Public policy possibilities are often developed and discussed within a fog of enthusiasm. It’s not that the people who advance them do not think at all about their possible practical consequences. But they tend to think a lot more about the consequences that are...
The raucous debate last month (March, 2010) over the health care bill was hardly unexpected. For more than one hundred years, efforts to provide better access to decent health care for all Americans have been thwarted. And, in fact, when universal health care was...
Blogging, like most forms of communication, can serve various purposes. It can contribute to both IF’s learning by doing (through recruiting, say) and teaching (by drawing attention to the lessons we have learned by doing). But it is a fundamental error to value...
Two previous installments in this practical tips series have attempted to glean wisdom from the facilitators who have led dozens of discussions on IF reports. We have looked at some of the issues involved in putting behinds in the seats and jump-starting conceptual...
You can download MS Word copies of the expense cover sheets for IF sponsored courses and for citizen discussions by clicking on the following links: Expense Form for IF-Sponsored Courses Expense Form for Citizen Discussions Please include your receipts when you...
IF conducts projects that result in reports containing contrasting policy possibilities so that others may have the benefit of “starting points” in their own discussions of policy areas. Presumably, a helpful report could assist other citizens in getting an initial...
In my previous installment on practical tips I looked at recruitment of citizen groups. The who, what, and where of that first step of gathering the bodies exerts considerable influence on how you might want to initiate discussion of policy possibilities. We will...
Life imitates art, or so they say. But not always. At least not completely. Take the story of Chicken Little. True, we’ve got no shortage these days of Chicken Littles. It’s hard to turn around without bumping into a Chicken Little leading a parade of experts,...
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 are not limited...
A lot of people wonder why IF public discussions focus on conceptual possibilities. Instead of talking about abstract ideas, why not deal with something really practical? The short answer is that, from one perspective at least, nothing could be more practical...