Etzioni's idea for a White House Council for Social Advisers (CSA)

Stayed up all night to be sure I'd be awake for my interview this am. Thought I'd make a mini to relax but here I am. Found this post Etzioni made in Jan 2009 about the visions for a White House Council for Social Advisors.

Etzioni was on the Americorps Lauch Committee in 1994. He was on the Launch Committees for Citizen's for Service and Character Education in the early 90s. He was a Member of the Special Committee on Lawyering in the 21st Century, American Association of Law Schools in 1989. He was a Member of the Research Advisory Committee of Resources for the Future from 1976-1980. He was a Member of the Administrative Board, Research Institute on Communist Affairs, Columbia University 1970-1974... ? Anyone who thinks Etzioni's influence is minimal needs to read his bio at Sourcewatch, just for starters. Still don't understand why they begin his Affiliations in 1958; his political carreer began 15 years before that. http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Amitai_Etzioni

Etzioni wanted his council to advise the President on ALL matters of social policy, in order to strengthen the Third Sector. Did he succeed? His 2001 views on mandatory vaccinations were recently posted here.

2. Our version of a CSA

We envision the goal of the CSA as to advise the President on all matters of social policy other than those concerning economics or security. These include policies that strengthen the third sector, especially the country’s hundreds of thousands of voluntary associations and civic bodies; that encourage faith based work within the confines of the 1st Amendment; that promote the fulfillment of civic duty via agencies such as the Peace Corps, Vista, AmeriCorps, the Teacher Corps, and the Citizen Corps; promote understanding and dialogue among social groups that differ in their social backgrounds, identities, and beliefs (including racial, ethnic, and sexual orientation); promote assimilation of new immigrants while assisting them in maintaining their sub-cultural heritages (i.e., promoting diversity within unity); promote community organizations; promote dialogues about our responsibilities to one another, to the nation, and to the inchoate global community.

The CSA will be composed of social scientists who have shown a capacity to develop public policies. It could incorporate several existing bodies such as the White House Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives.

To measure and call attention to the social state of union, the CSA would publish an annual report on various social indicators such as the number of Americans who served as voluntary firefighters, emergency medical technicians, or in other forms of volunteerism; the amount of funds raised for social purposes by various foundations and charities; and the number of hate crimes committed, among others, along the lines of the Mondale proposal.

For more information, contact Amitai Etzioni at etzioni@gwu.edu or (202) 994-8190.

Posted at 05:03 PM | Permalink

This is CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE AGE OF OBAMA: http://civilsocietyintheageofobama.blogspot.com/