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 »
Tag Archives: deliberation
Democratic Deliberations and Self-Interest
Posted in Education, Perspectives Also tagged attitude, citizen discussions, communication skills, facilitation Comments closed
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Teaching How to Think About Policy
One of the things that the Interactivity Foundation does is to teach people how to think about public policy possibilities. This will sound patronizing only if you misunderstand why, what, and how we do it.
I heard an interview with… Read More »
Posted in Perspectives Also tagged challenges, citizen discussion reports, citizen discussions, civic engagement, communication skills, conceptual possibilities, contrasting possibilities, discussion process, Discussion Reports, facilitation, IF discussion process Comments closed
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How to Evaluate an IF Policy Possibility—Part 2
Once you have a basic understanding of the policy possibility—what it says and what it doesn’t—the next step is to understand why someone might actually propose it. In order to do this, you will typically need to go beyond the… Read More »
Posted in Perspectives Also tagged challenges, citizen discussions, communication skills, creativity, personal development, reasoning skills Comments closed
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There are policy discussions and then there are policy discussions
Election time is probably the time when people hear and talk about policy the most. So you may feel that you have already heard way too much about policy debates in recent months. And you may feel—just like me—completely disgusted… Read More »
Posted in Perspectives Also tagged citizen discussions, civic engagement, conceptual possibilities, democracy, discussion process, Discussion Reports, facilitation, personal development, Public Discussions Comments closed
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What’s Different About IF Policy Discussions?
The Interactivity Foundation (IF) promotes the thoughtful consideration of a wide range of conceptually contrasting policy possibilities in selected areas of concern. One way that we do this is through our sanctuary projects, which typically involve private discussions lasting a… Read More »
Posted in Perspectives Also tagged citizen discussions, civic engagement, conceptual possibilities, consensus, contrasting possibilities, conversations, discussion process, Discussion Reports, Public Discussions, small groups Comments closed
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An Exemplar of Civic Conversation
Owen Coyle, a friend of over thirty years duration, passed away a week ago and the time since has been filled with memories of political collaborations and stories shared about our other adventures. The collaborations started with sharing the same… Read More »
Posted in Perspectives Also tagged civic engagement, conversations, democracy, generosity Comments closed
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Why Contrasting Possibilities?
So much of what goes on under the name of political discussion is aimed at persuading people to accept certain public policies. And so much of what goes on in facilitated public policy discussions is aimed at bringing a group… Read More »
Posted in Perspectives Also tagged civic engagement, discussion process, educational implications, personal development Comments closed
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Making the Town Hall Work
The “ambush” of US Congressional representatives over the summer of 2009 by the foes of national health care reform did little to endear expanded citizen participation to those who bore the brunt of bullying and disruption at so-called “town hall”… Read More »
Posted in Perspectives Also tagged citizen discussions, civic engagement, communication skills, governance 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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