Editorid Comment

Citizen Action: Our Greatest Asset by George H. Gallup*

T a time when public opinion polls are recording gloomy assessments of A the performance of national governmental institutions, I continue to be impressed and encouraged by the capacity of American citizens to face problems in their local communities with vigor and imagination. I have served 20 times as foreman of the All-America Cities Jury. Each year I was absolutely fascinated by the stories of citizen achievement presented by the finalists competing for the awards. One cannot help but be inspired by the civic dedication of these citizens and the fantastic power they exercise in improving the quality of life in their communities.

For 25 years the National Municipal League has sponsored the All-America City Awards which recognize “community improvement through citizen action.” May I congratulate all of the finalists in the 1973-1974 competition and particularly the 10 award winners whose achievements are briefly summarized in this issue of the NATIONAL CIVIC REVIEW by William S. Foster, editorial director of The American City, who served as jury foreman this year.

The strength of this program is that it recognizes citizen efforts in large metropolitan areas and in tiny, semi-rural villages. The substance and style of the award-winning citizen action are as varied as the nation itself. The competition is sensitive to the pluralism of American civic life. In making its decision the All-America Cities Jury weighs the comparative extent of citizen involvement and the significance of the accomplishments to the community relative to its size and resources.

The jury considers how the achievements described relate to fundamental community problems, the degree to which they reflect innovation, the repre- sentative quality of participation, the mix of resources available to aid citizen action, and the nature and prospects for solution of unresolved problems. In the award-winning communities the initiative and driving force has been the organized citizens, but the civic team usually has the constructive involvement of public officials as well.

I have long left that a most unfortunate void in the general understanding of American institutions is the limited knowledge citizens have of their own capabilities and the achievements of others who have faced and are facing comparable problems. It is particularly regrettable a t a time when confidence in governmental and civic institutions is alarmingly low that more attention is not given to the highly constructive citizen efforts being undertaken in large and small communities. So much of this effort lacks the dramatic

* Gorge H. Gallup is chairman, American Institute of Public Opinion. He is a former president of the National Municipal League and for many years has been chairman of the governing Council. He served as foreman of the All-America Cities Jury for 20 years.

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quality of crisis and conflict which makes exciting news copy or television coverage.

Presentation of the awards each year provides an occasion for a winning community to recognize the groups and individuals responsible for successful programs, but, more important, it is a rare opportunity to focus public attention on the importance of citizen action, both its substance and methods.

Special efforts are made to include young people in All-America City celebrations, not just in parades but as part of an educational experience which will help them gain an appreciation of the importance of citizen involvement in community problem solving.

I personally feel that the younger generations must be helped in all pos- sible ways to learn about their communities and the power of citizen action. During the last five years I have been pleased that on two occasions my sons have represented me on the All-America Cities Jury. They share my conviction that organized, intelligent, purposeful citizen action is our nation’s greatest asset with potential for overcoming the problems which lead to the present gloomy assessments of government and other American institutions.

Letter to the Editor To the Editor:

A member of the Illinois Local Governmental Law Enforcement Officers Training Board called my attention to a review by Michele Fell of New York University which appeared in the NATIONAL CIVIC REVIEW, November 1973, pages 577 and 578. This has to do with “Police and the Law in Illinois: A First Look at the Communication of Supreme Court Decisions,” by Stephen L. Wasby, which appeared in the Public Affairs Bulletin of Southern Illinois University, September-October 19 7 2.

Several comments come to mind: 1. This review was published over a year after the article first appeared,

thus automatically assuring that any data concerning police training in Illinois would be outdated.

2. Mr. Wasby does not point out that the data from the Public Administra- tion Survey was collected in 1968 and therefore in no way presented an accurate picture of training or education of police in Illinois in 1972.

3. Mr. Wasby should have been aware that since October 1970 every bi-monthly issue of the Illinois Police Association Oficial JownaE has carried a special “Attorney General’s Report” citing court decisions affecting police operations in some detail. Each issue of this magazine goes to over 25,000 members of the Illinois Police Association; who are, for the most part, line officers who are out on the street every day. The impression created then by Wasby that little is available to law enforcement officers in Illinois in the way of up-to-date legal information is erroneous.

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