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 seen as shaping election results: Electoral College, gerrymandering, voter suppression, etc. This guidebook has, perhaps, generated … Read more »
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- Posts tagged "democracy"
Posts tagged "democracy"
I.F. Launches Partnership with Inclusive Dubuque
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. The partnership presents I.F. with an historically large opportunity: the chance to infuse an entire medium sized city with … Read more »
Read More civic engagement, democracy, learning by doing‘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. The policies that we enact on the local, state, and national levels affect individuals, groups, … Read more »
Read More attitude, deliberation, democracy, public discussion, reasoning skillsIs Online Relevance Killing Diversity?
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?
Read More challenges, civic engagement, democracy, public discussionWhat Does It Mean to Develop a Policy Possibility?
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 select the concerns that they think would be the most … Read more »
Read More conceptual possibilities, contrasting possibilities, democracyOn Wisconsin
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 muted the public unions. As a professional … Read more »
Read More democracy, WisconsinWhat’s a Conceptual Policy Possibility?
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 sort of rule of action—in this case a rule for some collective or social action. Thinking about … Read more »
Read More conceptual possibilities, contrasting possibilities, democracy, discussion process, Project DiscussionsThere 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 with all the negative campaign ads, and their denigration of their opponents’ policies. The worst … Read more »
Read More citizen discussions, civic engagement, conceptual possibilities, deliberation, democracy, discussion process, Discussion Reports, facilitation, personal development, Public DiscussionsThe Questions We Ask
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 in response to increasing evidence for the answers we have given, … Read more »
Read More democracy, governance