In our sanctuary projects we ask our panelists to explore and develop an area of concern and the various conceptual policy possibilities pertaining to it. But we also try to prevent them from focusing upon problems--and especially from trying to find solutions to...
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 to consensus. This is not the aim of...
One of the things that a discussion can sometimes do is to help us to see ourselves from the outside. This happened at a recent citizen panel meeting that I facilitated on ‘What are some of the different dimensions of democracy?’ My panelists had mentioned most of...
Much of what goes on by way of facilitated group discussions in this country and around the world is aimed at forging a consensus of opinion amongst the members of the group. The group may explore a number of possibilities in the course of their discussions, but...