Re: CEI's Neighborhood Council 10-Year Report

CEI RELEASES 10-YEAR REPORT ON THE LOS ANGELES NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL SYSTEM

The Civic Engagement Initiative's Neighorhood Participation Project (NPP) has released a report, entitled "Toward Community Engagement in City Governance: Evaluating Neighborhood Council Reform in Los Angeles." The study presents findings from CEI's Neighborhood Participation Project's multi-year study of neighborhood council implementation in the City of Los Angeles.

The report discusses the extent to which the system has developed the institutional requisites for success, including democratically legitimate councils, political innovations to support participation, and the capacity for neighborhood councils to act on issues of interest to their constituent communities. The report also considers the long-term effects of the reform on political networks and civic culture in Los Angeles.

The report finds a mixed record of success. While a citywide system of certified councils is in place, and some neighborhood councils have developed the capacity to act on behalf of their constituent communities, other neighborhood councils struggle, and the City has done a poor job of developing participatory arenas within which councils can interact constructively with city government.

The report was written by CEI scholars Juliet Musso, Christopher Weare, Mark Elliot, Alicia Kitsuse, and Ellen Shiau, and was made possible thanks to the support of the Ralph and Dora Haynes Foundation, the Irvine Foundation, and the National Science Foundation.

To download a copy of the report, please visit www.usc-cei.org/

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Joe Riser
JosephR@mindspring.com