Revitalizing America takes an in-depth look at the promises of democracy made to Americans and the world, and the betrayals of those promises. The promises laid out in the Declaration of Independence, the Preamble to the Constitution, the Gettysburg Address and the Pledge of Allegiance have created a Santa Claus type myth about our government that is shattered every day in the world of real politics. The victims are "we the people."Our grievances can be recited just as the American revolutionists called out the king's offenses in the Declaration of Independence. They run the gamut from violations of human and civil rights, massive secret tests using poisonous materials on the citizenry without public knowledge or consent to old fashioned bribery and greed of public officials. It's our duty to remember our country was born through a revolution, and we must revitalize our democracy through a political and economic revolution. The people need to take back the government. www.revitalizeamericanow.org

Americans are fortunate because they have one of the most effective governance systems in the world, yet the author analyzes and proposes more than two hundred other ways in which our governments can become more valuable and effective. To achieve this, it is vital to strengthen the bottom-up involvement of the American public to bring a new level of common sense and moderation and spirit of service while asking politicians to show more courage in making hard decisions.

Revitalizing America takes an in-depth look at the promises of democracy made to Americans and the world, and the betrayals of those promises. The promises laid out in the Declaration of Independence, the Preamble to the Constitution, the Gettysburg Address and the Pledge of Allegiance have created a Santa Claus type myth about our government that is shattered every day in the world of real politics. The victims are "we the people." Our grievances can be recited just as the American revolutionists called out the king's offenses in the Declaration of Independence. They run the gamut from violations of human and civil rights, massive secret tests using poisonous materials on the citizenry without public knowledge or consent to old fashioned bribery and greed of public officials. It's our duty to remember our country was born through a revolution, and we must revitalize our democracy through a political and economic revolution. The people need to take back the government. www.revitalizeamericanow.org

The American dream is fading: for nearly two decades, the economy has been performing below par, the quality of life has deteriorated, and the government has not confronted the public problems that concern citizens most. In this provocative book, Alice Rivlin offers a straightforward, nontechnical look at the issues threatening the American dream and proposes a solution: restructure responsibilities between the federal and state government. Under her plan, the federal government would eliminate most of its programs in education, housing, highways, social services, economic development, and job training, enabling it to move the federal budget from deficit toward surplus. States would pick up these responsibilities, carrying out a "productivity agenda" to revitalize the American economy. Common shared taxes would give the state adequate revenues to carry out their tasks and would reduce intrastate competition and disparities. The federal government would be freer to deal with increasingly complex international issues and would retain responsibility for programs requiring national uniformity. A primary federal job would be the reform of health care financing to ensure control of costs and to mandate basic insurance coverage for everyone. Published in the summer of 1992, Reviving the American Dream was read by presidential candidate Bill Clinton; by year's end, President Clinton appointed its author, Alice Rivlin, as deputy budget director. Today, the ideal in Rivlin's book—and Rivlin herself—are having an impact inside the administration. Selected as one of Choice magazine's Outstanding Books of 1993

The world is at an inflection point. Advancing technologies are creating new opportunities and challenges. Great demographic changes are occurring rapidly, with significant consequences. Governance everywhere is in disarray. A new world is emerging. These are some of the key insights to emerge from a series of interdisciplinary roundtables and global expert contributions hosted by the Hoover Institution. In these pages, George P. Shultz and James Timbie examine a range of issues shaping our present and future, region by region. Concrete proposals address migration, reversing the decline of K–12 education, updating the social safety net, maintaining economic productivity, protecting our democratic processes, improving national security, and more. Meeting these transformational challenges will require international cooperation, constructive engagement, and strong governance. The United States is well positioned to ride this wave of change—and lead other nations in doing the same.

Why a book defending government? Because for decades, right-wing forces in this country have engaged in a relentless and irresponsible campaign of vicious government bashing. Conservatives and libertarians have demonized government, attacked basic safety net programs like Medicare, and undermined vital regulations that protect consumers, investors, workers, and the environment. This book takes on this anti-government movement and shows that most of its criticisms of this institution are highly exaggerated, misleading, or just plain wrong. In reality, American government - despite its flaws - plays a valuable and indispensable role in promoting the public good. Most government programs are working well and are actually improving the lives of Americans in innumerable ways. Democratic government is a vital tool for making our world a better place; and if we want an America that is prosperous, healthy, secure, well-educated, just, compassionate, and unpolluted, we need a strong, active, and well-funded public sector. Part I: Why Government is Good. The section of the book describes how government acts as a force for good in society. One chapter chronicles a day in the life of an average middle-class American and identifies the myriad ways that government programs improve our lives. Other chapters describe the forgotten achievements of government; how government is the only way to effectively promote public values like justice and equality; and how a free market economy would be impossible without the elaborate legal and regulatory infrastructure provided by government. Part II: The War on Government. This section of the book chronicles the unrelenting assault on government being waged by conservative forces in this country. Chapters describe how cuts in social programs and rollbacks of regulations have harmed the health, safety, and welfare of millions of Americans and how these assaults have taken place on many fronts - in Congress, the administrative branch, and the federal courts, as well as on the state and local level. Also addressed: how the right's radical anti-government agenda is out of touch with the views and priorities of most Americans, and what the real truth is about government deficits. Part III: How to Revitalize Democracy and Government. There are, in fact, some problems with American government, and we need to address these if we are to restore Americans' faith in this institution. One of the main problems with our government is that it is not accountable and responsive enough to the public. Moneyed special interests too often win out over the public interest. Chapters in this section describe this problem and how we can fix it. There are several reforms - including public financing of elections - that could help our government live up to its democratic ideals. The final chapter discusses strategies for building a pro-government coalition in this country.

A detailed analyses of the consequences of the conservative attack on progressive government in policy areas such as economics and defence. It offers concrete steps to increase democracy and improve the effectiveness of public action.

The American people generally perceive that the United States is headed in “the wrong direction,” US influence worldwide is waning, Capitol Hill is not adequately representing the public’s interests, and their personal economic wellbeing is in jeopardy. This book squarely tackles the list of “fault lines” currently facing the United States, including, among others, Beltway dysfunctionalism, concentrated wealth and income not seen since the late 1920s, an ultra-expensive and inefficient health-care system, runaway entitlement spending, stagnant upward mobility, debilitating “crony capitalism,” and incoherent foreign policy. Even more importantly, the book offers explicit policy recommendations for solving each fault line, relying extensively on “best practices” in the public and private sectors both at home and abroad. Moreover, the author emphasizes that the United States is entering a special period which provides it with advantages not found anywhere else in the world—a major energy boom, favorable demographics, unparalleled high-technology innovation, huge inward investment flows from abroad, the revival of its manufacturing sector, and its magnetism in attracting to its shores the very best and brightest from around the world. Dr. Fry asserts that it is quite reasonable to assume that the United States will enter a “Renaissance America” period by 2030. Doing so, however, will require painful short-term sacrifices, major policy changes, and the restoration of vibrant representative government. In effect, the American people must overwhelmingly embrace Abraham Lincoln’s vision of governance “of the people, by the people, and for the people.”

Government and governance will be very different in the future than anticipated by the literature in the field.

For more than one hundred years, governments have grappled with the complex problem of how to revitalize distressed urban areas. In 1995, the original urban Empowerment Zones (Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, New York, and Philadelphia) each received a $100 million federal block grant and access to a variety of market-oriented policy tools to support the implementation of a ten-year strategic plan to increase economic opportunities and promote sustainable community development in high-poverty neighborhoods. In Collaborative Governance for Urban Revitalization, Michael J. Rich and Robert P. Stoker confront the puzzle of why the outcomes achieved by the original Empowerment Zones varied so widely given that each city had the same set of federal policy tools and resources and comparable neighborhood characteristics.The authors' analysis, based on more than ten years of field research in Atlanta and Baltimore and extensive empirical analysis of EZ processes and outcomes in all six cities shows that revitalization outcomes are best explained by the quality of local governance. Good local governance makes positive contributions to revitalization efforts, while poor local governance retards progress. While policy design and contextual factors are important, how cities craft and carry out their strategies are critical determinants of successful revitalization. Rich and Stoker find that good governance is often founded on public-private cooperation, a stance that argues against both the strongest critics of neoliberalism (who see private enterprise as dangerous in principle) and the strongest opponents of liberalism (who would like to reduce the role of government).