OUR VIEWS

Civic Way promotes government reform, democracy and good government. To support our mission, we offer our own views as well as other perspectives. Explore our collection of News & Views below...

Safe, Honest and Competitive Elections

August 19, 2020

Saving Lives and Democracy in 2020 and Beyond This is the third of Civic Way’s series on reconstructing American government (read Part I and Part…

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Saving Government for the Next Crisis

August 16, 2020

Using Federal Aid to Spur the Governmental Reform We Need This is the second of Civic Way’s series on reconstructing American government (you can read…

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The Need for Government Reform

August 14, 2020

Preparing State and Local Government for the Next Crisis This is the first of a series on reconstructing American government. The author, Bob Melville, is the…

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Our View on Modernizing Federalism and Government

June 25, 2020

Introduction American Federalism—our federal and state partnership—paved the way for many successes. Initially, each partner’s respective roles seemed clear, with the federal government tackling international…

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Our View on Elections and Democracy

June 11, 2020

Introduction We have taken democracy for granted. We have forgotten that it has to be enacted anew in every generation, in every year, in every…

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Reexamining Federalism Through the Pandemic

Our View on Linking Government Relief and Reform

May 27, 2020

Introduction In the face of dire projections about state and local government, our national leaders have resumed their familiar roles in another partisan skirmish. The…

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Our View on the Need for Government Reform

May 5, 2020

Introduction As Congress debated another Covid-19 stimulus package, Senator McConnell shared his skepticism about government aid, suggesting that we should allow states (especially those with…

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Moving Beyond Slogans and Rhetoric

April 26, 2020

A Civil Framework for Reforming Law Enforcement The author, Bob Melville, is the founder of Civic Way, a nonprofit dedicated to good government, and a management…

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Our View of Transparency in Government

April 20, 2020

Defining the Challenge Politicians often talk about transparency without explaining or even knowing what it means. Some invoke it to justify their course or lack…

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Our View of Public Leadership

April 15, 2020

“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!” ― Benjamin Franklin Introduction Some view the American Presidency as the most powerful office in…

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