For new ideas and discussion about innovations and issues impacting the field of deliberative democracy, please join the DDC blogger corps at http://www.deliberative-democracy.net/blog.  Recent entries include dispatches from Taylor Willingham of Texas Issues Forums on new tools, Matt Leighninger of the DDC on "Citizens at the Center," and AmericaSpeaks' Joe Goldman offers some reflection -- and photos -- from New Orleans.

Also, be sure to visit the Journal of Public Deliberation's practitioner and scholar editions online at: http://www.auburn.edu/jpd/ and http://services.bepress.com/jpd/. Recent contributions from Jane Mansbridge, John Gastil, and Jim Snider.

FInally, we'd like to increase our reader base. If you value the eBulletin as a resource, please pass it along to your colleagues and encourage them to subscribe at http://www.deliberative-democracy.net/ebulletin/

Many thanks,

lars hasselblad torres
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editor@deliberative-democracy.net

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1 | [Study] The Job of Public Sector Management is to Maximize Deliberation
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Not quite, but the Work Foundation in the UK has issued a new report that urges policy-makers endorse 'public value' over mainstay concerns of 'consumer' choice and satisfaction with public services.  In their report, "Deliberative Democracy and the Role of Public Managers," the authors Louise Horner, Rohit Lekhi, and Ricardo Blaug argue that public sector manager's sense of connection with the public is essential to the legitimacy and responsiveness of their organization.  Legitimacy and responsiveness, the authors suggest, lie at the center of public service value and that such value is created when agencies involve and interact with the public to design, plan, provide and evaluate service provision.  This, one must conclude, is where deliberative democracy offers lessons and insight to the public management sector.

Access the report here: http://www.theworkfoundation.com/products/publications/azpublications/publicvaluefinalreport.aspx


2 | [Conference] Dialogue and Lessons from Democratic Governance at NLC
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As part of the Leadership Training Institute at the National League of Cities conference (Reno, Nevada December 5-9), there will be a full-day workshop called "Building Inclusive Communities through Democratic Governance."   NLC describes a workshop in which, "Participants in this seminar will learn more about how these ideas support one another, and find out about tools and structures they can use in their own communities.  Participants will take part in a sample dialogue on cultural difference, extract lessons from a number of democratic governance projects, and hear from elected officials about the lessons they have learned in doing this work.  Members of the Democratic Governance and Equity and Opportunity Panels will serve as presenters, facilitators, and panellists.  There will be substantial opportunities for participants to learn from the Panel members, and from each other, in small-group discussions."

For more information please visit: http://www.nlc.org/Newsroom/Nation_s_Cities_Weekly/Weekly_NCW/2006/10/23/12412.cfm


3 |  [Book] DDC Executive Director Book Tour
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Matthew Leighninger, Director of the Deliberative Democracy Consortium, has hit the road to discuss his new book, "The Next Form of Democracy," (with a forward by former US Senator Bill Bradley).  Matt will be a guest for an author's luncheon (a book talk) on December 12th at the NeighborWorks America Training Institute in New Orleans. (www.nw.org).  "The Next Form of Democracy: How Expert Rule Is Giving Way to Shared Governance...and Why Politics Will Never Be the Same" is a tour through the opening landscape of American civic engagement.  Angela Blackwell, President of PolicyLink, writes that in his new book, Matthew, "contributes immensely to our understanding of the true meaning and real challenges of participatory democracy. He explores the intersection of race and regional planning and development and exposes the failure to create a society in which everyone can participate and prosper. This is an important book for policymakers, advocates, and all those committed to achieving the promise of democracy."

To learn more about "The Next Form of Democracy," visit Amazon.com.  To find out about where he's speaking about his book, contact Matt directly at mattleighninger@earthlink.net


4 |  [Conference] IAP2: Décision Montréal
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November 10-15, Montreal will be host to the International Association for Public Participation's 2006 conference.  This year's conference is marked by keynote presentations from a range of perspectives, including WorldChanging.com founding editor Jamais Cascio, the planner John Forester from Cornell, the action artist Annie Roy, and Youth Action Network coordinator Michelle Dagnino.

For more information about this year's vibrant program, visit http://www.iap2.org


5 | US-Canada Federal Learning Network Proposed
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During the annual conference of the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) a small group of public participation proponents will gather to scope out a knowledge exchange between federal managers in the US and managers in Canada.  The purpose of the exchange is to share and develop knowledge around effective public involvement practices in government.  This kick-off meeting, which will be held in Montreal November 14, will be an effort to gauge interest and plan potential next steps.

To join the conversation or to learn more, contact Matt Leighninger at mattleighninger@earthlink.net


6 |  [Conference] Americans for the Arts 2007
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 Americans for the Arts announces a call for session proposals for its 2007 annual convention, Risk & Reward: Balancing Acts in Arts and Community, in Las Vegas, NV, June 1-3, 2007.  In particular, Animating Democracy is requesting proposals for a track of civic engagement sessions, which will explore how the arts offer fresh sparks, welcoming invitations, needed spaces, and new forms of civic participation. From volunteering to voting, from community building to community healing, from issue awareness to social action-the arts can facilitate participation in community and political life and, by doing so, help people express their citizenship. What are best practices for artists, arts organizations, and arts councils working in the civic realm? How can we focus our civic intent for maximum civic impact?

Americans for the Arts seeks session proposals that take chances with topics, perspectives, and formats. The submission deadline is December 1, 2006. For more details on how to submit, visit http://www.AmericansForTheArts.org/convention.


7 | [Resource] Wise Democracy Victoria
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Wise Democracy Victoria is a group of citizens concerned about the state of democracy - in Victoria, in British Columbia, in Canada, and on the planet. The mission of Wise Democracy Victoria is to seek out and investigate processes that can enhance the scope, collabarativeness, and co-intelligence of democratic systems. Wise Democracy Victoria comprises a growing number of people who realize that better governance cannot be expected unless  fundamental changes are made to existing systems. 

There are several upcoming events in Victoria, BC including Friday, November 10th an Introduction to Wisdom Councils that will feature Tom Atlee, author of "The Tao of Democracy," and Jim Rough, author of Society’s Breakthrough, who will introduce two key innovations in democratic participation: "Dynamic Facilitation" and the "Wisdom Council." 

For more information, contact Caspar Davis at prana4@shaw.ca or George Sranko at geo@jollytoad.co


8 | [Resource] Canadian Policy Research Network Explores Health, Education and Civic Engagement
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"Citizens: An Underused and Undervalued Asset in the Pursuit of Improved Health Care and Delivery," a new report from CPRN, makes the case for why regional health authorities in New Brunswick should give citizens a permanent place at their health policy table. The author, Mary Pat MacKinnon, Director of CPRN’s Public Involvement Network, clarifies the definition of citizen engagement as she applies the concept to the development of health policy. The article was originally published for the New Brunswick Healthcare Association, in the May 2006 edition of Health Matters. To access or download a copy, please visit: http://www.cprn.org/en/doc.cfm?doc=1551

Last Spring, experts and delegates from 12 countries met in Copenhagen to discuss the impact of education on health and social and civic engagement. The OECD’s Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) has published several papers from that symposium. In one of them, Grounding in a Broader Framework of Determinants of Health, CPRN’s Family Network Director, David Hay, gives a critical analysis of the project’s review of literature that examines the hypothesis that education has an impact on health. To access the proceedings of the Copenhagen symposium, please visit: http://tinyurl.com/yygrcn. To download David Hay’s paper, visit: http://tinyurl.com/se7jc


9 | [Survey] Policy Consensus Initiative on Deliberative Democracy, Stakeholder Decision-making, and Community Problem-solving
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The Policy Consensus Initiative (PCI) is conducting a survey to gather examples of where citizen engagement strategies have been used in combination with either community problem-solving or multi-stakeholder dispute resolution.  (An example of such a combination would be a project that was identified in a public forum and implemented through a community group or a stakeholder group.)  The results will be shared with participating organizations.

To complete the survey, please visit: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=284742730370


10 | [Resource] Study Circles Guide to Inclusive Community Conversations on Education
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SCRC's latest story booklet "Montgomery County, Maryland: Where a diverse community comes together to work together to make schools better for all" is the story of a study circle program in Montgomery County Public Schools that's helping teachers, administrators, parents, and students address the effects of racism on student achievement. In a school district of more than 140,000 students with 160 nationalities represented, study circles are provide a bridge for schools to reach out to people of all backgrounds, and a way for schools and community to work together to improve education for all students.

The booklet can be downloaded free of charge at: http://www.studycircles.org//en/Resource.101.aspx) or order a hard copy for $1.50


11 | Groundbreaking EU Consultations Continue
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On the weekend of the 7 and 8 of October 2006, 200 citizens from all 25 Member States met in Brussels to set the agenda for the national consultations to take place in all EU Member States in the coming year.  Three topics for national level consultations emerged: Environment and energy; Social welfare and family; Europe's global role, its external borders and immigration. 

In November and December 2006, two “test groups” of 40 citizens will meet in so-called citizens’ juries to discuss and assess which kind of information participants of the national consultations require to lead fruitful discussions. Then, national consultations will take place from February to March 2007 in all EU Member States.  Citizens will discuss the overarching question “What is needed to achieve the Europe we want?” based on the three topics selected at the agenda-setting event in October. At least four consultations will take  place at the same time, expected to create a "European atmosphere" and enable an exchange of  results and a true European dialogue across locations.

A final consultation will take place in May 2007. All 25 national results will be synthesised and  integrated to achieve as a result the “European Citizens’ Perspectives”. The hand-over of this  document to European decision-makers will kick off the European follow-up process, informing the public and all participants about the role of their results in the formal political discussions on the  future development of the European Union. 

For more information, please visit: http://www.european-citizens-consultations.eu 
For queries, please contact: Felix Oldenburg, IFOK GmbH atfelix.oldenburg@ifok.de 


12 | New Orleans UNOP Process Seeks to Engage Thousands of Citizens
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AmericaSpeaks, a leader in the design and production of large-scale town meetings, is supporting recovery in New Orleans by coordinating December 2nd's Community Congress II, a key milestone in the Unified New Orleans Plan process.  UNOP is a six-month planning process established by the Mayor, the New Orleans City Council, and the City Planning Commission to produce a unified citywide plan for New Orleans by the beginning of 2007 that will guide public and private investment for rebuilding the city. The December 2nd town meetings are an historic opportunity for New Orleanians still living in Atlanta, Baton Rouge, Dallas and Houston to join with those residents in New Orleans for a truly inclusive meeting.  New Orleanians in these five cities will be connected together using interactive technology.

According to the effort's materials, this is one of the last opportunities for New Orleanians to voice and vote on funding decisions for rebuilding the city, to give Mayor Nagin, City Council and the City Planning Commission a list of priorities that reflect the will of the people who want to live and return to New Orleans.  The completed plan will be submitted in January to local officials and then provided to the Louisiana Recovery Authority.

More information about the UNOP process is available at: http://www.unifiedneworleansplan.com


13 | [Resource] Newly Launched "International Journal of Public Participation"
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Have a great piece but aren’t sure where to send it? John Gastil asks that you consider the International Journal of Public Participation (IJP2), edited by Kettering Foundation alumnus Michael Briand. The IJP2 is a peer-reviewed, on-line, multi-disciplinary forum for the exchange of information among researchers, practitioners, decision-makers, and citizens about public participation and its impact around the world. The inaugural issue will appear in March 2007.  Articles should be as concise as possible (2000 to 5000 words in length), constructive, and based on evidence and careful argument. They should use clear, direct language and avoid jargon. (For sample format guides, see the Journal of Public Deliberation at http://services.bepress.com/jpd/styleguide.html). The deadline for receipt of manuscripts is December 29, 2006.

If you are interested in submitting or proposing a contribution, please contact Michael Briand, Editor, at mkbriand@internetconet.net. 


14 | [Resource] NCDD's Impressive "Learning Exchange"
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The National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation will be launching a new resource called The Learning Exchange, which seeks to provide the most updated and comprehensive collection of information related to dialogue and deliberation -- anywhere!  The Learning Exchange includes such goodies as the ability to add your own resource; a coding system to help users identify things like how new the resource is, whether it comes "highly recommended, and usefulness for beginners; and RSS feeds to keep track of updates.  NCDD's Learning Exchange is still in beta (testing), but its live on the web for a sneak peek with 1,673 resources in the database.  You can access these resources at http://www.thataway.org/exchange

NCDD also welcomes your feedback on ways to improve the site.  Please write to Sandy Heierbacher with your questions and feedback: sandy@thataway.org


15 | "Speed Deliberation" and Ideological Amplification
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A few months ago, the scholar Cass Sunstein and his collaborators provoked deliberative democracy proponents by releasing a study that argued deliberation increases (or "amplifies") political polarization.  This week, the New York Times extends the debate with opinion writer John Tierney's "Must We Talk" piece.  The recent study, titled, "Political Deliberation and Ideological Amplification: An Empirical Investigation" (published in August), sought to diverge from most 'experimental' designs (presumably, the models of public talk used by groups like the the Center for Deliberative Democrcy, AmericaSpeaks, Study Circles, and others) by creating more "real world" conditions.  To do this, they asked 63 residents in Colorado to discuss three tough issues --  global warming, affirmative action, and civil unions for same-sex groups -- over the space of two hours.  Each group was asked to come to consensus in 15 minutes on each discussion topic and then they were individually polled on their views.  Based on this design, the scholars conclude that in real-world political deliberation, distribution of opinions concentrates in the extremes and most of opinion overlap evaporates.  Ironically, some commentators seemed to immediately agree -- or disagree.

To join the fray, visit: http://select.nytimes.com/2006/11/07/opinion/07tierney.html
The DDC's Matt Leighninger responds: http://www.deliberative-democracy.net/blog/?p=168