Civic Leaders Research Articles

Collective leadership development in the civic arena

PurposeAs a collective paradigm of leadership emerges in the literature, many community leadership programs still align with leader-centric perspectives. The Kansas Leadership Center’s Leadership Transformation Grant is an exemplar of developing collective leadership in the civic arena. The purpose of this article is twofold: (1) to present the findings of a community-engaged, qualitative research study on the impact of collective leadership development on the practice of civic leadership and (2) to discuss relevant implications learned from reflections on the methodology for the practice of community-engaged research.Design/methodology/approachThis study is a form of engaged research (Van de Ven, 2007) and is consistent with the principles of community-based research (Strand, Marullo, Cutforth, Stoecker, & Donohue, 2003). I took an exploratory approach to this study because the knowledge intersection of collective leadership, civic leadership and leadership development is still emerging and understudied. I explored the individual, group and systems levels as three components of a complex adaptive system (Uhl-Bien, Marion, & McKelvey, 2007). To better understand the dynamic relationship between individual, group and system in this grant team, I employed a three-phase study including methods of deliberative civic engagement, open-ended survey and interview.FindingsFindings illustrate the effectiveness of the grant program on developing a shared language and leadership framework and clarifying leadership goals for participants. Implications include the importance of collective leadership development opportunities that center adaptive challenges and convene participants across levels of leadership and sectors. Additionally, the findings highlight the need to consider authority, identity and culture as central components of the practice of leadership. Reflections on the community-engaged methodology demonstrate the value of learning about leadership practices from the community practitioners to inform community leadership development interventions. Implications include approaching research as iterative and pushing back on academic norms that provide tension in engaged work.Originality/valueLittle research crosses all three boundaries of collective leadership, leadership development and civic leadership literature. This intersection focuses on understanding how collective leadership can contribute to enhancing the practice of civic leadership. The current study is situated within this knowledge gap and explores (1) the experiences of members of a civic group who have (2) participated in leadership development that (3) aligns with a collective leadership paradigm and are (4) trying to make progress on an adaptive challenge.

All Talk, Not Enough Action: Civic Engagement in U.S. Entertainment TV at a Time of Crisis

ABSTRACT This study examines what young adults (aged 18–34) observe and learn about U.S. government leaders and civic engagement through 141 of the country’s most-watched entertainment television programs for their age group. Based on a content analysis of 658 episodes of entertainment television, it interrogates the demographics and actions of politicians and government leaders portrayed on the show, along with any civic action and conversation undertaken by everyday characters not in civic leadership positions. With important implications for both scholars of civic and political communication and entertainment media, as well as media practitioners who wish to understand the cultural importance of their work, this study reveals how the portrait of civic leadership and life offered to young people by the most-watched television programs provides a potentially harmful and uninspiring portrait of democracy in action.

Civic Education for Civic Leadership

Civic education and civic leadership are at the forefront of renewing faith in democracy on our campuses and communities. There is an urgent need for higher education to return to its historical foundation to fulfill the mission of democracy by educating students for democratic citizenship (Harkavy, 2006). Effectively integrating curricular and co-curricular civic engagement involves a balanced approach that is “both political and non-political” (Ehrlich, 2000, p. vi) to guide students to identify core values, develop civic knowledge, and build civic leadership skills (Finley, 2011; Hurtado, 2019). Civic leadership is an integral student learning outcome embedded within civic engagement praxis, but few frameworks have been developed to integrate leadership growth into their programming and curricula (Kniffin & Sapra, 2021). To renew faith in democracy, a reorientation to engagement with the local community through civic leadership is the pathway to achieve measurable impact by guiding students from the classroom into the community. If higher education is to fulfill the mission of democracy, educators and campus leaders must become the guides who invite students into a story bigger than themselves. Building on King’s (1963) civic legacy and Musil’s (2009) Civic Learning Spiral, the author outlines a Strategic Leadership Impact Model that has resulted in student-led civic engagement capstone projects, community-based research, and sustainable civic partnerships. Whether in the classroom or in the community, undergraduate students must be equipped through civic curriculum, co-curriculum, and service-learning programming to engage diverse perspectives and political viewpoints with civic curiosity to become effective civic leaders.

Flemish and Walloon exile communities in sixteenth-century Norwich: a case study of local and national responses to large-scale migration from the low Countries

ABSTRACT In 1565, the Mayor of Norwich, Thomas Sotherton, proposed to his fellow aldermen that the city invite thirty master textile workers from the Low Countries and their households to Norwich to revive its flagging economy. Letters patent were issued by Queen Elizabeth and on 1 June 1566, Sotherton put his seal on an order naming the thirty masters. They would form the basis of two exile communities in Norwich, one Flemish and one Walloon. This article aims to analyse what the birth of these exile communities tells us about local and national positions and practices adopted in response to migration from the Low Countries in the mid-sixteenth century. Furthermore, it examines the role of specific individuals and groups of individuals in the establishment of these communities. These include not only civic and national leaders in England, but also members of the English and exile clergy, members of exile communities in other towns, and English and Flemish nobles. Moreover, the article analyses the prosopographies of the thirty masters, providing previously unpublished details on several masters, and allowing an evaluation of the success of Sotherton’s policy. Finally, the article places the case of Norwich in a broader context by comparing it with attempts to establish exile communities in other English towns.

Shifting the desired outcome from climate literacy to climate agency: Education that empowers civic leaders

Shifting the desired outcome from climate literacy to climate agency: Education that empowers civic leaders

‘It was like coming back from the clouds’: a qualitative analysis of the lived experience of overdose consequent to drug use among a cohort of people who use drugs in Scotland

BackgroundGlobally, non-fatal overdose (NFOD) rates consequent to drug use, typically opioids, continue increasing at a startling rate. Existing quantitative research has revealed myriad factors and characteristics linked to experiencing NFOD, but it is critically important to explore the lived context underlying these associations. In this qualitative study, we sought to understand the experiences of NFOD among people who use drugs in a Scottish region in order to: enhance public policy responses; inform potential intervention development to mitigate risk; and contribute to the literature documenting the lived experience of NFOD.MethodsFrom June to July 2021, two peer researchers conducted face-to-face semi-structured interviews with people who use drugs who had experienced recent NFOD attending harm reduction services in Tayside, Scotland. These were transcribed verbatim and evaluated using thematic analysis with an inductive approach which had an experiential and essentialist orientation.ResultsTwenty people were interviewed across two sites. Of those, 15 (75%) were male and mean age was 38.2 (7.7) years. All had experienced at least one NFOD in the prior six months, and all reported polydrug use. Five themes were identified, within which 12 subthemes were situated. The themes were: social context; personal risk-taking triggers; planned and impulsive consumption; risk perception; and overdose reversal. The results spoke to the environmental, behavioural, cognitive, economic, and marketplace, factors which influence the context of NFOD in the region.ConclusionsA complex interplay of behavioural, psychological, and situational factors were found to impact the likelihood of experiencing NFOD. Structural inequities which policy professionals and civic leaders should seek to remedy were identified, while service providers may seek to reconfigure healthcare provision for people who use drugs to account for the interpersonal, psychological, and social factors identified, which appear to precipitate NFOD.Trial registrationNot applicable.

How young people can shape environmental policy in urban spaces

Younger generations have become increasingly disillusioned with mainstream democratic politics in established democracies. Although young people are interested in politics and engage in many issue-based forms of participation, it is hard for them to realise the fruits of their labour at the national level. Local democracy may provide a better opportunity for engaging effectively in the issues that affect young people’s everyday lives. This article examines how Public Value approaches work in practice for young people whose voices are usually excluded from the policy-making process. The research adopted a complex large-scale multi-stage qualitative design, that involved focus groups and interviews with young people and local civic leaders from across London. It used participatory research with young Londoners from traditionally marginalised groups. The research revealed that, although policy makers face important structural challenges, such as the concentration of power and resources in Westminster, they have the potential to move beyond tokenistic engagement with young people. In particular, the results showed how civic and local authorities can build efficacy and trust through initiatives that provide opportunities for deliberation and the co-creation of public policy. In this way, the article makes a clear contribution to our understanding of the role of young people in environmentalism and their democratic value.

A contemporary view of civic leadership: Understanding college student perspectives and addressing barriers of service and engagement.

Civic leadership programming can be found across the United States and allows individuals the opportunity to gain skills focused on engaging their local community, creating space for change and impact to occur, and developing civic agency, a practice of working together across differences. This work describes civic leadership understanding, an examination of Generation Z characteristics, and provides a description of the Civic Leadership Academy at one university. The results of a 3-year longitudinal series of phenomenological focus groups identify student-derived themes that set a definition of civic leadership: catalyst of social awareness and change, bridging people and passions, and developing a culture of service. In addition, they identify barriers to service and provide strategies to challenge these barriers through curricular and co-curricular programs.

Factors contributing to the loss of Ngoni language: A case of Chipata District in Eastern Province, Zambia

Overview: This journal article analyzed the factors contributing to the loss of Ngoni language in a case of Chipata district of Eastern province in Zambia. The paper explored how Chingoni, a language of the conquering Ngoni, who controlled political, social and economic power could not maintain their language instead lost out to Chitumbuka and Chichewa, the languages of the conquered Tumbuka and Chewa respectively, as a language of everyday communication to the extent of being moribund. Contribution to the Body of Knowledge: Since language is usually considered to be a marker of identity, the link between the Ngoni identity and Chingoni was also explored and concluded that language is not a sine qua non ingredient of group identity. Methods: This study employed a mixed-methods approach, to understand why and how the Ngoni lost language by combining historical analysis, case studies, and interviews with key stakeholders, including traditional leaders, language teachers, civic leaders, scholars, and domains such as hospitals, schools, police stations. Data was obtained by means of interviews and questionnaires. The sample consisted of 148 respondents. frequency, tables and percentages were used to analyze qualitative and quantitative data obtained. Data was then analyzed manually in some cases and also, a combination of software MS Access and MS Excel. Results: The findings revealed that, the Ngoni language loss was due to unwritten records: The Ngoni mother tongue language could not be sustained because there is no single novel, bible, magazine, dictionary, newspaper, or any book, journal article found which is written in Ngoni language. Recommendation: In order to improve and address this challenge in Zambia, the present study recommended establishment of Ngoni Community Radio Station (NCRS) to be publishing Ngoni language lessons to the community.

Naval widows, war work and the port town civic burden: State, civic, philanthropic and self-help in the aftermath of the battle of Jutland (1916)

The naval town of Portsmouth bore a large portion of the brunt of the casualties lost at the Battle of Jutland (1916). The article will explore the precedent of naval philanthropy in Portsmouth and its historical links with naval disasters affecting the town which will lead to an analysis of how the town viewed their civic duty and mobilised local support for war widows immediately after the Battle of Jutland. It will then turn to assess the role of the local War Pensions Statutory Committee and its intersections with charitable organisations such as the Royal Patriotic Fund and Lady Beatty’s Jutland Fund. The analysis will lastly explore some of the stories of the nearly 100-strong Jutland war widows who worked in Portsmouth Royal Dockyard during the war. It will highlight the agency of civic leaders in determining aspects of World War One relief and how war widows were able to navigate and survive their personal tragedies in a naval town.

Community perceptions of contributors and solutions related to neighborhood violent crime: A qualitative interview study.

The current study is part of a community engaged planning phase and aimed to identify perceptions related to the prevalence of violent crime, crime contributors, the relationship between the community and law enforcement, and potential interventions and solutions. In March 2021, semistructured interviews were conducted with individuals from five groups who resided or worked in Bessemer, Alabama: (1) Law Enforcement, (2) Residents, (3) Civic Leaders, (4) Community Leaders, and (5) Victims of Crime. Interviews lasted approximately 60 min and were audio recorded, transcribed, and analyzed according to the guidelines of thematic analysis using NVivo 12. Emerging themes were examined in accordance with the CDC Social-Ecological Model: A Framework for Prevention. Participants (N = 18) were 50.0% female and 77.8% African American with an age range of 25-59 (mean = 43.4 years). Themes that emerged related to crime were: (1) impact, (2) contributors, and (3) solutions. Results indicate that impacts of violent crime at the individual level focused on fear, which led to widespread mental health issues. Relationship level impacts included a lack of trust of law enforcement and neighbors, and community level impacts were decreased neighborhood social cohesion as well as decreased safety. At the societal level, the poor reputation of the city was consistently highlighted. For contributors of crime, being a youth under age 30, drugs, and money were discussed as factors at the individual level. At the relationship level, participants mentioned poor parenting and gangs as crime contributing factors to violent crime. Furthermore, contributing issues related to underresourced schools as well as a poor relationship with law enforcement were brought up at the community level. Similarly, poverty was the overarching contributing issue at the societal level. Solutions that emerged included: education and training in life skills, focusing on young people, family/parenting, conflict resolution programs, programs within schools, improved relationships with law enforcement, and inclusive economic opportunities. Intervention plans are discussed that can merge these stakeholder findings with other data sources.

Democracy’s Values and Ideals: A Duboisian Defence

Abstract This essay offers a Duboisian defense of democracy’s expressive and experimental values. It argues that the expressive value of democracy supports an ideal of inclusion, whereas the experimental value of democracy supports that of innovation. One appeals to the ideal of inclusion to extend to excluded groups codified constitutional protections and to condemn white hypocrisy. The ideal of innovation, in contrast, helps one reimagine what constitutional protections should be in the first place. Drawing on Du Bois’s writings, this essay argues that the civic activities of black American counter-publics exhibited both experimental and expressive democratic values. In particular, it highlights the innovations of black women civic leaders who reimagined care work under a public conception of the common good. It concludes that counter-publics shape the asymmetric moral insight of its participants, namely, the oppressed.

Housing movement coalitions in the United States: Trends from big networks among urban civil society leaders

Coalitions of formal housing, civil rights and anti-poverty organisations play an important role in urban housing movements. However, the extent and dynamics of these ‘housing movement coalitions’ are not well understood. In this article, I document the geography of housing movement coalitions across 148 US cities using leadership networks among 11.8 million civic leaders. I show that cohesive coalitions of formal housing, civil rights and anti-poverty leaders exist in a wide range of US cities, including in conservative states. In terms of change, housing coalitions have only grown in a handful of politically liberal cities since the global financial crisis, and most housing coalitions have stagnated and some have declined. Finally, change score regression models indicate that economic insecurity is associated with housing coalition emergence, but municipal austerity and hostile political environments may weaken the opportunities for coalitions to expand. These findings suggest movement scholars should widen their focus to include housing coalitions in more diverse contexts, and more closely examine how municipal funding shapes housing coalitions and their relationship to grassroots activism.

Myths and Inclusive Education of Children with Disabilities in Universities of Uganda

The current study was carried out in five universities of Uganda to assess the influence of myths on the inclusive education of children with disabilities in universities of Uganda. The quantitative data were collected from 95 lecturers, while qualitative data was collected from ten university students. The study found out that although the government has put in place several mechanisms to promote the education of disabled children, and although the government, civic leaders, religious leaders and non government organisations have done much to educate parents that disabled children are as important as those who are not disabled and should therefore be taken to school, many parents still hold negative stereotypes about children with disabilities. Their inclusive education is poor as regards enrolment in universities, and their interaction with other students is limited. However, their performance in academics is almost the same as that of the other normal students. The study un-covered that although universities are competing for students, many of them do not have conducive environment for students with disabilities. Secondly, the myths of the people in Uganda point to lack of appreciating children with disabilities as they are seen as a punishment and a curse from God, the ancestors and witchcraft. Therefore, myths have a significant influence on the poor inclusive education of children with disabilities in the universities of Uganda. Therefore, there is need for the government, religious leaders, teachers and civic leaders to educate the masses more on the value of educating children with disabilitiesup to university level since these children are useful to the country and to their families just as those without disabilities are.

The guidance culture in the context of building society 5.0.

The purpose of the study was to analyze the development of educational policy, which should contribute to significant social improvements and still remains a major problem area in most democratic societies. The article focuses on educational institutions and, in particular, their leaders, who must confront the challenges of education in the twenty-first century. It is noted that educational institutions should be transformed into institutions to promote internal change, stimulate social transformation and prepare students for active participation in increasingly diverse, complex and dynamic communities. Attention is focused on educational managers and leaders who should be agents of change, civic leaders and promoters of social development, playing the role of leaders, in particular within the framework of the five-pillar spiral model and the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The article is devoted to the analysis of the phenomenon of leadership as a new stage of leadership development of future education managers in the context of building Society 5.0. The obtained results demonstrate the need for synergistic modeling of the concept and programs for the development of leadership culture in future education managers, with the inclusion in the «orbit» of this training of the goals of sustainable development, achieving social justice, translating knowledge and innovation in society, strengthening the foundations of the country's soft power on the basis of transformational leadership and deep conscious personal motivation. The practical significance of the study lies in the possibility of applying the conclusions and recommendations in the process of optimizing the university training of future education managers.

Sports Sprawl: Arlington Stadium and the Rise of Suburban Baseball Venues

Arlington Stadium in Arlington, Texas, originally opened as a minor-league stadium in 1965, but by 1972, it became home to the Texas Rangers of baseball’s American League. Although it was an architecturally undistinguished facility, Arlington Stadium shows how civic leaders in Arlington, alongside boosters in nearby Dallas and Fort Worth, utilized organized baseball’s legal doctrine of territorial rights to unify the metro area’s baseball market within a centrally located suburb. Quickly growing Arlington thus became home to a stadium that might one day host a big-league team, although in the meantime, it could host a minor-league team. This article tells the story of Arlington Stadium’s planning and construction, as well as the Rangers’ relocation from Washington, D.C., as a way to understand how a metro area used organized baseball’s idiosyncratic rules, based on a longstanding federal antitrust exemption, to build a suburban home for a major-league team.

The Role of Leadership in Policy Towards domestic decisions and its influencing the formulation of foreign policy

In the process of governance, beliefs and values of civic and religious leaders are utterly significant. In the light of principles of political realism, the politics are commanded by objective laws, the roots of those can be traced to human nature, political behavior of human only depends on human nature. Behavour of human, as a specific political individual, defines his political actions, being a political actor.
 The mission of the following article is to determine the impact of role and decisions of the specific leader on internal politics, as well as international relations context. The subject of research is to explain leader’s particular role in foreign affairs decision making and analysis of leaders’ traits affecting the formation of foreign policy, by theoretical approach of Neoclassical Realism and practical aspects.
 During Researching specific facts of international relations by Neoclassical Realism theory, three levels of analysis are used, first level examining role of leader or leaders, second level explaining internal factors of foreign policy, third level determining systemic factors.
 The aim of this research is, both conceptually and practically, on individual analysis level, to determine the impact of ideological views, values and personal decisions of state or spiritual leader, when dealing with deterioration of relations with strategic partners or crisis.
 Individual, first level of analysis emphasizes on individual, governmental or non-governmental statesman, country leader, whose political values, political weight, behavior, belief, woes, personal decisions affect internal political environment during decision making process, ultimately defining foreign policy and impacts regional and global security context. Theoretical and practical interaction let us explain the degree of impact of individual psychological, ideological, cultural factors, how political actors perceive their and others’ capabilites and how those perceptions translate to foreign policy.
 The research showed, that in today’s volatile international system, personal decisions of regional and global leaders bear significant role and this topic generally, is a vital challenge of security and economy sphere.

Farmers’ choices and factors driving adoption of climate change adaptation strategies in saline coastal area of Bangladesh

Growing climate change adaptation issues are driving the demand for efficient solutions in the agriculture sector, which will improve farmers’ livelihoods and economic situations. This study examined the perceptions of major climate risks and factors driving adoption of climate adaptation strategies in saline coastal areas of Bangladesh. Survey data were collected from 100 farmers producing Rabi crops by using a semi-structured questionnaire. A binary logistic model was used to identify the driving factors of the adoption of adaptation strategies. Results revealed that farmers’ group membership and perception of a decrease in rain frequency influenced adoption of intercropping, while experience in farming, owned farmland size and perception of increase in soil salinity influenced adoption of mulching. In addition, age, group membership and perception of a decrease in rain frequency had a positive influence on adoption of use of mini pond. Furthermore, household size and access to training influenced adoption of changing sowing time, while farming experience had a positive influence on change in cropping pattern. These findings suggest an opportunity for institution-led support for providing farmers with hands-on training. Developing collaboration with research institutes, the ministry of agriculture, extension, development partners and civic leaders for enhancing farmers’ group membership capacity would be of benefit on increasing the adaptive capacity of farmers.

Heritage trails and the framing of place authenticity in Belfast’s Titanic memoryscape

ABSTRACT Titanic heritage tourism has recently become a major objective in Belfast, Northern Ireland, as civic leaders look to leverage the infamous liner’s local origins to advance the city’s post-industrial, post-conflict economic development. Much of this activity has centred on the Titanic Quarter, a new residential, commercial, and cultural district emerging in the historic docklands of East Belfast. This district is home to Titanic Belfast, an ostentatious, new-build visitor attraction created to tell a celebratory, Belfast-focused Titanic origin story. Titanic Belfast is surrounded by numerous heritage elements once associated with the Harland and Wolff shipyards where Titanic was built, which have been incorporated into two heritage trails traversing the Titanic Quarter. This article draws on literature related to authenticity, heritage trails, and memoryscapes to interrogate how these trails underscore the place authenticity of the heritage assets dispersed throughout the Titanic Quarter. It also examines how these trails position Titanic Belfast as the focal point of a vast and coherent maritime heritage memoryscape, revealing a symbiotic relationship whereby Titanic Belfast draws people and capital to the area while the authentic heritage elements nearby furnish the ‘credibility armour’ needed to justify this grandiose new signature attraction and the celebratory narrative it offers visitors.

The Untold Story of the Heroes of Civic Leadership in Somalia: The Case Study of Kham-Kham Village

Abstract In many countries of Africa, political leaders are in continual negotiation or competition with a broader range of civic leaders who provide leadership in areas which state institutions do not reach. However, scholarship on African leadership continues to focus on political leadership rather than paying equal attention to the dual role of civic and political leadership in the continent. In this article, the author argues that the analysis of African civic leaders has the potential to enhance the relevance and richness of discourse on African leadership if properly explored. To advance this argument and to demonstrate that it is not all negative in the arena of postcolonial Somali leadership, this article provides a comprehensive picture of civic leadership in the village of Kham-Kham, Somalia. Using both in-depth interviews and a review of the relevant literature, the article highlights how village leaders in Kham-Kham managed to create a safe haven for those fleeing ethnic cleansing, natural disasters, and other forms of insecurity. It also highlights how leaders tried to establish law and order for the village residents while Somali political leaders struggled to save the Somali state from complete collapse or struggled to agree on how to revive it.