations.
• IGC's Community and Families page
• Jefferson Project. Large, well-organized archive of Web sites on politics and public issues.
• Teledemocracy Action News and Network. Web site for the global democracy movement, which seeks to empower citizens to participate in their political systems.
• WebActive: What's New in Activism Online. Extensive listing of activist Web sites.
• World Citizen Web. An organization to promote human rights and world government.

INDIVIDUAL SITES

• Center for the Common Good.
• Common Cause.
• Democratic Leadership Council/Progressive Policy Institute. Full-text reports and articles, from the publisher of The New Democrat.
• The Foundation for Individual Responsibility and Social Trust
• Institute for the Study of Civic Values. A non-profit organization established in Philadelphia in 1973 to help strengthen America's commitment to our historic civic ideals.
• Labor Beat: creator and distributor of progressive radio and television programs and videos.
• League of Conservation Voters. Ratings of members of Congress on environmental issues.
• League of Women Voters of the U.S.
• National Civic League.
• National Endowment for Democracy. Federally funded private organization for promoting democracy around the world. Publishes Journal of Democracy.
• National Urban League
• Neighborhoods Online: National. Helps neighborhood activists and organizations gain information and resources of use in solving community problems.
• People for the American Way . Combatting intolerance.
• Public Citizen
• Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs).

VOTING AND ELECTIONS

CAMPAIGN FINANCE

• Center For Public Integrity. Reports and data on campaign contributions.
• Center For Responsive Politics. Detailed information on campaign contributions and the links between politics and money.
• The EPN's Campaigns and Elections Page.
• Congressional Accountability Project is a congressional reform group that works on a number of issues, including campaign finance reform.

ELECTION NEWS AND VOTER INFORMATION

• Congressional Voting Record Sampler provides information on votes selected by Project Vote Smart.
• Congressional Quarterly's American Voter '96. News and frequently updated information about candidates.
• CNN/Time AllPolitics. Election and other political news.
• IGC's Voting and Elections page.
• Minnesota E-Democracy. Model for statewide voter information.
• National Issues Convention. Deliberative polling in practice.
• National Issues Forum
• Net Vote 96. Explore and discuss the issues of the 96 campaign.
• NewPolitics. Formerly the Countdown '96 Presidential Election resource.
• Political Web Traveler. Monthly newsletter on web developments of interest to organizations involved in politics and government.
• PoliticsNOW. Recently formed from the merger of Politics USA and Election Line. Provides up-to-the-minute coverage of election results. Tracking polls and other background on national and state races. From the Los Angeles Times, American Political Report, and National Journal.
• Vote Smart Web
• The Almanac of American Politics The National Journal's guide to members of Congress.

GOVERNMENT RESOURCES

• Thomas Library of Congress site that provides detailed legislative information.
• Official Federal Government Web Sites Links to the White House and other Federal agencies.

POLITICAL PARTIES

• Democratic Central, provides a variety of links to the Democratic Party and various liberal sites
• Democratic National Committee
• The Everlasting GOP-Stopper
• Internet Democrats
• The New Party
• Republican National Committee

POLITICAL IDEAS

LIBERAL

• Americans for Democratic Action
• The American Prospect. Extensive materials, parent of the EPN.
• Turn Left...the home of Liberalism. Good selection.

CONSERVATIVE

• Town Hall. The conservative hub.

NEW TECHNOLOGY, GOVERNMENT, AND CIVIC LIFE

• Alliance for Redesigning Government. Project of the National Academy of Public Administration.
• Benton Foundation's Communication Policy Project. Ample materials, communication policy links.
• Center for Civic Networking. Building networks for local civic engagement.
• Center for Democracy and Technology. Public interest lobby on electronic communication, privacy, and related issues.
• Global Ideas Bank. Promotes creative public/civic participation in shaping public discourse.
• Global Suggestion Box. A direct-input electronic worldwide suggestion box.
• Government Technology. Magazine covering technological innovation in the public sector.
• Innovations in American Government Programs. A Ford Foundation program based at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, rewarding creativity and effectiveness by public employees and organizations.
• Morino Institute. Networking to build communities.
• National Conference of State Legislatures.
• National League of Cities.
• National Performance Review. Reinventing government at the federal level.
• Netizen: Hotwired's internet citizen page
• Political Participation Project. An MIT-based site with bibliographic materials and reports.
• USA CityLink Project

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

• Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.

CIVIC PARTICIPATION VIRTUAL LIBRARY

ONLINE BIBLIOGRAPHIES AND RESOURCE LISTS

• Center for the Study of Online Communities, a site maintained by Peter Kollock and Marc Smith at UCLA
• Political Participation Project Bibliography.
• Ralph McCoy's Bibliography on Freedom of the Press.

ONLINE PUBLICATIONS

• Millenium Communications,Communications as Engagement. A report on revitalizing community.
• Paul Starr, "The Disengaged," The American Prospect, Fall 1994, No. 19, 7-8.
• Sherry Turkle, "Virtuality and Its Discontents," The American Prospect, Winter 1996, No. 24, 50-57.
• Mark S. Bonchek, " Grassroots in Cyberspace."
• Michael Schudson, "The Limits of Teledemocracy," The American Prospect 11 (Fall 1992), 41-45.
• Peter Kollock and Marc Smith, "Managing the Virtual Commons: Cooperation and Conflict in Computer Communities."
• Political Science Quarterly. Leading political science journal, EPN affiliate.
• Howard Rheingold, The Virtual Community (Addison-Wesley, 1993).

WOMEN'S ISSUES

• Bibliography of Articles on Women's Issues
• Center on Women and Public Policy
• The Center for the American Woman and Politics is part of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University. It seeks to provide information about women and politics and to increase the role that women play in public service.
• The Center for the American Woman and Politics page of links to various political organizations.
• Emily's List
• The Feminist Majority
• Institute for Women's Policy Research
• League of Women Voters
• NOW National Organization for Women
• Women's Wire