Please visit the DDC blogger corps at http://www.deliberative-democracy.net/blog. Recent entries include dispatches from Tim Erickson of eDemocracy.org on the UKs recent edemocracy06; Taylor Willingham of Texas Issues Forums on social networking, and Amy Lang's most recent update on the Ontario Citizens' Assembly.

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 Peter Muhlberger, Michael Briand, and Lyn Carson.

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

*****

1 | [Deliberation] Thousands of New Orleanians Unite to Shape the City's Future
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On December 2 AmericaSpeaks brought together more than 2,500 New Orleanians in 21 cities for the Unified New Orleans Plan's Community Congress II. With current and displaced residents in 5 cities interacting simultaneously -- New Orleans, Atlanta, Houston, Baton Rouge and Dallas -- and an additional 16 community sites across the country, Community Congress II sought input on some of the most challenging issues confronting planners: where to concentrate scarce recovery dollars, how to balance social welfare and development against the city's infrastructure needs, and how much emphasis to place on the environment. Among the surprising findings of the day was overwhelming support for construction of the strongest possible levees (Category 5) in the city and concentrating recovery dollars in the parts of the city with the greatest need.

Access the UNOP website and a copy of the preliminary report at: http://unifiedneworleansplan.com

2 | [Resource] Deliberation Procedure without the Substance in Denmark?
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Grahame Thompson reports at opendemocracy.net that democratic deliberation cannot advance without certain substantive guarantees even with all prodedural i's dotted and t's crossed. Mr Thompson draws his insights from September's "Coexistence of Civilizations" meetings in Copenhagen which drew together some 100+ experts etc from 20 countries to address challenges to peace in the 21st century. Among some of the obvious challenges to tackling normative questions, Mr Thompson observes that rather "bland and unobjectionable challenges" emerged as a result, and controversy was stripped away. One wonders whether such deliberative forums would have delivered the U.S. the "Declaration of Independence" or its Constitution.

Read more about Mr Thompson's experience in Copenhagen at: http://www.opendemocracy.net/globalization-vision_reflections/deliberating_democracy_4143.jsp

3 | [Deliberation] Taipei Hosts "Deliberative" Mayoral Debate
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In a sign that deliberative democracy continues to make inroads in the Asia Pacific region, the December 9 election for Mayor of Taipei was the subject of a staged "deliberation" in late November, during which viewers and not members of the media were invited to ask questions of the top three candidates. One of the two candidates excluded from the program protested the decision to host only the three top candidates in the public television program and threatened to file suit.

Read more about Taipei's "deliberative debate" in the China Post: http://www.chinapost.com.tw/i_latestdetail.asp?id=42688

4 | [Resource] Rhode Island: The Latest State to Roll Out An eDemocracy Portal
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Rhode Island unveiled its eDemocracy pages in time for the closely watched November elections. While the site does an excellent job providing election resources, it unnecessarily -- perhaps unknowingly -- constrains both the definition and field of action for an ecitizen. Kudos to the state's IT administrators for recognizing eDemocracy.org as an excellent online resource; perhaps Clift and company will be able to advance their edemocracy agenda to include consultations, scorecards, and other essential features of a robust edemocracy site.

Check out the Rhode Island's edemocracy efforts at: http://www.ri.gov/edemocracy/

5 | NSF Funds International Work Group on eDemocracy
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Professors Peter Shane of the Moritz College of Law at Ohio State University and Stephen Coleman of the University of Leeds in the UK co-Chair a recently funded multi-year National Science Foundation to evaluate policy and social impacts of online citizen consultation initiatives. According to an announcement made last week by SUNY Albany's Center for Technology Technology in Government, "The research will look at the impact of online consultations on government agencies, policy makers, public participants, and civil society organizations."

Learn more about this and other recent NSF-funded work groups at: http://www.ctg.albany.edu/about/press_dgi_20061213

6 | Dialogue by Design In China
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Further evidence that deliberative democracy may be making greater headway in Asia Pacific, Dialogue by Design is off to China to describe their experience of public participation in the United Kingdom at a seminar in early December. According to the folks at DbD, "It seems that there is a growing awareness in the Chinese government that with its surging economy will come increasing calls for political pluralism. There is no suggestion that a Western-style democracy at national level is on the cards yet, but recent State and Party statements indicate an understanding that non-democracies survive by allowing and engineering limited forms of public participation. New laws, for example, allow public hearings on administrative issues, and some local governments have even encouraged public assessment of service providers." In China, they hope to meet government officials to explore the role of public participation in good government.

Learn more about Dialogue By Design and public participation in China: http://www.dialoguebydesign.net/press/press_newsletter_dec06.htm

7 | [Resource] Governing Magazine Offers Four-part "Citizens and Performance" Series
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In a recent series of articles researched and written with the support of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Governing.com examines performance measurement and management at the state and local level, with a special emphasis on citizen involvement. Included in the four-part series is "Tracking Team," an overview of ComNet, an innovation out of New York to engage citizens in measuring the 'health' of the physical environment and "Scrutiny by the People," an overview of Washington State's overhaul of performance auditing, reforms that give citizens a greater voice in the process.

Access the series online at: http://www.governing.com/manage.htm

8 | [Resource] Quantum Governance: The Center for Governance Dialogue
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Here at the DDC we recently learned about the Institute for Public Administration of Canada's efforts to build, "A clearance house and a network to explore and debate the best practices and ideas in the creation and facilitation of dialogue between the public and the state." The effort, quantumgovernance.ca, features a regular blog packed with interesting ideas, several "toolkits" that feature an inventory of methods as well as operational "troubleshooting" guides, and a round-up of news items featuring dialogue in the public sector.

To learn more about the Center for Governance Dialogue please visit: http://www.quantumgovernance.ca

9 | [Resource] Mapping International Experiences in Deliberative Democracy
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The Mapping Project of the Deliberative Democracy Consortium still seeks respondents to its international inventory of deliberative experiences around the world.  In particular, Mapping Team members seek input from practitioners in the global south.  Please contact researcher Gabby Higgins at: ghig3811@mail.usyd.edu.au or visit the survey online at:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=27135485798

10 | [Resource] Collective Decision Making and Reclaiming the Public's Role: Two New Kettering Publications
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The Kettering Foundation has recently published, "Collective Decision Making Around the World" and "Democracy's Challenge: Reclaiming the Public's Role." In "Collective Decision Making," author Ileana Martin draws on six case studies from around the world to bring some clarity to the question of how wide spread the practice of public deliberation is around the world. In "Democracy's Challenge," Doble Research Associates summarize somewhat bleak findings about the health of American democracy from 45 Issues Forums -- the Kettering Foundation's way of fostering public deliberation -- over the course of 12 months.

Download copies of both reports at: http:www.kettering.org

11 | [Resource] IBMs "Manager's Guide to Citizen Engagement" Tops 2006 Publications
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In January, AmericaSpeaks President Carolyn Lukensmeyer and Researcher Lars Hasselblad Torres wrote "Public Deliberation: A Manager's Guide to Citizen Engagement" for the IBM Center for the Business of Government. The report, intended to be a practical guide to improving the practice of public participation within federal agencies, covered face-to-face and online methods of public deliberation as well as administrative policy. To date there have been 49,709 downloads of the report -- IBMs most popular for 2006. Please help me tip this number past 50,000 for 2006: pass along the following link to anyone you know involved in public administration and civic engagement work and who you think should read the report.

Help "tip" the guide past 50k by downloading the report at: http://www.businessofgovernment.org/main/publications/grant_reports/details/index.asp?GID=239

12 | Deliberation Round-up: Highlights from 2006 in Review
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January: IBM releases "Public Deliberation," available online at: http://www.businessofgovernment.org/main/publications/grant_reports/details/index.asp?GID=239

March: CDC and the Keystone Center wrap up their Public Engagement Pilot Project on Pandemic Influenza (PEPPPI) documented at: http://www.keystone.org/spp/health-pandemic.html

May: The Citizens Health Care Working Group wraps up its national discussion on health care reform. Read results online at: http://www.citizenshealthcare.gov

July: Deliberative Polling covered in the Financial Times: http://cdd.stanford.edu/press/2006/ft-ruins.pdf

September: Ontario Citizens Assembly begins its deliberations on electoral reform. More at: http://www.citizensassembly.gov.on.ca

November: The EU continued its pan-European consultations on the future of the EU. Online at: http://www.european-citizens-consultations.eu

Do YOU have a highlight from 2006 to share? Please post a comment to the "Highlights from the field 2006" discussion at:
http://www.deliberative-democracy.net/blog/?p=184

Order your copy of the "Deliberative Democracy Handbook" today, a practical guide to the field.
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