A shout out to everyone who submitted items for this month's eBulletin. Please email items to editor@deliberative-democracy.net. Please help us expand our circulation and the visibility of public deliberation throughout the world: encourage your colleagues and friends in you network to subscribe: http://www.deliberative-democracy.net/ebulletin/
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editor, ddc ebulletin

*** FROM THE BLOG ***

http://www.deliberative-democracy.net/blog

1 | Deliberative Democracy "Wheel"
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Communication scholar Martin Carcasson at the Center for Public Deliberation at Colorado State University has developed a deliberative democracy wheel, which seeks to describe the interdisciplinary nature of public deliberation. One of the purposes of the wheel is to demonstrate the connections across disciplines at a university and thereby overcome the splitting of information into arbitrary departments.

Your feedback is welcome. Download the wheel here: http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/Speech/cpd/charts.pdf and send your thoughts to mcarcas@colostate.edu.

2 | Case Foundation Launches New Program on Participation
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The Case Foundation has just launched an exciting new grant program called "Make It Your Own." The program is designed to help grassroots leaders involve their fellow citizens

in dialogue, deliberation, and action on community problems. Please check out the details at http://www.casefoundation.org/make-it-your-own and pass along the information to anyone you think would be a good candidate. If you know someone who is intending to apply, help them think through their proposed project and point them toward other organizations that can help (such as the ones listed at http://www.casefoundation.org/make-it-your-own/take-action/places).

3 | New Deliberation Blog
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Cynthia Gibson, a community participation scholar and consultant, has just launched her own blog, CitizenPost, at www.citizenpost.blogspot.com. Cindy's excellent white paper, Citizens at the Center, has raised the level of interest in democratic governance at Case Foundation (above) and in many other quarters.

** FROM THE JOURNAL **

http://www.auburn.edu/jpd

4 | Vermonters Debate "Independence"
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A "Free Vermont 200 Towns" Campaign is under way and, if successful, could change the composition of the United States. The effort, which the Journal of Public Deliberation describes as, "A Radical Vermont Movement Based on Its Tradition of Real Public Deliberation and Binding Voting In Town Meetings," seeks passage of binding resolution on Town Meeting day that would authorize Vermont to secede from the union and become, as some historians claim, an "independent republic" as Vermont was from 1777 to 1791.

Read more: http://www.auburn.edu/academic/liberal_arts/poli_sci/journal_public_deliberation/articles/Vermonters%20To%20Use.htm

5 | Activists Views of Deliberation
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This article, based on more than 60 interviews, explores the tensions between deliberation and various forms of political activism and advocacy. It identifies more than 20 objections to deliberation that are proposed by political activists in various countries and contexts. It concludes with suggestions for combining deliberation and advocacy.

Download the article at: http://services.bepress.com/jpd/vol3/iss1/art4/

6 | Measuring Deliberation's Content: A Coding Scheme
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This paper details a content analysis scheme to measure the quality of political deliberation in face-to-face and online groups. The coding scheme was developed out of the theoretical literature on deliberation and further enhanced by the empirical literature on small groups, deliberation, online political talk, and conversation analysis. Strict standards for creating coding schemes were followed to ensure a valid and reliable coding process. It is hoped that the code scheme can be utilized by practitioners and researchers of political and social deliberations.

Download the paper here: http://services.bepress.com/jpd/vol3/iss1/art12/

*** OTHER NEWS ***

7 | EPAs Network News Available Online
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Network News is an electronic newsletter for public involvement and collaborative problem solving practitioners produced by the US Environmental Protection Agency. The purpose is to assist EPA's staff and any other interested individuals to improve the quality and consistency of involvement/collaboration processes and activities. The Summer 2007 edition features articles on the EPA collaboration awards, social media, and democratic technologies.

Visit the EPA's public involvement network news online at: http://www.epa.gov/publicinvolvement/Featurearticles.html

8 | New Public Agenda Book: The Experts vs The Rest of Us
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Public Agenda, the nonpartisan public opinion and citizen engagement organization, earlier this month announced the release of a new book by Senior Public Engagement Research Associate Dr. Alison Kadlec. "Dewey's Critical Pragmatism" is a cogent examination of philosopher and political theorist John Dewey's writings on pragmatism and is a rallying cry for soundly-constructed public engagement programs that fulfill Dewey's vision of "democracy as a way of life."

Read more about the book at: http://publicagenda.org/aboutpa/aboutpa_articles_detail.cfm?list=41

9 | Two New Publications on Public Engagement on Nanotech
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In late June two new publications about public engagement on nanotechnologies were launched at a London conference in London cohosted by Involve, Demos and the Science and Democracy Network in the UK. The first report, "Democratic Technologies? The final report of the Nanotechnology Engagement Group" reports the progress of six projects that have sought to engage the British public in discussions about the governance and development of nanotechnologies. This report of the Nanotechnologies Engagement Group (NEG), a body convened by Involve with the support of the Office of Science and Innovation's Sciencewise scheme, and the Universities of Cambridge and Sheffield, fulfills the groups mandate to observe and support the pioneers of nanotechnology public engagement and log their experiences for the benefit of future journeys into the interface between democracy and technology.

The second report available, "Nanodialogues: Experiments in public engagement with science" presents the findings of the Nanodialogues -- a series of experiments in upstream public engagement with different partners in different contexts. Over two years, with the Environment Agency, two Research Councils, Practical Action and Unilever, Involve asked members of the public to join scientists in discussions on regulation, research funding, development and corporate innovation.

Download both documents at: http://www.involve.org.uk

10 | C2D2 2007 Conference Update
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Please check our website www.c2d2.ca for the latest information about the second Canadian Conference on Dialogue and Deliberation which is taking place in Vancouver, British Columbia, November 12 to 14, 2007. Drawing from suggestions C2D2 organizers received from their volunteers, the conference structure includes a blend of interactive plenary and break out sessions and generous time for networking and connecting. A Call for Contributions has gone out asking for proposals for concurrent sessions, poster sessions and post-conference training. If you are interested in proposing a session, whether your work focuses on a complex issue or a particular dialogue or deliberation methodology, please consider developing a proposal. The deadline has been extended to August 10.

Information about how to propose a session is found on the conference web site, http://www.C2D2.ca

11 | Call for Proposals: Animating Democracy Conference
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The 2008 Americans for the Arts Convention, titled "American Evolution: Arts in the New Civic Life" will be held in Philadelphia, June 20-22, 2008. The deadline for session proposals is coming up quickly: August 3, 2007. Philadelphia is the birthplace of American democracy, and today it is a leader in the evolution of civic life. From history to hip, the city is alive with creativity. Cultures abound in Philadelphia, an open and engaged metropolis that welcomes a diverse community of artists, innovators, and creators. The conference will be an opportunity to explore a new vision of civic leadership being crafted daily by the collaborative spirit of Philadelphia's artists, arts administrators, business innovators, and elected leaders.

Proposals should address current issues or trends in arts-based community development and propose solutions and/or discuss implications. Innovative formats that engage audiences are encouraged. Check the web link for details and feel free to call Michael del Vecchio, Project Manager, Animating Democracy 202-371-2830 with questions or visit http://www.AmericansForTheArts.org/AnimatingDemocracy/

12 | [Article] A Place for Private Conversation in Public Dialogue?
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A new study by Caroline Lee in the department of Anthropology and Sociology at Lafayette College compares reports of informal communication in two state-centered participation processes for regional conservation planning. Through interviews with stakeholders, the author finds that informal communication was used by participants in both cases to amplify and to defuse pressure for consensus. The article suggests that the study of democratic engagement can gain by exploring the contextual implementation of abstract deliberative ideals such as inclusion, publicity, and transparency.

Download the article at: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/AJS/journal/issues/v113n1/300247/brief/300247.abstract.html

13 | In Canada, A "Duty" to Consult?
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At the University of Alberta law blog, Peter Carver takes note of a "proliferation of constitutional duties to consult" and wonders whether it represents "an intriguing effort to expand the constitutional base for deliberative democracy in Canada." Blogger Pith and Substance creates a space for debate. Read the arguments and join the debate about whether the "duty to consult" is a bad idea at: http://pithandsubstance.blogspot.com/2007/07/why-duty-to-consult-is-bad-idea.html