Another New Year is here! One of the most popular things to do before a new year rushes in is to conjure many new beginnings—or to make a list of New Year’s resolutions—or, in other words, to set some personal… Read More »
Tag Archives: attitude
Democratic Deliberations and Self-Interest
I am currently taking a special topics course on Citizenship Learning, Participatory Democracy, and Social Change. Even before starting the course, I knew I would be able to link much of what is studied in the class to things I… Read More »
Posted in Education, Perspectives Also tagged citizen discussions, communication skills, deliberation, facilitation Comments closed
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Discussion as Improv: Serve the Others
New participants in an Interactivity Foundation discussion project often wonder how to act when taking part in the discussion. Often when people hear that we’ll be engaged in thoughtful civic discussion, they think of this in terms of “debate” or… Read More »
Posted in Perspectives Also tagged creativity, discussion process, facilitation, IF discussion process, Project Discussions Comments closed
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Interactivity of Ideas
There are many different kinds of the interactivity going on in IF public discussions. But the interactivity of ideas is one of the most important ones. Our reports are developed by two groups of people who meet every month for… Read More »
Posted in Perspectives Also tagged citizen discussion reports, citizen discussions, civic engagement, conceptual possibilities, discussion process, Discussion Reports, IF discussion process, interactivity, Public Discussions Comments closed
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What Makes a Policy Possibility Worthwhile to Discuss?
I recently participated in a conference on immigration policy in Washington DC. One of the speakers forestalled criticism by saying that his recommendations were neither new nor original, and that that none of the ideas in the current discussion of… Read More »
Posted in Perspectives Also tagged citizen discussions, contrasting possibilities, discussion process, Project Discussions, Public Discussions Comments closed
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Managing Anger in Public Discussion
IF public discussions provide participants with opportunities to discuss contrasting policy possibilities in neutral, non-partisan settings. Because these possibilities are meant to be anticipatory of possible policy approaches that allow participants to “re-imagine” how society handles issues, our discussions are… Read More »
Posted in Perspectives Also tagged challenges, citizen discussions, discussion process, facilitation, Public Discussions Comments closed
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Dealing With Difference
Difference is a fundamental fact of human life. There is similarity too. But difference is the reason why we need to have discussions about public policy. It is also the reason why they should occur face-to-face, over extended periods of… Read More »
Posted in Perspectives Also tagged conversations, governance, personal development, reasoning skills Comments closed
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Some Thoughts on Recruiting Panels for the Best Contrast of Possibilities
The current tendency within IF is to recruit at least the generalist panels via Public (or “Citizen”) Discussions. Those of us who use Meetup to recruit Citizen Discussion participants have a greater chance of connecting with a broader public. We… Read More »
Posted in Perspectives Also tagged citizen discussions, Project Discussions, Public Discussions, recruiting Comments closed
‘The Best-Laid Plans…’
“Quite often good things have hurtful consequences. There are instances of men
who have been ruined by their money or killed by their courage”
Aristotle
Actions have consequences. Whatever we do in both our private and public lives has consequences.… Read More »
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