New Orleans      It is a rare and wonderful thing when a friend is elected to office in a surprising development that sends a message far and wide. Donna Edwards fits just this ticket and was one of the big winners on Tuesday. The backstory here is straightforward. Donna was the executive director of …

New Orleans     This is a preview of coming attractions. In the next few weeks Social Policy, the quarterly magazine of opinion and information, will publish its first volume under its own imprint. This book is a collection of essays compiled by the long experienced organizer from Virginia and Kentucky, Joe Szakos and his wife, …

Lisbon     Theda Skopal is a professor at Harvard, who along with Robert Putnam (“Bowling Alone”), has deeply studied from various angles voluntary associations and what they say about American civic engagement. In one of her books she uses an interesting numerical benchmark to reckon with the issues of scale for voluntary associations operating on …