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Deliberative Democracy | Bulletin vol.2 no. 4, April 23, 2003
Suggestions, comments or additions for this service? Write to <editor@deliberative-democracy.net>
~ editor
1 | d-d.net Blog: New Models, Prospects for Conservative Partners
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At a recent conference of the Society for Values in Higher Education, DDC Steering committee member Peter Levine (UMD/CIRCLES) was struck by the absence of conservative thinkers, both at the meeting and more generally within the deliberative democracy movement. These observations and an account of the conference frame Peter's comments on the d-d.net blog.
If you have experiences or opinions to share about campus-based deliberative practices, or around political diversity in the deliberative democracy field, we hope you'll add your comments at <http://www.deliberative-democracy.net/mt/>.
Other recent d-d.net blog topics include an explanation of the Forum Foundation's "Symbolic Dialogue" model, with an open invitation from FF president John Spady for feedback from interested colleagues.
The d-d.net blog is a space for firsthand accounts from our shared fields of practice, and collaborative commentary on the issues and challenges facing the deliberative democracy community. Add your comments to the current entries, and email <jedm@weblab.org> to find out how to submit a new blog entry.
2 | A Voice for Deliberative Democracy at IAP2
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Deliberative Democracy Consortium Steering Committee chair Dr. Carolyn Lukensmeyer (President, AmericaSpeaks) will present the keynote address to the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) annual conference in Ottawa, Quebec. This year’s conference, “Information to Empowerment: A Global Perspective” will take place May 19-23 at the Westin, Ottawa.
For complete conference details, visit <http://www.iap2.org/conference/conference-at-a-glance.htm>
3 | Digital Democracy Conference Papers Available
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Papers from the recent “Democracy in the Digital Age” conference hosted by the Information Society Project, Yale Law School, are available at <http://islandia.law.yale.edu/isp/democracy_conference_main.html>. Topics include: “How do People Deliberate: Deliberative Discourse and the Internet”; “How Political Decisions are Made: Citizen Participation and Decision-Making”; and “Creating Public Discourse: Cultural Transmission and the Creation of Democratic Discourse”.
4 | NIF User Survey
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The National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation (NCDD) has been given the opportunity to conduct a survey of practitioners of public deliberation who are familiar with National Issues Forums. If you have used the NIF model or materials, NCDD strongly encourages you to complete their brief survey at <www.thataway.org/ncdd/nifsurvey/>.
For further information about the NIF model, visit <http://www.thataway.org/ncdd/NIFfeature.htm>
5 | United States Consensus Council Update
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On April 11, 2003, Senator Susan Collins, joined by Senators Dorgan, Santorum, and Conrad, introduced S. 908, The United States Consensus Council Act of 2003. Senator Collins' leadership is particularly valuable since she chairs the Senate committee of jurisdiction, Governmental Affairs. The Council is now working now with the staff of Representative Dennis Rehberg to gain early introduction of a bi-partisan House companion bill. The USCC coordinators’ goal is to secure passage of authorizing legislation prior to September 30, 2003 to take advantage of $1 million in appropriations for the USCC included (subject to authorizing legislation) in the FY 2003 Appropriations Bill.
For more information, visit: <http://www.sfcg.org/locdetail.cfm?locus=America&name=programs&programid=356&CFID=54562&CFTOKEN=7d4161cb64fdfd7a-4A08A48F-F86E-A6F3-EEA07A00066D396F>
6 | Canada Adopts Guidelines for Policy Dialogues
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Canada’s recently adopted Code of Good Practice on Policy Dialogue fulfills an accord signed between the government of Canada and the country’s voluntary sector, sealing their commitment to take measures that put the accord’s provisions into action. As such, “the Code is a tool for deepening the dialogue between the Government of Canada and the voluntary sector at the various stages of the public policy process in order to achieve better policies for Canadians."
For more information, visit <http://www.vsi-isbc.ca/eng/joint_tables/accord/doc/codes_policy.doc>
The Accord itself can be found at <http://www.vsi-isbc.ca/>.
7 | ethePeople Nominated for Webby
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IssuesPA.net has been nominated for a "Webby" as best political site in 2002. ethePeople
is “pleased to be recognized for our contribution in developing this site.” Other nominees include ABC's The Note, MoveOn.org and Congress.org.
Help ethePeople win the Peoples' Voice award by visiting <http://www.ethepeople.org> and vote for them at <http://www.webbyawards.com/peoplesvoice>.
8 | Collaboration as Cooptation?
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Collaboration helps to broaden and deepen democratic participation in public policy decision making, forges invaluable relationships within communities, and helps parties in opposition to meet their vital interests together. Yet, collaborative processes are not immune from criticism. Some would say that collaboration is really a smokescreen for co-opting the public. Read and react to some of the major criticisms of collaborative processes by visiting <http://www.csus.edu/ccp/newsletter/index.htm>
9 | New Civic Engagement Tool for Organizations
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The Harwood Institute has released, “Making It Real: How to Make Civic Engagement a Public Sensibility.”
The effort to connect organizations and the public is often referred to as civic engagement. But true civic engagement is more than just "a process for involving people." True civic engagement is a vibrant approach to public life.
Making it Real: How to Make Civic Engagement a Public Sensibility offers seven ways for public leaders and organizations to infuse civic engagement practices throughout their public work. The workbook presents stories of success and provides concrete tools and actions to help leaders.
Cost is $35. To obtain a copy of Making it Real, e-mail<thi@theharwoodinstitute.org> or call (301) 656 3669.
10 | “Deliberation as Spectacle” at ECA’s Annual Conference
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This year’s Eastern Communication Association will emphasize the role of discourse and democracy, the focus of a pre-conference session at the annual gathering in Washington, D.C. If you can’t make it, look for John Gastil’s paper, “The Practical Significance of Deliberative Spectacles: Connecting Experiments
in Public Deliberation with the Everyday Practice of Politics.”
View the conference announcement and program at <http://209.235.208.145/cgi-bin/WebSuite/tcsAssnWebSuite.pl?Action=DisplayTe
mplate&Page=AWS_ECA_CONVENTION.html&AssnID=ECA&DBCode=726354>
...and finally:
11 | Democracy in Iraq: a l’americain?
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In this Sunday’s New York Times, Alan Feuer writes, “In Basra, the guns have been quiet now for days, but the struggle for order has just begun. The city held its first town hall meeting today, and it was a circus of complaints and indecision. There were embittered tribal elders, angry Shiite Muslim clerics and frightened Baath Party functionaries, and it seemed that each of them was shouting louder than the next.
“The crowd of 200 or 300 people packed into a lecture hall at the University of Basra's medical school, where the air was stifling and filled with cigarette smoke. The microphones squealed with irritating feedback. The only clock was running an hour late.
“After 30 years of tyranny, Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, has had its first taste of real democracy, but few people seemed prepared for its intoxicating effects.”
Read the full story at <http://www.yorksundaynews.com/Stories/0,1413,137~10047~1338536,00.html>
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