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Deliberative Democracy eBulletin v.6 no.10 December 21, 2007
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Wishing each of you a season of warmth and good cheer as we round the bend to the New Year - a season when, as Robert Frost once wrote, the snows come "glancing off the roof making a great scroll upward toward the sky..."
Thank you,
lars
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lars hasselblad torres
editor, ddc ebulletin
*** FROM THE BLOG ***
1 | Where Is Democracy Headed?
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Matt Leighninger muses about the proceedings of a recent conference among researchers and practitioners held in Washington, DC. Among the questions raised were critiques of the legal scaffolding for deliberative democracy ("Most of the local, state, and federal laws on citizen participation are now thirty years old. How can we update the legal framework for democratic governance so that it supports, rather than hinders, the best practices being used today?") and interest in emerging Internet-based technologies ("Does the new wave of video-related technologies hold promise for melding online and face-to-face forms of participation? What tools are out there, and what new opportunities exist?").
2 | Democracy Theory and Practice Online Database
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Reader Martin Carcasson introduces a database developed by the Institute of Civic Discourse and Democracy at Kansas State University which catalogues references to theoretical and applied literature on democracy from many disciplines, countries, and perspectives. According to the site, the Institute "aims to classify the documentation in ways that will expose its many interpretations and manifestations. The Institute is conducting research on trends in scholarly publishing on democracy from 1980 to 2006, and in the process developing a novel means of highlighting components of the research that are of particular interest to different users."
*** OTHER NEWS ***
3 | International Journal of Public Deliberation
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Issue 2 of the newly produced International Journal of Public Deliberation is available online. In this edition, a broad range of authors explore a variety of very interesting topics related to public deliberation, among them John Gastil and Todd Kelshaw ("When Citizens and Officeholders Meet: Variations in the Key Elements of Public Meetings"), James Price Dillard and Steven J. Backhaus ("Civic Deliberation, Emotional Response, and Political Involvement") and Matt McKinney and Will Harmon ("Governing Nature, Governing Ourselves: Engaging Citizens in Natural Resource Decisions").
4 | 'Participation Nation:' The Future of Politics in Britain?
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[from Involve UK] Participation Nation is a recently produced pamphlet that brings together 17 leading UK thinkers and practitioners from government, local authorities, think tanks and NGOs to discuss the role of the citizen in the public realm. Bringing their individual perspectives to the debate, each writer explores just what the UK government’s ambitions to harness “people power” will mean in practice to the future policies and politics of Britain.
Contributors include Rt Hon Douglas Alexander MP; Oliver Letwin MP; Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP; Dave Prentis, UNISON; Tony Juniper, Friends of the Earth; Ben Page and Debbie Lee Chan, Ipsos MORI; Viki Cooke, OLR; Michelle Harrison, IIPS; Cllr Susan Williams, Trafford Borough Council; Karl Wilding and Véronique Jochum, NCVO; and Valerie Hannon from the Innovation Unit, among others.
5 | [Article] Colleges Becoming Democracy 'Boot Camps'
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[From CSM.com by By Stacy Teicher Khadaroo] "The waiting list is long for a class at Providence College where democracy comes to life. Right off the bat, Prof. Richard Battistoni asks the class to decide together how they should be graded. He routinely turns discussion-leading over to pairs of students. As the semester wound down recently, students presented "artifacts" that symbolized their own views of what democracy means – everything from a voter registration form to a box of spaghetti (in which all the pieces are equal)."
6 | What Will It Take to Make Canada the Best in the World...?
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[From CPRN] In June 2007, a group of doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, policy-makers, nonprofit leaders and academics gathered in Ottawa for the first of a series of dialogues to discuss the issues and challenges in delivering frontline healthcare in Canada. The national roundtable asked the question:
"What will it take to make Canada the best in the world at meeting the healthcare needs of unserved and
underserved populations? "
"The Frontline Health Dialogues, Report from the Ottawa Roundtable," co-authored by Nathalie Pierre, CPRN Acting Assistant Director, and Helen Seibel, Senior Consultant with GrantStream Inc., details the roundtable’s proceedings and key conclusions. To download or read the Ottawa roundtable report, go to http://www.cprn.org/doc.cfm?doc=1806&l=en.
7 | PARC: Free Collaborative Governance Teaching Resources
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The Maxwell School of Public Policy at Syracuse University announces E-PARC: a free on-line teaching resource for those who teach collaborative governance, collaborative public management, networks and public management, and collaborative problem solving around the world. The resource includes case studies, simulations, and syllabi.
8 | IDS Invites Applications for Fellowship
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[From IDS] The Participation Power and Social Change team are seeking to appoint up to two new fellows; one appointment in the civil society field and the second appointment is open to any of the themes relevant to the work of the team, including power and change at systemic, organisational and personal levels of experience; identities, rights and social justice; and inclusive citizenship and governance Candidates should have a PhD and a strong background in a relevant discipline (although exceptionally, comparable research and practical experience may be taken as a substitute). They should have an excellent research and publication record with experience and interest in bridging research with practice and policy, and be able to demonstrate conceptual and applied skills concerning the constitution and practice of power in connection with the inter-related processes of societal, organisational and personal transformation. Candidates should be highly fluent in written and spoken English. A strong background in postgraduate teaching and convening is desirable The post is based at IDS, at the University of Sussex, Brighton, BN2 5JL, Sussex. The closing Date for applications is 04 January 2008 (11:00 am UK Time). Interviews will begin February 2008. For further information and to download an application form please log on to www.ids.ac.uk or email hr@ids.ac.uk or call the confidential answerphone 01273-678682 [Int +44 1273] to receive a hard copy.
9 | Cross-cultural Study on Citizen Deliberation
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Angela Fedi, PhD, and Terri Mannarini, PhD, Italian community psychologists, are visiting researchers at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). With colleague Kenneth Maton from UMBC they are conducting a cross-cultural study aimed at collecting and comparing information from people living in different countries.
Specifically, they are conducting a preliminary study about the experiences of citizen involvement (in deliberative settings). The scholars propose to collect different types of data (i.e. face-to-face interactions, narratives, and responses to questionnaires), but at present are focusing on the
recruitment of participants for an on-line survey investigating perceptions of the costs and benefits of civic engagement, reasons for getting involved, and individual skills and background.
They are looking for open listserves, or email lists, through which they can find participants for the survey. If you can help, please email: minimann@umbc.edu
10 | "Millennial" Students Desire Civic Participation
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"Millennial Generation" students - those born between 1985 and 2004 - are said to desire civic participation and learning but are ambivalent about formal politics, according to a new report from the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement (CIRCLE) and The Charles F. Kettering Foundation. "College students in the United States are hungry for political conversation that is authentic, involves diverse views and is free of manipulation and “spin,” says the report."
11 | [Conference] Alternative Practices in Citizenship Learning and Participatory Democracy
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The Transformative Learning Centre (TLC) Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto (OISE/UT) is organizing an interesting conference October 16-18, 2008 on participatory democracy. The conference organizers hope to draw participation from different sectors, including researchers, educators in K-12, higher education and adult education, community development workers, urban planners, community organizers and a variety of governmental and non-governmental organizations invested in improving local democracy, and particularly capacity building for local democracy.
12 | Democracy: A Journal of Ideas
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The Winter issue of Democracy: A Journal of Ideas has arrived. Among other interesting items, the Winter 2008 issue of Democracy contains Dr Beth Noveck's (New York Law School) article, "Wiki Government," which discusses the opportunity presented by new technology to create institutions that are both more expert and more democratic. The article argues that ordinary people possess extraordinary expertise that might be brought to bear to improve the quality of government decision-making and explains how we should reshape democratic institutions.
13 | Demo_net Survey: International eParticipation Programs
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DEMO_net - a Network of Excellence project funded for four years under the European Commission's sixth framework programme: Information Society Technologies - invites participation in their survey to identify and understand the status of eParticipation research and implementation programmes at international, European, national, regional and local levels of governments. Based on the survey, recommendations for how to strengthen eParticipation in the different innovation programmes will be developed. Specific aims are to:
- Encourage eParticipation being included into international, European, national, regional and local ICT and eGovernment research and implementation programmes,
- Assist in the formulation of implementation activity,
- Validate these implementations on scientific grounds, and
- Inform research and implementation programme managers about relevant research and practice in eParticipation.
14 | [Conference] Tools for Participation: Collaboration, Deliberation and Decision Support
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Directions and Implications of Advanced Computing (DIAC) and Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility will combine their 11th DIAC symposium with the third Conference on Online Deliberation June 26-28, 2008 at the University of California, Berkeley. The joint conference is intended to provide a platform and a forum for highlighting socio-technological opportunities, challenges, and pitfalls in the area of community and civic action. Technology enhanced community action ranges from informal communities of practice to democratic governance of formal organizations to large social movements.
15 | Evaluation of Ireland Government's First eConsultation Available
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The Evaluation of the Irish Government's (Oireachtas) first eConsultation exercise is now available. The evaluation was conducted by ECEG's eConsultation Research Group ( http://e-consultation.org). Carried out by G. Honor Fagan, Paul McCusker, Michael Murray, D.R. Newman and David O'Donnell (2007), report, "Evaluation of the Houses of the Oireachtas Pilot e-Consultation for the proposed Broadcasting Bill" is available online at: http://www.oireachtas.ie/viewdoc.asp?DocID=8305
16 | DemocracySpace Book Club Launches January 17
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On January 17 DemocracySpace.org will launch their "Everyday Democracy Book Club" with author Frances Moore Lappé. The online discussion will revolve around Frances Moore Lappé's latest work, "Getting a Grip: Clarity, Creativity, and Courage in a World Gone Mad." According to DemocracySpace, "The book helps us all realize that the sort of democracy we crave is within our reach, and gives us inspiration to act on that realization... At less than 200 pages, 'Getting a Grip' is a fast read, one that you can easily fit in a few quiet hours once the holiday rush and year-end work tasks subside."
The end of the book contains a chapter, "Questions to Spark Talk and Action," and this will form the center of discussion for the first event of the online book club. Read the book and plan to join DemocracySpace at 1 p.m. Eastern on January 17!
17 | Social Design Site Relaunched - On Open Source CMS
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After one year of existence, and due to the increasing demand of projects owners who wanted to take part in SocialDesignSite.com, the site has evolved from an exhibition into an online community. Now everyone who is interested has the opportunity to upload a social design project and interact with other project owners.
The SocialDesignSite.com team wants to demonstrate that stimulating conscious change does not necessarily require us to have a great deal of money, power or social connections. It starts with awareness: the awareness that our actions have consequences. The new Joomla! powered SocialDesignSite aims to offer users, as well as all enthusiasts and anyone curious in social design, a source for networking and inspiration.
18 | Social Design Site Relaunched - On Open Source CMS -----
PublicDecisions.com - a leader in online training for public participation - recently announced its upcoming schedule of nearly two dozen specialized classes for the first quarter of 2008. PublicDecisions provides practically oriented training for persons who work with stakeholders and the public to solve problems, craft policies/programs or achieve social change. The company's offerings are ideal for working professionals and officials who are constrained from participating in professional development activities by geographic distances and limited budgets. Classes are conducted live, and quality is ensured by limiting class sizes to a small number of participants.
19 | Invitation to Beta Test New Deliberation Platform
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The folks at discusswith.us invite eBulletin readers to kick the tires of their beta online deliberation and discussion website, discusswith.us. Designed to foster debate and discussion online, discusswith.us is a free website committed to supporting a free exchange of ideas and opinions. discusswith.us facilitates discussion and debate by guiding user input toward supporting their position, and seeks to enable instant understanding of the discussion through a unique graphical representation, capturing the current status, as well as the trends of the ongoing debate.
20 | Citizens Have New Site to 'Decide' America's Financial Future
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Facingup.org - a new interactive education site led by The Brookings Institution, The Heritage Foundation, The Concord Coalition, Public Agenda and Viewpoint Learning - aims to strengthen public voice on federal budget concerns throughout and beyond presidential election season. Making use of substantial "Issue Guides" and Web2.0 social utilities that enable citizens to learn and work together, Facingup.org is at the forefront of new efforts to strengthen citizen engagement online.
21 | US Sponsors Webdialogue on Pandemic Flu
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December 4-6, the US Centers for Disease Control and other partners hosted an online discussion that sought to obtain public input on the government’s ten pandemic influenza vaccination goals. Participants discussed this critical health issue with public health officials as the agency collected input for consideration, along with other information, as it refined the guidelines for distributing a limited supply of vaccine.
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