Citizen Politics - a New Minnesota Miracle

Huff Post Politics, August 22, 2012
The Blog: Harry Boyte and Hunter Gordon

In the Civic Health Index conducted each year by the congressionally mandated National Conference of Citizenship, Minnesota leads the nation in civic engagement when a variety of measures, from voting levels and volunteering to involvement in neighborhood problem-solving and charitable contributions, are taken into account. Some years ago, the vitality of the civic culture in the state prompted a Time cover story called "The Minnesota Miracle."

This year, the efforts of Minnesotans United For All Families to defeat a so-called "Marriage Amendment," which would inscribe a ban on gay marriage into the state constitution, marks the state as a pioneer in "a different kind of politics," citizen politics on a large scale. It may generate another "Minnesota Miracle." [emphasis added] [article continued]