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Deliberative Democracy eBulletin v.7 no.2 February 28, 2008
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In a new feature of the eBulletin, an organization deeply involved in the practice and movement for deliberative democracy will be featured in a closing "Spotlight" feature. This month, as Cuba prepares for a new stage of leadership, we look at prospects for deliberative democracy in the island nation.
Thank you,
lars
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lars hasselblad torres
editor, ddc ebulletin
*** FROM THE BLOG ***
1 | Purple States?
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DDC blogger Joe Goldman writes, "Cynthia Farrar has been doing some great work in partnership with the New York Times, called Purple States, in which she has been working with a diverse group of citizens to personally report on their experience of the 2008 election. Cynthia just sent around an email that the next Purple States episode, “Security and the War” is us up on the nytimes.com/opinion web site. You can also view it by checking out this link: http://purplestates.tv/nytimes - that is the nyt “purple states” page - you can watch all of their videos there."
2 | November 5th Coalition
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Joe Goldman writes that, "There’s a new national coalition named to send the message that politics and civic engagement isn’t just about election. It’s about what happens after and between elections. It’s about creating what we’re calling a new civic politics—one that truly believes in government of the people, by the people, and for the people... The November 5th Coalition—an all-partisan, grassroots effort — include groups as diverse at the National Civic League, American Association of State Colleges and Universities’ American Democracy Project, Mobilize.org, the Association of Young Americans, and NCDD….
*** OTHER NEWS ***
3 | Youth and HIV/AIDS Online Consultation
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The Mexico YouthForce of the upcoming International AIDS Conference will be holding a 3 week long e-consultation from Monday, March 3 to Friday, March 21 to develop an advocacy message and visibility strategy for AIDS2008. Outcomes of the e-consultation will feed into visibility materials such as t-shirts, posters, stickers, and banners. Young people will be trained on how to advocate for these messages effectively through advocacy and media workshops during the Youth Pre-Conference (July 31, August 1 and 2) and during the Main Conference. This EC will include opinions of young people who will and will not be at the conference. Additionally, EC participants will be asked to consult with their peers who are non-ICT connected (without access to internet) to include their opinions on what issues need to be included.
4 | W.K. Kellogg Foundation Seeks Program Director for Civic Engagement
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The W.K. Kellogg Foundation, one of the nation’s largest philanthropic organizations, seeks a Program Director for its Civic and Philanthropic Engagement team. The position will be based at W.K. Kellogg Foundation offices in Battle Creek, Michigan. The Program Director will be a vital player in building a portfolio of programs, aligned with the new strategic plan, focusing on civic engagement and deliberative democracy models to increase civic and philanthropic engagement, especially focusing on diverse communities.
The ideal candidate for this position will have a sound understanding of social justice, non-profit sector and civic engagement and, in particular, will have a deep awareness of the needs of the nation’s most vulnerable children and families. S/he needs to be an analytical thinker and a demonstrated ability to assume leadership and management of a large body of work. S/he must excel in building teams internally and externally and motivating diverse players and partners.
Contact Stephanie C. Mardell at Isaacson, Miller Inc at smardell@imsearch.com if you know of qualified candidates.
5 | [New Book] Political Communication and Deliberation
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John Gastil’s new book is the first central textbook for communications courses on political deliberation. Martin Carcasson calls it “a wonderful resource that adeptly captures the broad, valuable work being done both inside and outside academia concerning public deliberation and political communication.”
6 | Town Halls Address Public Concerns Over "Biobank"
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Town halls in five U.S. cities will offer citizens the chance to examine a potential effort by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other federal healthcare agencies that would create a national "biobank." Already being utilized in other countries, the biobank would contain genetic samples and health information from volunteers as a research tool for scientists to examine the causes of many common diseases.
Although biobanks provide a valuable research tool for scientists studying disease, some people have concerns. Could the information be used against them if they participated? Who would have access to the database? Could employers, insurers, or law enforcement agencies gain access to their data? Who would decide what kind of research could be done using the biobank?
7 | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's "Network News" Available
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Another complete issue of Network News is online, and there's lots of new material, training and upcoming conferences described in the complete issue. Feature Articles include:
8 | New Involve Project: Say & Play @ Schools
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Involve and Lambeth Council are running a project called "Say & Play @ Schools" which is trialling a new method for consulting local communities. They are currently working with local schools to combine a fun day for young families with an informal process for consulting on Lambeth Council's priorities. The idea is a simple one: by combining an informal fun atmosphere for families with accessible participation methods we hope to overcome the barriers, such as time and commitment, which often put people off engaging with more formal consultation processes.
9 | Training in Planning and Participation
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Learn from the Leaders in Charrettes and Sustainable Urbanism Bill Lennertz and Doug Farr who will present two important seminars back-to-back in Austin during the Congress of the New Urbanism conference in Austin, Texas April 2-6, 2008. More at information about CNUXVI: http://www.cnu.org/cnuxvi/
"NCI Charrette Certificate Module One: Introduction to NCI Dynamic Planning," is a stand-alone course that describes how a charrette works within the context of NCI Dynamic Planning. Learn all of the 45 tools involved in the three phases of charrette planning, management and follow-up and participate in a simulated charrette workshop exercise. Upon the completion of this course participants are eligible to complete a certificate by taking an additional NCI module.
For more details and to register, please visit: http://www.charretteinstitute.org/programs.html
"The Techniques and Metrics of Sustainable Urbanism:" the integration of walkable, transit-served urbanism with high performance buildings and infrastructure, needs to become the preferred pattern of growth over the next generation. Using Doug Farr's newly published Sustainable Urbanism: Urban Design with Nature, participants will learn the techniques and metrics of this emerging area of practice.
For more details and to register, please visit: http://www.farrside.com/events
10 | [New Book] Collaborative vs. Technocratic Policy-making
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David Booher of the Collaborative Democracy Nework calls this “one of the first studies to directly compare collaborative planning methods with more traditional methods.” The report was published by the Center for Collaborative Policy at California State University Sacramento.
11 | Deliberative Polling in Zeguo, China
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On Feb 20, 2008, the fourth Chinese Deliberative Polling was held in Zeguo, Wenling city, China. The Zeguo Township has used Deliberative Polling (DP) consisted of a scientific random sample of the township brought together for a full day of deliberation to consider the choice of infrastructure projects affecting the future of the town in 2005 and 2006 respectively. In 2007, DP was used to get the local people's opinion about the relocation of old town household with some deficiencies in the process. In Feb 2008, 175 random selected participants considered the 2008 township budget. The participants weighed the merits of different budget projects. The 2008 DP had several innovations. First, the participants were required to examine all budget issues (DP in 2005 and 2006 considered only about 30 percent of the township budge. Second, it was the first time that the briefing material provided 48 pages budget details to participants. Third, Zeguo leaders attempted to develop a mixed decision-making institution combing the voice of people and the deliberation of local deputies. In this context, a delegation of 75 (out of the total 97) deputies of the Zeguo People's Congress observed the deliberative polling event on Feb 20, 2008. Moreover, the result of DP will be presented to the local deputies on 26-27 Feb for their deliberation on budget. The local deputies have power to revise the government's budget, increasing or decreasing certain budget items. This is a model of combining popular and elite deliberation on financial affairs. Zeguo leaders are now working on a regularized annual procedure for budgeting through deliberative polls.
Wenling city officials from the People's Congress and the Department of Propaganda observed the DP and attended the workshop. They were interested in developing a DP in the city level. They have already held two city-level deliberative meetings (not random sampling) on public transportation and public cemetery in 2008.
12 | Americans for the Arts 2008 Annual Convention - Arts-Based Civic Engagement Advance Workshop
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Knowing how to create meaningful civic engagement is becoming a required skill set-as important as fundraising, planning, and marketing. This summer, at the Americans for the Arts 2008 Annual Convention, participants will have the opportunity to build their "civic engagement muscle" at an interactive advance workshop-featuring key concepts, principles, and practices of arts-based civic engagement as demonstrated via project examples, video, and lively exchange. Participants will learn how to maximize engagement opportunities through program design and community partnerships, as well as how to facilitate meaningful civic dialogue opportunities. This workshop will be presented by Animating Democracy staff members Barbara Schaffer Bacon and Pam Korza, along with artist Sandy Agustín, former artistic director of Intermedia Arts, and current artistic director of Neighborhood House, a social service agency in Minneapolis. The workshop will also provide the opportunity to share projects in progress, or that have potential in their communities, as well as to troubleshoot planning and project roadblocks with colleagues.
Registration for the workshop is $125 for Americans for the Arts members, $150 for nonmembers. For further information about other advance workshops being offered, registration deadlines, and the full civic engagement track, visit the convention website:
13 | Call for Papers: Leadership and Collaboration in Public Administration
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Strong, stable bridges to the future must be built to ensure that a range of issues and challenges facing the field of public administration are turned into opportunities, not obstacles. This is especially the case with leadership and collaboration in public administration. New styles, strategies, and approaches to leadership are necessary as organizations function more like networks than hierarchies. Leadership across boundaries, organizations, and cultures is little understood yet a reality. The gap between theory and practice is widening.
The 2008 International Conference on Public Administration solicits papers and proposals to begin to bridge this gap in knowledge. Paper Abstract Submission Deadline is April 1, 2008.
14 | "Champions of Participation" Report from the UK
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“Just as opportunities for engagement continue to emerge in the UK and internationally, there remains a challenge: to embed participatory practice within local governments so that the changes work and are also long lasting.” This was the focus of a five-day workshop held in the UK in June 2007, led by the Development Research Centre on Citizenship, Participation and Accountability (DRC) and LogoLink (at the Institute of Development Studies). Local officials and other leaders from 15 different countries took part in the event. The resulting report is an excellent summary of the state of innovation in democratic governance worldwide.
15 | U.S. Democracy Communications Network
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The Democracy Communications Network was created to amplify and disseminate key messages about democracy through op-eds, blogs, radio, and other communications channels. The first major example of the reach of the Network came when presidential candidate John Edwards announced his plan for large-scale “Citizen Congresses” on federal policy issues. The Network enlisted op-ed writers and bloggers to comment on Edwards’ plan and to encourage other presidential candidates to present own democratic governance proposals. The result: thirteen op-eds and nine blog postings over the next few weeks.
16 | Two Research Fellowships in the UK
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The Centre for Digital Citizenship at the University of Leeds is looking for a Research Fellow for eParticipation. “The successful applicant will undertake short-term, cross-organisation, interdisciplinary research in e-Participation and generally support the activities of the Scientific Coordinator in managing the Network of Excellence and disseminating the research results.” See http://www.jobs.ac.uk/jobs/YY507/Research_Fellow_for_Demo-net_Network_of. Also, the University’s Centre for Digital Citizenship is offering a PhD full fee scholarship. “The scholarship presents an exciting opportunity for committed and enthusiastic researcher with an interest in the Internet as a space for political and civic participation.”
17 | Issue Two of the International Journal of Public Participation
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18 | U.S. Centers for Disease Control: Rethinking Public Engagement
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is in the midst of an effort to redouble and rethink its public engagement work. A new report, “Enhancing Public Deliberation in Public Health Decision Making---Learning from the Past, Preparing for the Future,” summarizes the results of an internal CDC workshop, describes the agency’s recent public engagement work, and lists the key next steps for the agency.
19 | News from Everyday Democracy
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The Study Circles Resource Center is now Everyday Democracy! Though their name has changed, they'll continue to help communities bring people together to solve public problems.
They have two opportunities to get involved:
- Enter Everyday Democracy's "Making Every Voice Matter" $1,000 video contest and show what you've done to create positive change in your community. Learn more at
20 | Kettering Foundation Fellow Writes on the African Immigrant Experience
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Tokunbo Awoshakin, award winning journalist, the executive director of Civic Life International ( www.civiclifeint.org) and associate with Kettering Foundation has written an interesting and eye-opening book on the subject of new African immigration in the United States . The book titled: Lost & Found In America: The story of New African immigrants in United States has been described by the respected Dayton Newspaper as " Real, fascinating and humorous"
The book explores a variety of issues especially the unique stories and narratives of how new Africans immigrants find a sense of belonging in the American culture and effect the September 11, 2001 attack on the United States had on everyone - not only Americans, but also on citizens in other countries who plan to come, wish to live, or choose to visit the United States.
The book is available in local bookstores and online at Xlibris.com, barnes&noble and amazon.com.
21 | Spotlight: Is the US a Friend or Foe to Prospects for Deliberative Democracy in Cuba?
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In October 2007 National Public Radio in the United States produced a story about how Raul Castro, now Cuba's president, was leading a massive discussion with Cubans. In the story, NPR wrote, “The Cuban regime is undertaking a massive pulse-taking, or temperature-taking, of the population,” said Julia Sweig, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. They’re trying to figure out how to deal with Cubans’ enormous, pent-up demand, and how to do it without raising expectations too much that change will come and what it might deliver.” You can read a transcript of the story here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15436610
Today, as Cuba defies fundamental assumptions of the U.S. government's policies toward the island, political candidates for President of the United States still consider Cuba to be a "rogue nation" (ranking it with North Korea and Iran) and differ on their views about how to deal with the new leader and the people of Cuba. In her latest statement on the subject, Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton stated, "Until there is some recognition on the part of whoever is in charge of the Cuban government, that they have to move toward democracy and freedom for the Cuban people, it will be very difficult for us to change our policy.”
On the Republican side, leading candidate John McCain said recently, “I think that we should make it very clear that once free elections are held, that the political prisoners are released, and human rights organizations are functioning in Cuba, that we will be willing to provide whatever aid and assistance that's necessary. I fear that … any assistance that came in early would serve to prop up a new regime or a Raul or whoever it is that wants to take Castro's place.”
In 2003 Oswaldo Paya, a prominent Cuban civil liberties activist and winner of the EU s Sakharov human rights award, established a 110-person Committee for National Dialogue in his efforts to build a process that will place Cuba s fate in the hands of the people. In an interview with the South Florida Sun in 2005, Mr Paya stated, "We want Cubans to have control over the process of transition." Other prominent reformists, like Martha Beatriz Roque, an economist and leader of the 14-member Cuban Dissidence Task Group, have already identified a key area of disagreement: whether prominent officials in the Castro s government should have influence in the process.
Perhaps these are the kinds of efforts that the field of deliberative democracy can spotlight this election period, and thus help U.S. politicians break out of a decades-old foreign policy mold?
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