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Citizen focus – Citizen groups
Groups of citizens across the US have been working to increase the amount, and improve the quality, of publicly available government SEA performance measures. These groups use a variety of tactics to achieve their goals, for example:
- Some groups lend their expertise to develop and report useful measures in collaboration with the government.
- Some groups work independently to educate the citizens by analyzing service information and publicizing their findings.
- Some groups perform their own SEA performance measurement process, directly observing services, collecting SEA performance information, and then reporting the results to the public.
Selected examples
The Citizens Budget Commission was founded in 1932, a time of great fiscal crisis. A group of distinguished civic leaders decided to start a research organization that would analyze the City's finances, evaluate the management of City government, report on these matters to its members, and recommend improvements to municipal officials. In 1984, CBC expanded this analysis to the fiscal affairs of State government.
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The Citizens Efficiency Review Committee (CERC), The City of Winston-Salem, NC, Board of Aldermen created a citizen committee to review the efficiency and effectiveness of all City services. This volunteer committee of over 100 citizens examined each department with the goal of reducing costs and improving services. The review process also provided opportunities for City staff to learn new ideas from citizens and provided opportunities for citizens to learn more about their government.
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The Citizens League Research Institute , founded by the Citizens League of Greater Cleveland in 1943, the Citizens League Research Institute (CLRI) is a private, non-partisan, non-profit organization that analyzes issues relating to local government management, structure, finance, and performance. CLRI serves the Northeast Ohio community with objective, accurate and timely information about recent trends and current issues in government. This information is used by the Citizens League in formulating its advocacy programs, as well as by local citizens, governments and community organizations.
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The Connecticut Policy and Economic Council, located in Hartford, CT, provides information communication resources, and innovative decision-making processes to citizens, community and business leaders, civic organizations, and local governments in order to set priories and help improve government performance.
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The National Center for Public Productivity, at Rutgers University, is a research and public service organization devoted to improving productivity in the public sector. Founded in 1975, the National Center is the only productivity center in the United States that is devoted to the improvement of public sector productivity. Through a series of conferences over a period of twenty years, the National Center has been successful in bridging the gap between the theory and practice of productivity improvement. The National Center's mission is to assist federal, state, local and not-for-profit agencies in further improving their capacity to provide quality services. The National Center's work is of increasing importance because, in an era of fiscal stress, productivity has become a high priority in the public sector.
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Outcome Measurement Resource Network. In April 1995, United Way of America established an internal team charged to help United Ways documents and improve their impact on community problems. This would be done by developing and supporting approaches to measuring the outcomes of United Ways' investment in health and human services. UWA's outcome measurement program is advised by a 30-member national task force whose membership includes representatives of United Ways, human service organizations, foundations, corporations, public agencies, and research institutions.
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The Straphangers Campaign , has been a respected voice for the city's nearly 7 million daily subway and bus riders since 1979. The campaign was founded by the New York Public Interest Research Group at a critical time for New York City transit: By the late 1970's, the city's subways had become unreliable and decrepit. There has been great progress since then. Today, trains are more than ten times as reliable. Ridership has bounced back. Transit crime, fires, derailments-all have been greatly reduced in the last two decades. These improvements did not happen by accident. The campaign played a leading role in building a consensus for $30 billion in new investments in metropolitan transit through our rider organizing; coalition building; research and reports; and media savvy.
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Groups
- Alliance for National Renewal, sponsored by the National Civic League.
- San Diego Citizens’ Budget Project
The San Diego Citizens' Budget is a grassroots project involving taxpayers, civic leaders and nationally recognized experts with a mission of evaluating the size and scope of the City of San Diego's short-term budget deficit and long-term liabilities. The Citizens' Budget Project is a comprehensive "performance audit" of each city agency and department with the intention of offering a real set of options for reforming the city government to reduce budget costs while improving the quality of city services.
The Citizens' Budget Project is being led by The Performance Institute, a private, nonpartisan think tank based in San Diego. The Institute is the nation's leading government reform think tank, improving government results through the principles of transparency, accountability, competition and performance. With conferences and trainings that develop the skills of thousands of government managers every year and research projects that collect and study the most innovative practices in the nation, The Performance Institute is driving change and improving government.
If you would like your group or organization added to this list, please contact us:
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