STRENGTHENING DEMOCRACY THROUGH CIVIL SOCIETY
J. Brian Atwood, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, highlights the role of civic groups in promoting effective and responsible government.

NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS: AMERICA'S INVISIBLE SECTOR
Dr. Lester Salamon, scholar and director of the Center for Civil Society Studies at Johns Hopkins University, defines the nonprofit sector in the U.S., emphasizing its immense size as well as the working partnership that has evolved between nonprofit organizations and government.

COMMENTARY

THE NONPROFIT SECTOR: CORNERSTONE OF CIVIL SOCIETY
Sara Melendez, a principal advocate for the nonprofit sector, discusses the unique contributions of civic groups in fostering citizen participation and community activities that enrich democratic life in the United States.

MANAGEMENT OF NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS
Using the League of Women Voters as a model, Carole Wagner Vallianos, emphasizes how contemporary management strategies can better enable a nonprofit organization to achieve its mission.

REPORTS

AYUDA: MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN THE COMMUNITY
AYUDA is a neighborhood-based nonprofit organization providing low-cost legal services to those in need. Contributing Editor David Pitts interviews AYUDA's executive director to learn how this small, well-respected nonprofit has sustained itself for 27 years.

A "CLOSE UP" VIEW OF CIVIC EDUCATION
The president of the Close Up Foundation discusses with Contributing Editor Stuart Gorin how the foundation has developed from a simple idea in the 1960s into the largest U.S. nonprofit organization dedicated to civic education.

DEPARTMENTS

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Recent books and articles on the nonprofit sector in a democracy.

INTERNET SITES
Sites on the World Wide Web that feature democracy and human rights issues, including nonprofit sector themes. The opinions expressed on other Internet sites listed here do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. government.

Issues of Democracy

Electronic Journal of the U.S. Information Agency
Volume 3, Number 1, January 1998

USIA's electronic journals, published and transmitted worldwide at three-week intervals, examine major issues facing the United States and the international community. The journals -- Economic Perspectives, Global Issues, Issues of Democracy, U.S. Foreign Policy Agenda, and U.S. Society & Values -- provide analyses, commentary, and background information in their thematic areas. Versions in Arabic, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and Russian appear approximately two weeks after the English-language version. The opinions expressed in the journals do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Government. Articles may be reproduced and translated outside the United States unless there are copyright restrictions cited somewhere on the articles.

Current or back issues of the journals can be found at the Journals site on the U.S. Information Service (USIS) Home Page on the World Wide Web. They are available in several electronic formats to facilitate viewing on-line, transferring, downloading, and printing. Comments are welcome at your local USIS post or at the editorial offices:

Editor, Issues of Democracy
Democracy and Human Rights - I/TDHR
U.S. Information Agency
301 4th Street, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20547
United States of America

[email protected].

Publisher............................Judith S. Siegel
Editor.....................................Mark Smith
Managing Editors........................Estelle Baird
...................................Victoria Silverman
Associate Editor...........................Wayne Hall
Internet and Text Editor...........Deborah M.S. Brown
Contributing Editors.....................Stuart Gorin
..........................................David Pitts
Reference Specialist..................Barbara Sanders
Art Director.........................Diane Woolverton
Graphics Assistant.......................Sylvia Scott




Editorial Board


Howard Cincotta...Judith S. Siegel...John Davis Hamill

Issues of Democracy
USIA Electronic Journal, Vol. 3, No. 1, January 1998