Abstract:
This case details the emergence and challenges of a nonprofit, blue-ribbon citizens' group which sought to influence public discourse and decisions surrounding Washington D.C.'s financial crisis in the early 1990s. DC Agenda, founded in 1974 by former Rockefeller Foundation executive James O.Gibson, was established in the wake of the scandal-marred mayoralty of Marion Barry, city budget deficits, increased drug-dealing and related crime, and middle-class urban flight from "the District" (District of Columbia). Gibson, a long-time local leader, believed that a well-funded citizen group with its own research capacity and leadership--bringing together business heads, policy analysts, neighborhood activists, and retired public officials--could set the city on a path toward improvement. The case frames the specific question of whether DC Agenda, having laid the groundwork for the election of reform mayor Anthony Williams, an experienced financial official, should change its role in Washington's civic life, or declare victory and close up shop. More broadly, it raises questions about how an effective citizens' group is formed and funded, and what said group can hope to accomplish.
Learning Objective:
The case frames the specific question of whether DC Agenda, having laid the groundwork for the election of reform mayor Anthony Williams, an experienced financial official, should change its role in Washington's civic life, or declare victory and close up shop. More broadly, it raises questions about how an effective citizens' group is formed and funded, and what said group can hope to accomplish.
