Civic Engagement in Camden, New Jersey a Baseline Portrait
Civic Engagement in Camden, New Jersey A Baseline Portrait The Camden Regional Equity Demonstration Project Robert Lake Kathe Newman Philip Ashton Richard Nisa Bradley Wilson Rutgers University – New Brunswick September 2007 Funding for this report was provided by the Ford Foundation. Dissemination of MDRC publications is supported by the following funders that help finance MDRC’s public policy outreach and expanding efforts to communicate the results and implications of our work to policymakers, practitioners, and others: Alcoa Foundation, The Ambrose Monell Foundation, Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation, and The Starr Foundation. In addition, earnings from the MDRC Endowment help sustain our dissemination efforts. Contributors to the MDRC Endow- ment include Alcoa Foundation, The Ambrose Monell Foundation, Anheuser-Busch Foundation, Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Ford Foundation, The George Gund Foundation, The Grable Foundation, The Lizabeth and Frank Newman Charitable Foundation, The New York Times Company Foundation, Jan Nicholson, Paul H. O’Neill Charitable Foundation, John S. Reed, The Sandler Family Supporting Foundation, and The Stupski Family Fund, as well as other individual contributors. The findings and conclusions presented herein do not necessarily represent the official positions or policies of the funders. For information about MDRC and copies of our publications, see our Web site: www.mdrc.org. Copyright © 2007 by MDRC. All rights reserved. Contents List of Exhibits iv Preface v Acknowledgments vii 1. Introduction 1 What Is Civic Engagement and Why Study It Now? 2 Historical Framework: Government- and Citizen-Sponsored Participation 4 The Scope of This Report 6 2. The Context of Civic Engagement in Camden 9 Structural Deficit 9 Camden’s Political Culture 11 3.
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