2018 Democracy Discussions IF’s Democratic Promise guidebook has been discussed a number of times since its initial publication. Interest in the subject seems to somewhat track the election cycle and concerns about election process and practice features that are...
In December 2014 I.F. launched a partnership with “Inclusive Dubuque” (I.D.), a city-wide, network-based initiative involving upwards of 30 civic groups, major businesses, and institutions of higher learning. I.F.’s principal role will be to train facilitators. ...
“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. The policies...
I was somewhat naïve and, like many other people, believed that information flows on the Internet are still like the wild, wild west. But the reality is very different. If you and I google the same term—but differ in age, political views, gender, and browsing history—we would get different results. What's so bad about this?
What does it mean to develop a policy possibility? And why do we spend so much time doing it in our sanctuary projects? Most IF projects follow the same discussion process: the panelists first develop concerns that Americans may have about the issue; they then...
At its best, democracy isn't just "rule by the people" or even "rule of, by, and for the people." It's rule by people who listen to each other. Wisconsin's Republican leadership has turned a deaf ear to one house of the state legislature, muzzled the other, and...
Interactivity Foundation Project Discussions aim at generating contrasting conceptual policy possibilities with the hopes of expanding and enriching public thinking about a complex area of social and political concern. You might think of a “policy” as providing a...
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 with all the negative campaign...
At the dawn of western philosophy Socrates was asking questions in the Athenian agora. The whole of western thought has arguably been developed in search of answers to the questions he asked. But our understanding of philosophy and science has developed not so much...
One of the core aspects of IF is that the policy possibilities in our discussion reports are not developed by politicians and policy wonks, but by citizens for their fellow citizens. Our project facilitators are charged with seeing that our panelists focus upon...