Around the World with NRC

Yesterday, NRC President Tom Miller presented via Webinar to a delegation of Chinese officials hosted by ICMA International. The topic? The National Citizen Survey – why and how it’s done, how it started and the barriers our clients must overcome to succeed.

In China, resident surveys are sponsored by the government and conducted on topics such as the environment, education, public health and transportation. As in the United States, surveys in China are conducted by mail, phone and Web. The delegates note that one barrier to convincing local governments to participate in resident surveys, as in the U.S., is discomfort about being evaluated and concern that surveys seem too much like direct democracy instead of government by representation.

In collaboration with ICMA, NRC works across international borders to bring the "voice of the people" to local government. In addition to our session with China this week, NRC staff is busy analyzing recent data collected in Afghanistan to assess resident's perspectives of the reconstruction process. Our work in these countries is representative of our commitment to local government and the necessity of survey work to the success of democracy everywhere. No matter the language, good government listens!

To learn more about the work of our partners at ICMA International, visit http://icma.org/en/international/