Background

Having captured the voice of Arizona citizens through the Gallup Arizona Poll in The Arizona We Want, the Center has worked systematically over the last 18 months to embed citizen goals in the public discussions and policy decisions of our state.


We have also paid particular attention to two deeply disturbing revelations in the Gallup Arizona Poll. The first is the discovery that while Arizonans are highly attached to the "place" where they live, only 12% believe the people in their community care about one another. Second, only 10% of Arizonans believe their elected officials are doing a good job. Perhaps even more disturbing, only 10% think their elected officials represent their interests.


Arizona must find ways to make improvements on the key features of a healthy society. None of the citizen goals described by The Arizona We Want -- quality jobs for all Arizonans, an internationally competitive P-20 education system, a healthy environment, etc. -- can be achieved without significant improvements in civic engagement and the sense of connection that Arizonans feel to one another.


These harsh facts caused the Center to drill more deeply into the issue of citizen engagement. The result was a report released last September, the 2010 Arizona Civic Health Index. Using data from the National Conference on Citizenship and the U.S. Census Bureau, we found that Arizona ranks quite low on virtually all major indicators used to measure civic health in our nation.


Key findings of the Civic Health Index include:

  • Arizona ranks 40th in the nation for voter registration and 43rd for voter turnout among eligible citizens.
  • 37% of Arizonans say they do not follow the news or discuss the news regularly.
  • Arizona ranks 48th in the nation for exchanging favors with neighbors regularly and 45th for eating dinner with family/household members almost every day, two key indicators of citizen engagement and the sense of connection that people in our state feel to one another.

 

Together these findings emphasize the need to reconnect people to the leaders they elect to represent them, and to begin the great challenge of restoring citizen trust in the institutions that exist to serve society. The Five Communities Project was created to address these objectives. It is our sincere hope that Arizona communities will enthusiastically respond.