Archive of E-Journals (March 31, 2011 - present)

eJournal USA: Making Their Mark: Black Women Leaders  (PDF 1.2 MB)
Department of State, Volume 17, Number 2, February 2012

This issue of eJournal USA profiles African-American women of the 20th and 21st centuries who have made significant contributions to many spheres of American life. It also offers insights into how earlier generations of African-American women serve as touchstones for the present generation.

eJournal USA: The Spirit of Volunteerism (PDF 3.3 MB)
Department of State, Volume 16, Number 5, January 2012

This issue of eJournalUSA is dedicated to the unheralded citizens who collectively contribute some $173 billion annually through their unpaid labor. They are part of a tradition of volunteerism that has deep roots in U.S. society. Firefighting was an early form of volunteerism that Benjamin Franklin introduced in Philadelphia in 1736. This innovative idea spread rapidly, and within a few years the cities up and down the eastern seaboard of North America boasted volunteer fire companies.

The tradition of volunteerism flourishes today in communities large and small and in a myriad forms as the Internet opens new vistas for volunteerism, allowing people to help others worldwide without leaving home. The tradition is embodied by health care workers serving in areas devastated by natural disasters, by the “grandfathers” of Alexandria, Virginia, who mentor young boys growing up without fathers, and by volunteers who help refugees from distant lands build new lives in U.S. cities. The Spirit of Volunteerism recounts their stories and the stories of those whom they serve.

eJournal USA: A Healthy Future (PDF 2.3 MB)
Department of State, Volume 16, Number 4, December 2011

Learn how governments, businesses and communities in Central America, East Asia, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and the United States are partnering to leverage their resources to combat climate change.

eJournal USA: Cultivating Civil Society 2.0 (PDF 5.5 MB)
Department of State, Volume 16, Number 3, October 2011
 
Social media sites have been used by civil society to organize social movements, such as the spring 2011 protests in Cairo, Egypt.

Civil society consists of organizations and institutions that help and look after people, their health and their rights. The work of civil society groups complements the efforts of governments and the private sector. Whether the goal is as local as building a new school or as global as stemming the spread of HIV/AIDS, civil society is a vital player and essential partner.

As more and more people around the world have gained access to computers, phones and other mobile communication devices, civil society organizations have kept pace. Civil society is pioneering the use of so-called “connection technologies” (for example, mobile phones, mapping applications and social-networking software) to improve health, promote transparency, advance human rights and uphold justice. Connection technologies are limited only by the ingenuity of their users. Increasingly, civil society groups are using technology in unprecedented ways to carry out their work and expand the sphere in which they operate.

This issue of eJournal USA explores the evolving intersection between civil society and technology and offers examples of how civil society organizations are exploiting technology’s potential to give a voice to the voiceless and homes to the homeless.

eJournal USA: Climate Action Goes Local (PDF 1.5 MB)
Department of State, Volume 16, Number 2, August 2011

As a global phenomenon, climate change is an issue that we usually look to the international community to address. Local communities, however, are increasingly taking the lead in developing innovative, grass-roots approaches to mitigating and combating the causes and effects of global warming. According to a study by the United Nations Development Programme, most investments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to climate change must take place at the local level. In the United States, local governments and private citizens have been collaborating to curb those emissions, without waiting for solutions at the national or international level.

This issue of eJournal USA examines what it means to think globally about climate change — and to act locally. “Climate Action Goes Local” shows how communities and nongovernmental groups worldwide are initiating programs that counter climate change, and why leadership from local officials and buy-in from local populations and businesses are necessary for such programs to be effective. An excerpt from Local Action: The New Paradigm in Climate Change Policy by Tommy Linstroth and Ryan Bell outlines advantages local governments have over higher-level governments and institutions in developing, monitoring and adapting climate change programs to serve their constituencies.

This volume also recounts how local governments, businesses and communities in Central America, East Asia, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and the United States are partnering to leverage their resources, thereby multiplying the impact of their programs.

The success of the local efforts described herein suggests that local governments and communities are well-positioned to achieve tangible environmental benefits without sacrificing economic growth and development.

Educating Women and Girls (PDF 1.5 MB)
Department of State, Volume 15, Number 12, May 2011

Education is crucial to a country’s economic and social development. Research by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) shows that each year of schooling increases an individual’s economic output by 4 to 7 percent. Educating women and girls, in particular, yields profound social and economic benefits. Studies demonstrate that educating women and girls leads to lower infant and child mortality rates, lower maternal mortality rates, better educated children and increased participation by women in the workforce. Yet despite these benefits, in many countries females receive less schooling than males.

Equal access to education by males and females has been defined as a universal human right by the United Nations. Realizing this right by expanding educational opportunities for women and girls requires the commitment of many sectors of a society. This issue of eJournal USA explores how international organizations, state governments, the private sector and individuals — in many different countries are tackling this global challenge and improving people’s lives.

Peace Corps: 50 Years of Promoting Friendship and Peace (PDF 1.6 MB) Department of State, Volume 15, Number 11, May 2011

During the 1960 presidential campaign, candidate John F. Kennedy asked a group of U.S. college students, “How many of you who are going to be doctors are willing to spend your days in Ghana? Technicians or engineers, how many of you are willing to work in the Foreign Service and spend your lives traveling around the world?” Within months of taking office in 1961, Kennedy signed an executive order establishing the Peace Corps.

Since then, more than 200,000 Americans have responded to Kennedy’s challenge by serving as Peace Corps volunteers, helping people in 139 countries to raise fish and farm animals, learn English, and build basic water systems.  In the process of helping others, these Americans have learned about the world and brought their enhanced understanding of other countries and cultures back to the United States.

In this issue of eJournal USA, we mark the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps with narratives written by past volunteers and we glimpse the future of the Peace Corps in an essay by current Peace Corps Director Aaron S. Williams.

Ethical and Effective Policing (PDF 2.2 MB)
Department of State, Volume 15, Number 10, April 2011

As enforcers of the law, police play a crucial role in upholding democracy. In democratic societies, citizens grant increased authority to police in order to live in a safe community. They give police the power to detain, search, arrest citizens, and lawfully use physical force when situations dictate. In return, police departments must ensure that police officers adhere to high ethical standards. When they don't, the reciprocal trust between citizenry and police is disrupted, undermining the tacit social contract that is the basis of democracy. This issue of eJournal USA examines the ways in which citizens and police strive to sustain the social contract.