On WEMU, CivCity founder discusses CLOSUP report on Michigan civic engagement

August 9, 2017

Mary Morgan, executive director of the CivCity Initiative, joined WEMU’s David Fair this Monday for an on-air discussion of local civic engagement. Among the topics discussed: New findings from the Michigan Public Policy Survey (MPPS), a biannual survey of Michigan's local government leaders conducted by the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) at the Ford School. Among other topics, the survey asked local leaders about citizen engagement, and found that most local leaders said they saw less, but wanted more.

"It's really discouraging," said CivCity Founder Mary Morgan, who has long reported on local civic engagement as co-founder and publisher of the Ann Arbor Chronicle and as a reporter and editor for the Ann Arbor News. “Most local leaders--leaders of local government entities in Michigan--felt that [citizen engagement] was on the decline and that they were providing more opportunities for civic engagement, but citizens were less interested in participating,"