"I'm Calling My Lawyer": How Litigation, Due Process and Other Regulatory Requirements Are Affecting Public Education
Jean Johnson and Ann Duffett. Prepared for Common Good, 2005.
In this pilot study, many teachers and school administrators reported that the possibility of being sued or accused of abuse is ever present in their minds. Avoiding suits and fulfilling due process requirements is a time-consuming part of a principal or superintendent's job and many feel the requirements give unreasonable people a chance to get their way. Yet many educators say protecting children from abuse is a higher priority than reducing the threat of litigation.
Resource Link: http://www.publicagenda.org/research/research_reports.cfm
"I'm Not White": Anti-Racist Teacher Education for White Early Childhood Educators
Tara Goldstein. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood (Volume 2, Number 1), 2001.
Conceptualising and implementing early childhood teacher education for racial and cultural diversity is a complex task that involves learning about social stratification and race, acknowledging the privileges associated with whiteness, and finding ways to create positive racial teaching identities. This article discusses three ways that teacher educators might prepare white early childhood education students for anti-racist work in their classrooms.
Resource Link: http://www.wwwords.co.uk/ciec/
'Think Globally, Act Locally'? Climate Change and Public Participation in Manchester and Frankfurt
D. Shelton. American Journal of International Law, 88 (4), 1994.
'Think Globally, Act Locally' was one of the most famous slogans of the 1970s environmental movement. Discourses about global climate change are now a vivid illustration of this "global thinking." Although there is a substantial amount of research about global environmental issues and policy initiatives, there is still a gap in understanding of how lay publics actually comprehend global climate change. Using qualitative research method, this study is a comparison of how lay publics in Frankfurt (Germany) and Manchester (UK) perceive these issues and the possible solutions.
Resource Link: http://www.asil.org
12manage
12manage is a free knowledge portal that summarizes over 400 management methods and theories and explains over 1.500 management terms. This portal is categorized into a dozen management disciplines, including change, communication, decision-making, leadership, and more. Besides English, 12manage is available in 12 other languages.
Resource Link: http://www.12manage.com
18-35 
18to35 is the policy research arm of America's youth movement. We are a non-profit, non-partisan policy organization dedicated to engaging young adults in the political process. In short, 18to35 Gets Out the Voice of young adults. We know that young Americans are tired of the vicious partisanship that defines the political landscape. Instead, the focus should be on the big ideas that will improve our country.
Resource Link: http://www.18to35.org
20,000 Dialogues
20,000 Dialogues is a nationwide campaign to bring people of different faiths together using films about Muslims to stimulate discussion and promote understanding. It brings the concept of interfaith dialogue into the hands of ordinary people who want to make a positive difference. 20,000 Dialogues is a Unity Production Foundation (UPF) project in cooperation with Connecting Cultures, LLC.
Resource Link: http://www.20000dialogues.org
2006 NCDD Conference Video
FAQ Productions, 2006.
This five-minute video shows highlights from and participant comments on the 2006 National Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation in San Francisco.
Resource Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvIP6Ms-Viw
21st Century Town Meeting
AmericaSpeaks' 21st Century Town Meeting method creates engaging, meaningful opportunities for citizens to participate in public decision making. This unique process updates the traditional New England town meeting to address the needs of today's citizens, decision makers and democracy.
Resource Link: http://www.americaspeaks.org
21st Century Town Meeting
AmericaSpeaks' 21st Century Town Meeting method creates engaging, meaningful opportunities for citizens to participate in public decision making. This unique process updates the traditional New England town meeting to address the needs of today's citizens, decision makers and democracy.
Resource Link: http://www.americaspeaks.org
24 CFR Subtitle A
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2003.
Document from the Office of the Secretary, Housing and Urban Development, detailing the requirements for citizen participation in the use of funds from the government towards Housing and Urban Development directives.
Resource Link: http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_00/24cfrv1_00.html
7 Stages
7 STAGES produces theatre that focuses on the social, political, and spiritual values of contemporary culture. Their Survivor Project, for instance, utilized the power of theatre and the momentum of the 1996 Summer Olympics to bring attention to war torn countries and the issue of survival as an every-day issue. Artists and companies from the Balkan states were invited to Atlanta for a series of performances, dialogues, and interaction with American artists.
Resource Link: http://7stages.org
A Brief Critique of Deliberative Democracy: Why It's Undesirable and How to Limit It
Marcus Alexander.
The author's purpose is to outline a basic critique of deliberative democracy in response to Jon Elster's article "The Market and the Forum: Three Varieties of Political Theory," and Joshua Cohen's article "Deliberation and Democratic Legitimacy." The author's main argument is that deliberative democracy fails to overcome (or supplement) the shortcomings of the Schumpeterian minimalist conception of democracy for two important reasons: (1) its demand for reason and, therefore, its demand for both individual and collective rationality; and (2) its assumption of existence of a common good and the possibility of technical solutions and progress.
Resource Link: http://www.utopic.nl/05links/02_Alexander_critique.pdf
A Brief History of Large Group Interventions
Barbara B. Bunker and Billie T. Alban. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA, USA, 1997.
Large Group Interventions presents a comprehensive overview of twelve of the most powerful methods of large group interventions in use today. This comprehensive guide describes the methods' origins, explores their differences and similarities, and presents vivid examples and case studies of each intervention method in action.
A Citizen-Centric Internet: Why Candidate, Advocacy Group and Other Political Sites Fail, and What They Can Do About It
Scott Reents and Thomas Hill.
"The election year 2000," according to the authors, writing before the year 2000, "will be the year that the Internet shakes up politics." The authors estimated that the number of people going online for election information in 2000 would reach 35 million--more than three times the number who did the same in 1998 (source: Pew Research). The way in which political organizations respond to this massive demand will have lasting implications on their ability to function effectively.
Resource Link: http://www.e-thepeople.org/democracyproject/about_us/citizen.htm
A Citizens' Jury Study of National Park Management
RF James and RK Blamey.
This report provides information regarding the first of two citizens' juries conducted under this project, the 'Citizens' Juries for Environmental Management: An Alternative to CBA?', funded by the Land and Water Resources Research and Development Corporation (LWRRDC). The details of establishment and operation of the jury and the content and outcomes of the jury's deliberations are provided.
Resource Link: http://cjp.anu.edu.au/pubs.html
A Community Builder's Tool Kit: 15 Tools for Creating Healthy, Productive Interracial/Multicultural Communities
Anti-Racism Initiative of the Institute for Democratic Renewal and Project Change, 2001.
This primer for revitalizing democracy from the ground up can be downloaded for free or ordered for $1.50 per copy.
Resource Link: http://www.race-democracy.org
A Community Guide to Protecting Indigenous Knowledge
Simon Brascoupé and Howard Mann. Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada, 2001.
This guide is aimed at a community-level, to protecting Indigenous Knowledge. The article is situated within the context of how Canadian aboriginal people can control and protect their access to IK. The article indicates that: Some communities do not know what traditional knowledge they possess, many communities do not know how to go about identifying and protecting it, and there are few national and international laws that help Aboriginal communities preserve and protect their knowledge in a way that reflects their traditions and customs.
Resource Link: http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/pr/ra/ind/gui_e.pdf
A Conversation About Conflict
Search for Common Ground's "Conversations About Conflict" are 1.5- to 2-hour workshops that can be run for any given audience interested in conflict resolution. The purpose of the Conversation is to help people develop a new awareness of conflicts in our lives - how we currently respond to them, what they cost us, and the alternative approaches that can be used to deal with them in a more constructive manner. SFCG offers a dialogue guide and other resources to help you lead Conversations About Conflict.
Resource Link: http://www.sfcg.org/resources/training/resources_conversation.html
A Dialogue on Foreign Policy: Report to Canadians
Department of Foreign Affairs, Canada, 2003.
The future of Canada's foreign policy lies in building on distinctive advantages in a time of great change and uncertainty. A diverse population makes them a microcosm of the world's peoples; their geography and population give them broad global interests; their economy is the most trade-oriented among the G7 nations; and their relationship with the United States is extensive and deep. With these and other assets, Canadians recognize that they have a unique basis for asserting a distinctive presence in the world. They also believe that in these times of enormous change, Canada must take stock of how they want to approach new and continuing international challenges. To represent the values, interests and aspirations of Canadians as they confront these challenges, their country's foreign policy must draw as broadly as possible on the views of our citizens.
Resource Link: http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/cip-pic/participate/fpd-en.asp
A Dynamic Facilitation Manual and Reader: Evoking practical group creativity through generative dialogue
Rosa Zubizarreta and Jim Rough. Center for Wise Democracy, 2002.
This spiral-bound manual describes a transformational approach for facilitating dialogue in situations where people are highly invested, emotionally charged or polarized, and helping groups arrive at practical and creative breakthroughs.
Resource Link: http://www.wisedemocracy.org
A Framework for Deliberation Dialogues
David Hitchcock, Peter McBurney, and Simon Parsons.
Deliberation dialogues involve reasoning about the appropriate course or courses of action for a group to undertake. According to the authors, no models currently exist for the conduct of such dialogues. Beginning with an analysis of the differences between deliberations and other types of dialogue (such as negotiations or information-seeking dialogues), the authors propose a generic framework in which to develop such models. The authors then consider various instantiations of?their generic deliberation framework so as to illustrate its applicability.
Resource Link: http://www.humanities.mcmaster.ca/~hitchckd/deliberationdialogues.pdf
A Green Grassroots Revolution
Bill McAuliffe. Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune, April 22, 2007.
Nan Skelton at the University of Minnesota brought this article to our attention, which she says is a great local story that shows the Mayors in St. Paul and Minneapolis beginning to make the paradigm shift to a culture of citizen-government partnership. The subtitle of this article is "It's called global warming, but cities and towns, including the Twin Cities, are waging the war."
Resource Link: http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1137316.html
A Guide to Participatory Budgeting
Brian Wampler.
Participatory Budgeting (PB) programs are innovative policymaking processes. Citizens are directly involved in making policy decisions. Forums are held throughout the year so that citizens have the opportunity to allocate resources, prioritize broad social policies, and monitor public spending. These programs are designed incorporate citizens into the policymaking process, spur administrative reform, and distribute public resources to low-income neighborhoods. Download the 32-page guide directly from the NCDD website.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/Wampler_PBGuide.pdf
A Handbook of International Peacebuilding: Into The Eye Of The Storm
John Paul Lederach and Janice Moomaw Jenner, Editors. Jossey-Bass, 2002.
This handbook offers conflict resolution professionals working in foreign countries a critical, step-by-step guide for dealing with difficult and potentially dangerous disputes in other nations. The editors have gathered a stellar panel of seasoned experts who illustrate how to approach international peacebuilding with effective actions and approaches gained through experience that will contribute ultimately to a more positive outcome. Based on the experience of the contributors' work as global peace brokers, the book includes a wide array of guidelines, pragmatic approaches, and models of constructive, culturally appropriate ways to respond to conflict.
Resource Link: http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0787958794.html
A History of Alternative Dispute Resolution: The Story of a Political, Social, and Cultural Movement
Jerome T. Barrett and Joseph Barrett. Jossey-Bass, 2004.
A History of Alternative Dispute Resolution offers a comprehensive review of the various types of peaceful practices for resolving conflicts. Written by Jerome Barrett - a longtime practitioner, innovator, and leading historian in the field of ADR - and his son Joseph Barrett, this volume traces the evolution of the ADR process and offers an overview of the precursors to ADR, including negotiation, arbitration, and mediation. The authors explore the colorful beginnings of ADR using illustrative examples from prehistoric Shaman through the European Law Merchant. In addition, the book offers the historical context for the use of ADR in the arenas of diplomacy and business.
Resource Link: http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0787967963.html
A Jewish Appraisal of Dialogue: Between Talk and Theology
David Schwartz. University Press of America, 1994.
This book is a collection of essays which investigate the status of dialogue between Jews and Christians. The author argues that Jews have been reluctant to engage in any but the most cursory conversations with Christians, but that there are positive reasonings for going further.
A Journal of Law and Policy for the Information Society
An interdisciplinary journal of research and commentary concentrating on the intersection of law, policy, and information technology, the first issue featured a symposium on electronic rule-making, book reviews and an article on HIV/AIDS, Information and Communication in Africa. The journal is jointly produced by Carnegie Mellon's InSITeS and the Center for Interdisciplinary Law and Policy Studies at The Ohio State University's Moritz College of Law.
Resource Link: http://www.is-journal.org
A Manager's Guide to Resolving Conflicts in Collaborative Networks
Lisa B. Bingham and Rosemary O'Leary. IBM Center for the Business of Government. Networks, Collaboration, and Partnerships Series, 2008.
This 50-page report expands on previous Center reports by adding an important practical tool for managers in networks: how to manage and negotiate the conflicts that may occur among a network's members. The approach they describe - interest-based negotiation - has worked in other settings, such as bargaining with unions. Such negotiation techniques are becoming crucial in sustaining the effectiveness of networks, where successful performance is defined by how well people collaborate and not by hierarchical commands.
Resource Link: http://www.businessofgovernment.org/pdfs/OlearyBinghamReport.pdf
A Manual for Group Facilitators
Brian Auvine. Center for Conflict Resolution; reprinted by the Fellowship for Intentional Community, 1981.
The role of group facilitator is often pivotal to good results for groups making the transition to consensus. The Manual is a great introduction to the concept of approaching the role of facilitator as someone who welcomes both rational and emotional input. The staff of the Center for Conflict Resolution put their experience in working with groups into A Manual for Group Facilitators. This is an informal outline detailing useful and effective techniques to help groups work well. More than a simple 'how to,' the manual contains a discussion of the values, dynamics, and common sense behind group process that have been verified by our own experience.
Resource Link: http://store.ic.org
A Model for an Introductory Dialogue on Abortion
Public Conversations Project.
The model described here was developed for the single session introductory dialogues on abortion that Public Conversations Project conducted in 1990-1992 (eighteen sessions) and 1995-1998 (ten sessions). Most of these dialogues took place on weekday evenings between 6:00 and 9:30 and involved four to eight participants who did not know one another ahead of time. Several participants were activists but few were highly visible leaders. All groups were evenly balanced with people who described themselves as ?“prochoice?” or ?“prolife.?”
A Model for Deliberation, Action, and Introspection
Jon Doyle.
This thesis investigates the problem of controlling or directing the reasoning and actions of a computer program. The basic approach explored is to view reasoning as a species of action, so that a program might apply its reasoning powers to the task of deciding what inferences to make as well as deciding what other actions to take. A design for the architecture of reasoning programs is proposed. This architecture involves self-consciousness, intentional actions, deliberate adaptations, and a form of decision-making based on dialectical argumentation.
Resource Link: http://www.csc.ncsu.edu/faculty/doyle/publications/phd80.pdf
A New Approach to Risk Evaluation and Management: Risk-Based Precaution-Based, and Discourse-Based Strategies
Andreas Klinke and Ortwin Renn. Risk Analysis 22(6): 1071-1094, 2002.
This paper considers the three approaches to risk regulation: risk-based standards (reduction to below numerically quantified levels); precautionary-based standards (reduction of risk to as low as reasonably practicable); and discourse-based standards (reduction of risk to levels determined through deliberative processes). The authors support the need for deliberative processes in all three risk management approaches and identify the need for further development of social criteria in risk assessment approaches.
Resource Link: http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/
A New Engagement?: Political Participation, Civic Life, and the Changing American Citizen
Cliff Zukin, Scott Keeter, Molly Andolina, Krista Jenkins and Michael X. Delli Carpini. Oxford University Press, 2006.
A New Engagement challenges the conventional wisdom that today's youth is plagued by a severe case of political apathy. The book tells a second tale about the changing nature of citizen engagement in American society. Instead of participating less, young people may be participating differently. The authors conclude with prescriptions for how to increase citizen engagement and a vision of how things might be different if a larger group and variety of citizens were to become engaged.
A New Weave of Power, People & Politics: The Action Guide for Advocacy and Citizen Participation
Lisa VeneKlasen with Valerie Miller. Just Associates, 2002.
A New Weave of Power, People & Politics provides a well-tested approach for building people?’s participation and collective power that goes beyond influencing policy and politics to transforming public decision-making altogether. Based on 25 years of participatory research, community development, neighborhood organizing, legal rights education, and large-scale campaign advocacy experiences worldwide, A New Weave combines concrete and practical action ?“steps?” with a sound theoretical foundation to help users understand the process of people-centered politics from planning to action.
Resource Link: http://www.justassociates.org/ActionGuide.htm
A Planning Tool for Thinking About the Future of the Public Service
Clerk of the Privy Council, 1996.
This document describes the process and the results of the Task Force commissioned by the Clerk of the Privy Council in August 1995. The Task Force used scenario building methodology to look at the future. This process, pioneered by the Royal Dutch Shell Group of companies in the early 1970's and increasingly used by the private and public sectors around the world, is essentially a method of encouraging and facilitating strategic thinking, planning, and dialogue.
Resource Link: http://www.myschool-monecole.gc.ca/Research/publications/pdfs/psfuture.pdf
A Practical Guide to Consensus
Chris Carlson and Jim Arthur. Policy Consensus Institute.
This 75-page step-by-step handbook walks readers through the stages of sponsoring, organizing, and participating in a public policy consensus process. Designed primarily for government agencies or departments, the guide also is useful for any other sponsor of - or participant in - a consensus building process.
Resource Link: http://www.policyconsensus.org
A Public Peace Process: Sustained Dialogue to Transform Racial and Ethnic Conflicts
Harold H. Saunders, International Institute for Sustained Dialogue. St. Martin's Press, 1999.
Harold Saunders, former Assistant Secretary of State and negotiator of the Camp David Accords and now Director of International Programs at the Kettering Foundation, distills over 35 years of experience working with conflicts across the globe. This book describes how sustained dialogue can help conflicting groups of citizens move toward resolution.
A Public Voice '00: Public Schools
National Issues Forums.
Each year, many public TV stations around the nation air an hour-long program that features American citizens deliberating in National Issues Forums around the nation, and a distinguished panel of nationally-known political leaders, commentators and journalists meeting at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. to reflect on what this 'public voice' may mean in setting direction for America.
Resource Link: http://www.nifi.org
A Public Voice '00: Public Schools
Milton B. Hoffman Productions.
Each year, many public television stations around the nation air an hour-long program that features U.S. citizens deliberating in National Issues Forums around the nation. The programs also feature distinguished panels of nationally known political leaders, commentators and journalists meeting at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. to reflect on what this 'public voice' may mean in setting direction for America. The topics are different each year.
Resource Link: http://www.nifi.org
A Public Voice '01: Money and Politics
Milton B. Hoffman Productions.
Each year, many public television stations around the nation air an hour-long program that features U.S. citizens deliberating in National Issues Forums around the nation. The programs also feature distinguished panels of nationally known political leaders, commentators and journalists meeting at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. to reflect on what this 'public voice' may mean in setting direction for America. The topics are different each year.
Resource Link: http://www.nifi.org
A Public Voice '02: Racial and Ethnic Tensions
Milton B. Hoffman Productions.
Each year, many public television stations around the nation air an hour-long program that features U.S. citizens deliberating in National Issues Forums around the nation. The programs also feature distinguished panels of nationally known political leaders, commentators and journalists meeting at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. to reflect on what this 'public voice' may mean in setting direction for America. The topics are different each year.
Resource Link: http://www.nifi.org
A Public Voice '03: Terrorism
Milton B. Hoffman Productions.
Each year, many public television stations around the nation air an hour-long program that features U.S. citizens deliberating in National Issues Forums around the nation. The programs also feature distinguished panels of nationally known political leaders, commentators and journalists meeting at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. to reflect on what this 'public voice' may mean in setting direction for America. The topics are different each year.
Resource Link: http://www.nifi.org
A Public Voice '04: Examining Health Care
Milton B. Hoffman Productions.
Each year, many public television stations around the nation air an hour-long program that features U.S. citizens deliberating in National Issues Forums around the nation. The programs also feature distinguished panels of nationally known political leaders, commentators and journalists meeting at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. to reflect on what this 'public voice' may mean in setting direction for America. The topics are different each year.
Resource Link: http://www.nifi.org
A Public Voice '95: 'Juvenile Violence' and 'Immigration'
Milton B. Hoffman Productions.
Each year, many public television stations around the nation air an hour-long program that features U.S. citizens deliberating in National Issues Forums around the nation. The programs also feature distinguished panels of nationally known political leaders, commentators and journalists meeting at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. to reflect on what this 'public voice' may mean in setting direction for America. The topics are different each year.
Resource Link: http://www.nifi.org
A Public Voice '95: Contested Values: Tug-of-War in the School Yard
Milton B. Hoffman Productions.
Each year, many public television stations around the nation air an hour-long program that features U.S. citizens deliberating in National Issues Forums around the nation. The programs also feature distinguished panels of nationally known political leaders, commentators and journalists meeting at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. to reflect on what this 'public voice' may mean in setting direction for America. The topics are different each year.
Resource Link: http://www.nifi.org
A Public Voice '95: Contested Values: Tug-of-War-In the School Yard
National Issues Forums.
Each year, many public TV stations around the nation air an hour-long program that features American citizens deliberating in National Issues Forums around the nation, and a distinguished panel of nationally-known political leaders, commentators and journalists meeting at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. to reflect on what this 'public voice' may mean in setting direction for America.
Resource Link: http://www.nifi.org
A Public Voice '96: The Troubled American Family
Milton B. Hoffman Productions.
Each year, many public television stations around the nation air an hour-long program that features U.S. citizens deliberating in National Issues Forums around the nation. The programs also feature distinguished panels of nationally known political leaders, commentators and journalists meeting at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. to reflect on what this 'public voice' may mean in setting direction for America. The topics are different each year.
Resource Link: http://www.nifi.org
A Public Voice '97: The National Piggybank
Milton B. Hoffman Productions.
Each year, many public television stations around the nation air an hour-long program that features U.S. citizens deliberating in National Issues Forums around the nation. The programs also feature distinguished panels of nationally known political leaders, commentators and journalists meeting at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. to reflect on what this 'public voice' may mean in setting direction for America. The topics are different each year.
Resource Link: http://www.nifi.org
A Public Voice '98: Governing America
Milton B. Hoffman Productions.
Each year, many public television stations around the nation air an hour-long program that features U.S. citizens deliberating in National Issues Forums around the nation. The programs also feature distinguished panels of nationally known political leaders, commentators and journalists meeting at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. to reflect on what this 'public voice' may mean in setting direction for America. The topics are different each year.
Resource Link: http://www.nifi.org
A Public Voice '99: Protecting Our Rights; What Goes on the Internet
Milton B. Hoffman Productions.
Each year, many public television stations around the nation air an hour-long program that features U.S. citizens deliberating in National Issues Forums around the nation. The programs also feature distinguished panels of nationally known political leaders, commentators and journalists meeting at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. to reflect on what this 'public voice' may mean in setting direction for America. The topics are different each year.
Resource Link: http://www.nifi.org
A Report on CPRN?’s Community Forum: "Integrating Citizens' Voices into Policy Discourse"
Sandra Zagon. Canadian Policy Research Networks.
CPRN's Public Involvement Network hosted a community forum at a 2003 IAP2 conference. 33 delegates from Canada, Mexico and the U.S. heard from CPRN presenters the lessons of CPRN's growing experience in the practice of public dialogues. The Community Forums, which were part of the May 2003 IAP2 conference program, gave CPRN an excellent opportunity to share some of these lessons with over 30 public participation practitioners who were delegates at the Conference. CPRN's Community Forum took place on May 21, 2003, from 1:30 to 5:00 p.m.
Resource Link: http://www.cprn.com/en/doc.cfm?doc=341
A Report on the Workshop on Evaluation of Public Involvement Activities
Canadian Policy Research Networks. Ottawa, Ontario, 2003.
The purpose of the workshop was to learn more about evaluating public involvement activities and programs. About 20 representatives from the private sector, six federal government departments and four non-governmental organizations presented a diverse perspective of views.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/Wkshop_Eval_Public_Invmt.pdf
A Resource Guide for Hosting Conversations That Matter at the World Cafe
The World Café is an easy-to-use method for creating a living network of collaborative dialogue around questions that matter to the real-life situations of your organizations or community. In this beautifully illustrated booklet, Juanita Brown collaborates with Nancy Margulies and the World Café Community to articulate seven guiding principles for people to use to host their own Café. Learn about the thousands of people on five continents who have experienced the World Café, a model for setting up the ideal Café for your group, the roles of the hosts, crafting powerful questions, Café assumptions and etiquette, and more.
Resource Link: http://www.theworldcafe.com
A Review of Public Participation and Consultation Methods
J. Abelson, P-G. Forest, J. Eyles, P. Smith, E. Martin, F-P Gauvin. Deliberations about Deliberation: Issues in the Design and Evaluation of Public Consultation Processes, McMaster University Centre for Health Economics and Policy Analysis Research Working Paper 01-04, June, 2001.
This PDF document presents a 5-page matrix of public participation and consultation methods, both deliberative and non-deliberative. Included are Citizens Juries, Citizens Panels, Planning Cells, Consensus Conferences, Deliberative Polling, focus groups, consensus building exercises, surveys, public hearings, open houses, Citizen Advisory Committees, community planning, visioning, and more.
Resource Link: http://www.vcn.bc.ca/citizens-handbook/compareparticipation.pdf
A Safe Place for Dangerous Truths: Using Dialogue to Overcome Fear & Distrust at Work
Annette Simmons, Group Process Consulting. Amacom, 1999.
Too often, speaking the "truth" is perceived career suicide. Yet truth-telling is desperately needed if we are to move past current levels of frustration and disillusionment. Dialogue is a way for a work group to get "un-stuck" when frustration and apathy threatens forward progress. Annette Simmons will explore some of the dangerous truths currently sabotaging the wordplace, the risks and rewards of truth telling, and the art and practice of creating a place safe enough so that "truths" do not deteriorate into blame sessions, scape-goating, or hopelessness. Genuine dialogue is a way to turn dangerous truths into shared responsibility.
Resource Link: http://www.groupprocessconsulting.com
A Seat at the Table: Membership in Federal Advisory Committees Evaluating Public Policy in Genetics
Caterine F. Ard and Marvin R. Natowicz. American Journal of Public Health, 91 (5), 787, 2001.
This study examined who participates in federal government advisory committees regarding public policy in human and medical genetics, what parties they represent, and to what extent the general public is meaningfully represented.
Resource Link: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/picrender.fcgi?artid=1446679&blobtype=pdf
A Selected Study of the Benefits of Dialogue in Small Groups and Implications for Symbolic Dialogue in Larger Groups
John I. Spady, Forum Foundation.
The purpose of this study is to examine the benefits of the use of dialogue as a strategy for the successful functioning of small groups. Using the methodology of grounded theory, literature published between the years 1990 and 2000 are examined and interpreted. Conclusions list the benefits of dialogue attributed to small groups and relate ways to scale them to larger groups using the technique of symbolic dialogue as defined by Spady and Bell (1998).
Resource Link: http://homepage.mac.com/jspady/.Public/Benefits%20of%20Dialogue.pdf
A Simple, Open, Scalable and Distributed Platform for Public Discourse
Thomas F. Gordon, Fraunhofer FOKUS.
There is some current debate about the relationships between e-democracy, e-government and, more recently, e-governance. The most widely accepted view, and the view the authors accept for the purposes of this paper, is that e-democracy is a subfield of e-government. One of the main issues in the field of e-democracy, and one that the authors discuss in this paper, is how to best use information and communications technology to facilitate public consultation, deliberation, participation or 'engagement' in policy-making processes such as urban planning.
Resource Link: http://www.lri.jur.uva.nl/~winkels/eGov2002/Gordon.pdf
A Spectrum of Politics and Governance Grounded in Empowered Citizen Dialogue and Deliberation
Tom Atlee. The Co-Intelligence Institute, 2005.
This article addresses the question of how to connect different forms of citizen dialogue and deliberation - from mass participatory contexts to more complex forms of deliberation with limited participation - to generate collective wisdom that is truly democratic.
A Summary of Citizen Participation Methods for the Waterfront Development Project in Oconto, Wisconsin
Kevin Silveira, Ron Shaffer and Chris Behr, Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Wisconsin-Madison/Extension.
The City of Oconto and the National Coastal Resources Institute sought to evaluate and integrate information on the economic and environmental impacts of waterfront development. A significant dimension of that effort was to go beyond the technical dimension of those decisions, and address the equally important local perceptions and concerns regarding the waterfront. This review of various techniques for gathering citizen input and encouraging involvement was originally prepared as background to the project team to help them involve Oconto residents in the decisions regarding the waterfront. The authors recommend that you use the document as a starting, not ending, point for building a citizen involvement strategy.
Resource Link: http://www.aae.wisc.edu/cced/931.pdf
A Survey for Use in Evaluating Dialogue Programs
Walter Stephan, New Mexico State University. Presented by the Western Justice Center, 1999.
This questionnaire was designed to be used to examine the outcomes of dialogue groups. The intention was to measure attitudes toward racial, ethnic and cultural groups, optimism regarding the future of race relations in this country, willingness to interact with members of other racial and ethnic groups, perceived understanding of other racial and ethnic groups, and racial and ethnic stereotypes.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/walter_stephan.pdf
A View From the City: Local Government Perspectives on Neighborhood-based Governance in Community-Building Initiatives
Robert Chaskin and Ali Abunimah. Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago, 1997.
A study of efforts by private foundations and others to spur the use neighborhood-based governance structures to support communities' overall development suggests they have met with general acceptance by local governments. However, some limitations remain in the eyes of public officials.
Resource Link: http://www.chapinhall.org/article_abstract.aspx?ar=1289&L2=63&L3=108
A Youth Leader's Guide to Building Cultural Competence
Susan A. Messina.
Meet the challenges of providing HIV/STD and sexuality education to culturally diverse groups. Using a four-step model, this resource helps build the attitudes, knowledge, and skills necessary to reach all groups of young people. Focuses on African American, Latino and lesbian, gay and bisexual teens. This publication was funded through a cooperative agreement (U63/CCU302752) with the Division of Adolescent and School Health, Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Resource Link: http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/publications/guide/
A+ Conferencing
Low cost, reservationless web conferencing, teleconferencing, phone conferencing, and video conferencing.
Resource Link: http://www.aplusconferencing.com
A. Fine Blog
Social media tools are enhancing our connectedness to one another. Alison Fine's blog focuses on how this connectedness affects our ability and willingness to work for the collective social good.
Resource Link: http://web.mac.com/allisonfine1/iWeb/Allison%20Fine/A.%20Fine%20Blog/A.%20Fine%20Blog.html
ABA's Alternative Dispute Resolution Listserv
The American Bar Association's ADR listserv is an open list dedicated to dialogue and the promotion of wider understanding and information-sharing of the ADR field, as a public service from the Section's National Dispute Resolution Resource Center. To subscribe, send an email to list[email protected] with 'subscribe adr' in the body of the message.
Resource Link: http://www.abanet.org/dispute/discuss.html
Abortion Issue Guide
Public Agenda.
Where advocates on both sides see absolutes, the public seems to see conflicts and conditions, with solid majorities supporting a woman's right to an abortion if her reasons seem sound and if it's not too late in the pregnancy. On an individual level, medical technology is making the issue more complex. Public Agenda Issue Guides or ?“Citizen Choicework Guides?” contain background information on the topic and present three different approaches to the issue for people to deliberate.
Resource Link: http://www.publicagenda.org/issues/frontdoor.cfm?issue_type=abortion
About Race Relations newsletter
About.com's free weekly email newsletter about Race Relations.
Resource Link: http://racerelations.about.com
Abundance Project
Abundance is a community arts performance project about money as told through the stories of people in the United States. Culminating in an Off-Broadway production in the Spring of 2003, Abundance is written and directed by Marty Pottenger and produced by The Working Theatre. After a month-run in NYC, Abundance will tour the United States. A film about money will include excerpts from the project and the theater production, as well as cartoon and documentary footage.
Resource Link: http://abundanceproject.net
Accident Mitigation on Congested Rural Two Lane Highways
Kay Fitzpatrick, Douglas Harwood, and Ingrid Potts. Institute of Transportation Engineers Journal, 72 (4), 42-45, 2002.
The Accident Mitigation Guide For Congested Rural Two-Lane Highways was developed under a National Cooperative Highway Research Program project to provide one comprehensive document that a practitioner can use to investigate several potential countermeasures for improving safety or operations on rural 2-lane highways.
Resource Link: http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3734/is_200204/ai_n9040025/pg_1
Accord: An International Review of Peace Initiatives
Conciliation Resources.
This full-text online journal provides detailed narrative and rigorous analysis on specific war and peace processes, combining readability with practical relevance. Accord acts as a primer for international readers unfamiliar with specific wars and peace processes as well as a reference tool containing comprehensive texts of peace agreements.
Resource Link: http://www.c-r.org/our-work/accord/index.php
Accountability in Governance: The Challenge of Implementing the Aarhus Convention in Eastern Europe and Central Asia
Tatiana Zaharchenko and Gretta Goldenman. International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, 4, 229 ?– 251, 2004.
The Aarhus Convention significantly extends international law in environmental governance. It can be a strong means of increasing democracy. The article studies the changing culture of governance in EECEA countries who are signatories to the agreement, following through the tensions that are made evident between the familiar forms of governance used in former Soviet Union countries and the requirements of the Convention. While NGOs have been successful in bringing cases to courts, it remains difficult for individuals to bring their concerns to legal scrutiny.
Resource Link: http://www.springerlink.com/content/x27272967754484p/
Accountable Autonomy: Participatory Deliberation in Urban Governance
Archon Fung.
The author examines the Chicago reforms to derive lessons about the institutional designs, politics, and public policies that can establish the direct and deliberative channels of participation for ordinary citizens in the governance of complex common issues. As a rich source to expand theory and practice, the organization of educational and police governance in Chicago differs from that of other cities, and indeed from conventional accounts of participatory democracy.
Resource Link: http://www.wjh.harvard.edu/urban/docs/AccountAutonomy.pdf
Action Dialogues: Meaningful Conversations to Accelerate Change
Debbe Kennedy, Global Dialogue Center. Berrett-Koehler Press, 2000.
Meant to be used as a part of Debbe Kennedy's Diversity Breakthrough! Strategic Action series, this is a simple pack of 52 glossy cards, each isolating specific roadblocks that organizations commonly face when looking to launch a diversity initiative. The first, for example, reads, 'Our leadership team does not reflect our stated commitment to inclusion.' Another reads, 'Resistance to change keeps diversity out of reach.'
Action Research on Stakeholders Involvement in Municipal Territorial Planning
Canadian Urban Institute, 1998.
The action research project "Stakeholders' Involvement in Municipal Territorial Planning" was carried out within the framework of the Canada-Baltic Municipal Cooperation Program on Strategic Urban Management. The need for this project developed from efforts to involve citizens in the territorial planning process of the Vilnius City Official Plan.
Resource Link: http://www.iog.ca/publications/cui-case.pdf
Active Citizenship: Empowering America's Youth
John Minkler. Educators for Social Responsibility, 1998.
This curriculum introduces students to the knowledge, skills, and values of responsible citizenship in the context of analyzing and solving real school and community problems. Contains 17 lessons with extensions including a group project in which students identify a real political problem, research related issues, and propose a solution.
Resource Link: http://esrnational.org/Merchant2/merchant.mvc
Active Democracy
Lyn Carson's website provides easy access to information which individuals, groups or organisations can use to enhance citizens' involvement in the activities of local, state or federal government. Carson is a senior lecturer in applied politics with Government and International Relations in the School of Economics and Political Science, at the University of Sydney Australia.
Resource Link: http://www.activedemocracy.net
Active Listening
Active listening is a way of listening and responding to another person that improves mutual understanding. Active listening is a structured form of listening and responding that focuses the attention on the speaker. The listener must take care to attend to the speaker fully, and then repeats, in the listener's own words, what he or she thinks the speaker has said.
Active Voice
Active Voice is a nonprofit, fee-based service provider whose work is an outgrowth of promising practices developed by the Television Race Initiative (TRI). Active Voice creates campaigns based on powerful issue-driven films. AV campaigns encourage individuals and community groups to probe, discuss and take action on timely and relevant social justice issues. In collaboration with a wide range of partners, Active Voice creates companion materials and trains facilitators in how to use the films as catalysts for civic engagement, volunteerism and coalition building.
Resource Link: http://www.activevoice.net
Adapting systemic consultation practice to public discourse: An analysis of a public conflict episode
Shawn Spano and Claire Calcagno. Human Systems, 7: 17-43, 1996.
Shawn Spano, Ph.D., is a Senior Consultant with the Public Dialogue Consortium, a non-profit group of practitioners devoted to improving the quality of public communication in local communities. In addition to his work with the PDC, Shawn is a Professor in the Communication Studies Department at San Jose State University where he teaches courses and conducts research in public dialogue, interpersonal communication and communication education.
Addressing Language-Related Challenges in the Practice of Dialogue and Deliberation
Sandy Heierbacher (Director of NCDD). Unpublished manuscript, 2006.
The true power of dialogue and deliberation lies in their ability to surface new insights and innovative solutions when all voices are brought to the table. But while diversity is an asset to these programs, it brings with it a unique set of challenges. This paper addresses four broad challenges related to language and culture that dialogue and deliberation practitioners regularly face. These are: (1) the challenge of getting culturally diverse participants in the door; (2) the logistics involved in having multiple languages spoken in the room; (3) creating a safe space for those with other language/speech needs or differences; and (4) dealing with participants?’ existing preconceptions, assumptions and stereotypes related to language/cultural differences.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/Heierbacher_language_paper.doc
Administrative Structure and Social Democratic Results: The Case of Education
Kevin B. Smith.
At the center of the contemporary education reform debate is an argument that organizational structure makes a difference to school outcomes. This in turn centers on a basic premise of the public choice literature -- that public and private goods and services are in some fashion analogous, and public sector performance can be improved by adopting at least some of the institutional arrangements and processes of the market (Tiebout 1956). This case study of education with respect to administrative structure examines the goals and challenges to differentially structured education systems.
Resource Link: http://sansfoy.hti.umich.edu/pdf/0472113178-ch11.pdf
Advanced Facilitation Strategies: Tools & Techniques to Master Difficult Situations
Ingrid Bens. Jossey-Bass, 2005.
From Ingrid Bens, the author of the best-selling book Facilitating with Ease!, this 272-page book is the next-step resource for project leaders, managers, community leaders, teachers, and other facilitators who want to hone their skills in order to deal with complex situations. Advanced Facilitation Strategies is a field guide that offers practical strategies and techniques for working with challenging everyday situations. These proven strategies and techniques are based on experience gleaned from hundreds of facilitated activities in organizations of all sizes and in all sectors.
Resource Link: http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0787977306.html
Advancing Liberal Education: Assessment Practices on Campus
Michael Ferguson. Association of American Colleges & Universities.
This short publication presents the stories of six different colleges and universities that have developed innovative programs to advance and assess key liberal education outcomes. Originally written for AAC&U News, these stories--which focus on writing, information literacy, understanding of diversity, critical thinking, quantitative reasoning, and civic engagement--offer models for effective assessment practices. Also included is information about finding additional assessment resources.
Resource Link: http://aacu-secure.nisgroup.com/acb/stores/1/product1.cfm?SID=1&Product_ID=95
Adventures in Peacemaking: A Conflict Resolution Guide for School-Age Programs
William J. Kreidler and Lisa Furlong. Educators for Social Responsibility, 1996.
Designed to meet the unique needs of afterschool programs, camps, and recreation centers, this guide contains hundreds of hands-on, engaging activities that teach basic conflict resolution skills through cooperative challenges, drama, crafts, music and even cooking. Also included are easy-to-implement strategies and tips for providers to both reduce conflict in their programs and to intervene effectively when conflict does occur. Adventures in Peacemaking blends ESR's innovative conflict resolution curricula with Project Adventure's activity-based programming.
Resource Link: http://esrnational.org/Merchant2/merchant.mvc
Affirming Diversity: The Sociopolitical Context of Multicultural Education (4th ed.)
Sonia Nieto. Allyn & Bacon, 2003.
In this Fourth Edition of her best-selling book, renowned scholar Sonia Nieto explores the meaning, necessity, and benefits of multicultural education for students of all backgrounds. Intended for preservice and in-service teachers and educators, Affirming Diversity looks at how personal, social, political, cultural, and educational factors affect the success or failure of students in today's classroom. Expanding upon the popular case-study approach, the 496-page Fourth Edition examines the lives of 18 real students who are affected by multicultural education, or a lack thereof.
African Centres for Peace Education and Training
Canadian Centres for Teaching Peace runs this site, which includes (among many other things) links to African centers for peace education and training.
Resource Link: http://www.peace.ca/africa.htm
African Coalition of Dialogue and Deliberation (ACDD)
Formed in 2005 after the first Canadian Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation, the ACDD is an African-led network of practitioners, researchers, students, and organizations interested in connecting African practitioners to each other, assuring access to the full benefit of African experience and expertise for the larger dialogue and deliberation community, and gaining financial and collegial support for African initiatives.
African Journal on Conflict Resolution
The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD).
In launching a new academic journal focusing on conflict transformation in Africa in 1999, ACCORD fulfilled a long-held ambition to contribute to the intellectual development of thinking, writing and dialogue in the field of conflict management on the continent of Africa.
Resource Link: http://www.accord.org.za/ajcr/intro.htm
African Politics and Society in the 1990's
Yusuf Bangura. United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), Geneva, Switzerland, 1998.
The 1990s have witnessed remarkable changes in the way African societies are governed. A large number of military and one-party dictatorships have collapsed in the face of mass civil protests; and a new wave of democratization is sweeping the continent. One of the most interesting aspects of this process is the increasing attention granted to crafting political systems that reflect the plural character of African societies.
Resource Link: http://www.unrisd.org
After the Storm: Working Through the Implications of Hurricane Katrina
Public Agenda.
The aftermath of Katrina raises questions about poverty, race, energy policy, the federal budget, in fact just about every corner of American society and the purpose of government itself. Public Agenda Issue Guides or ?“Citizen Choicework Guides?” contain background information on the topic and present three different approaches to the issue for people to deliberate.
Resource Link: http://www.publicagenda.org/specials/katrina/katrina.cfm
Against Deliberation
Lynn M. Sanders. Political Theory, 25, 347-364., 1997.
Deliberation, which has become a democratic standard in American political settings, has also an undemocratic appeal. Foremost among the undemocratic charges against deliberation is that its proponents cannot guarantee equality of opportunity to those who want to participate in it. Furthermore, critics of deliberation argue that the problem of ordinary citizens committing excesses when they participate in deliberative processes must be addressed. The advantages and disadvantages of deliberation are evaluated and an alternative model for democratic politics is proposed.
Resource Link: http://faculty.virginia.edu/lsanders/SB617_01.pdf
AI Annotations
AI Annotations is a place to create a conversation ?– an exchange of ideas and practices - among the co-owners of Appreciative Inquiry Consulting and with others who are on the journey of exploration and collective understanding of Appreciative Inquiry. Loretta Donovan, Roberta Peirick, Loretta Randolph, Tony Silbert and Sandy Wells make up the AI Annotations blog team as of 5/07.
Resource Link: http://aiconsulting.wordpress.com
AiList: Appreciative Inquiry Discussion List
This listserv, hosted by Jack Brittain, is a forum for individuals interested in learning more about the practice of Appreciative Inquiry. The list has nearly 800 subscribers from all over the world. To subscribe, go to http://lists.business.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/ailist or send a message with the word 'help' in the subject or body to [email protected]. To submit, send messages to the list manager at [email protected].
Resource Link: http://lists.business.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/ailist
Albany Park Theater Project
The Albany Park Theater Project utilizes the medium of theater to help teenagers recognize and achieve their potential, with an emphasis on nurturing their educational ambitions and sense of civic responsibility.
Resource Link: http://aptpchicago.org
Alchemy Consulting LLC
We are process experts who help teams around the world unleash their creativity to solve today's complex business issues. Alchemy gives you a system that works -- graphic recording, strategic illustration, process innovation, organizational strategy, leadership development -- leading you and your business to sustainable success. The Alchemy team, which provided their top-knotch graphic recording services at the 2004 NCDD conference in Denver, consists of Chris Chopyak, Patti Dobrowolski and Lois Todd.
Resource Link: http://link2alchemy.com
Alchemy Consulting LLC
We are process experts who help teams around the world unleash their creativity to solve today's complex business issues. Alchemy gives you a system that works -- graphic recording, strategic illustration, process innovation, organizational strategy, leadership development -- leading you and your business to sustainable success. The Alchemy team, which provided their top-knotch graphic recording services at the 2004 NCDD conference in Denver, consists of Chris Chopyak, Patti Dobrowolski and Lois Todd.
Resource Link: http://link2alchemy.com
Alchemy Consulting LLC
We are process experts who help teams around the world unleash their creativity to solve today's complex business issues. Alchemy gives you a system that works -- graphic recording, strategic illustration, process innovation, organizational strategy, leadership development -- leading you and your business to sustainable success. The Alchemy team, which provided their top-knotch graphic recording services at the 2004 NCDD conference in Denver, consists of Chris Chopyak, Patti Dobrowolski and Lois Todd.
Resource Link: http://link2alchemy.com
Alexander & Associates
Betty Alexander brings sixteen years of experience to her work in large system change and leadership development for public and private organizations. As a graphic facilitator, she uses her skills in deep listening, information synthesis, and intuitive visual processing to make group conversation visible. The real-time visual record of a meeting that she creates is designed to optimize group learning and productivity. It illuminates collective wisdom, creates understanding between multiple, contradictory and complex data, acknowledges individual contribution by reflecting what is being voiced by each person, and builds commitment through high participation in meeting processes.
Allegheny County Department of Economic Development Citizen Participation Plan
Allegheny County Department of Economic Development, 2003.
The Citizen Participation Plan is a handbook for the public to understand the procedures followed by the Allegheny County Department of Economic Development as it allocates CDBG, HOME, HOPWA, ESG and Section 108 Loan Guarantee funds. Because citizen participation is an important part of investment in the communities, opportunity for participation is available at every stage of the planning process. The process includes meetings, comment, and review of documents by the public. Numerous steps, outlined in this paper, will be taken to ensure citizen participation in planning.
Alliance for International Conflict Prevention and Resolution
The Alliance for International Conflict Prevention and Resolution (formerly known as ACRON) is a network of the United States' most pre-eminent conflict prevention and resolution organizations. Formed in 1999 and incorporated in 2003, the Alliance is dedicated to increasing the effectiveness of the conflict management field and maximizing its impact on international peace building.
Resource Link: http://www.aicpr.org
Alliance for Regional Stewardship
The Alliance for Regional Stewardship (ARS) is a national, peer-to-peer network of regional leaders working across boundaries to solve tough community problems. They come from business, government, education, and the civic sectors, but they share a common commitment to collaborative action and achieving results. The ARS Network is for proven leaders who recognize that economic competitiveness, a sustainable quality of life, and strong communities are all connected. ARS supports these leaders and their efforts by helping them learn about effective practices from other regions, develop their own civic leadership skills, and design and carry out strategies for breakthrough results.
Resource Link: http://www.regionalstewardship.org
Alternative Dispute Resolution for Organizations: How to Design a System for Effective Conflict Resolution
Allan J. Stitt. Jossey-Bass, 1998.
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) is a rapidly growing field, due to its popularity as an alternative to long and expensive lawsuits. ADR involves resolving disputes of any kind outside of the judicial system, through negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and other processes. This book is for people who work within organizations and are involved in disputes themselves, or for people who are required to deal with or resolve disputes. It covers how to set up a dispute resolution process in an organization.
Resource Link: http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0471642959.html
Alternatives to the High Cost of Litigation
International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution.
Alternatives to the High Cost of Litigation is the national newsletter covering cutting-edge alternative dispute resolution (ADR) developments, best practices, and trends in business. Alternatives provides authoritative guidance for using ADR at companies, firms, and the courts. Articles focus exclusively on business disputes - and examine all the ADR strategies business use, including negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and more.
Resource Link: http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-ALT.html
American Assembly
The American Assembly, an affiliate of Columbia University, was founded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1950 to illuminate issues of public policy. The Assembly's major objectives are to focus attention and stimulate informed discussion on a range of critical U.S. policy topics; to inform government officials, community and civic leadership, and the general public regarding the factual background and the range of policy options in a given issue; to facilitate increased communication among decision makers from the public and private sectors, as well as from institutions and organizations concerned with critical public policy issues; and to raise on a continuing basis the level and quality of public policy discourse on national and international issues.
Resource Link: http://www.americanassembly.org
American Composers Orchestra
American Composers Orchestra (ACO) is dedicated to the creation, performance and preservation of music by American composers. Their project, Coming to America: Immigrant Sounds/Immigrant Voices, for instance, linked the symphonic work of immigrant composers to issues of immigration and American identity. Dialogue was used during pre and post-concert talks, in-school activities, and presentations within partner institutions.
Resource Link: http://americancomposers.org
American Documentary, Inc.
American Documentary, Inc. builds new audiences, educates viewers, and fosters sustained public discourse and activity around the contemporary social issues raised by P.O.V. (Point of View) documentary programming. Their film Girls Like Us, for example, used broadcast media to encourage adults to become aware of the issues affecting the young women in their lives.
Resource Link: http://amdoc.org
American Psychological Association (APA)
The APA is a scientific and professional organization that represents psychology in the U.S. and is the largest association of psychologists worldwide. While a scientific organization, its attitude toward lesbians, gays and bisexuals can be described as fairly positive. Searching for a given topic on the APA?’s site is likely to produce a wide variety of types of results - anything from guidelines for psychotherapists dealing with a particular issue to research papers to APA-authored amicus briefs.
Resource Link: http://www.apa.org
American Repertory Theater
Located at Harvard Square in Cambridge, MA, the American Repertory Theatre (A.R.T.) is the Boston area's Tony-award winning professional theater. One of ART's performances, called Children of Herakles, was designed to build people's awareness of the immigration issues that refugees face. Elements of the performance included live testimonials by refugees. Panels on refugee issues were held, as well as pre- and post-performance discussions.
Resource Link: http://amrep.org
American University - Peacebuilding and Development Institute
The Peacebuilding and Development Institute provides knowledge, practical experience and skills for scholars and practitioners involved in conflict resolution, peacebuilding, humanitarian assistance and development. There are two components to the institute: one is the summer professional training program and the other is the year-round practical training, capacity building, and curriculum development programs in conflict areas.
Resource Link: http://www.american.edu/sis/peace/summer/
Americans Finding Their Voices: Community-Wide Study Circles
Study Circles Resource Center (SCRC), 2000.
This 10-minute motivational video introduces the concept of study circles, including a profile of the study circle program in Decatur, Georgia.
Resource Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxl7ncXkVwQ
Americans for Informed Democracy (AID)
Americans for Informed Democracy (AID) is a non-partisan 501(c)(3) organization working to raise global awareness on more than 500 U.S. university campuses and in more than 10 countries. AID fulfills its mission by coordinating town hall meetings on America's Role in the World, hosting leadership retreats, and publishing opinion pieces and reports on issues of global importance. Through these efforts, AID seeks to build a new generation of globally conscious leaders who can shape an American foreign policy appropriate for our increasingly interdependent world.
Resource Link: http://www.aidemocracy.org
Americans for Informed Democracy's Organizers Toolkit - Asian Relations
Nuclear weapons in North Korea. Trade with China. Economic development in India. The United States' relations with countries in Asia promise to be some of the most dynamic in the twenty-first century. Indeed, U.S.-Asian relations are the "the next big thing" in America's role in the world. But despite the importance of this relationship, public discourse fails to contextualize these issues in a constructive manner that focuses on the opportunities that exist for collaboration, rather than the dangers that are posed when powers collide. For this reason, Americans for Informed Democracy proposes its new initiative, The Next Big Thing: The Future of U.S.-Asian Relations.
Resource Link: http://www.aidemocracy.org/usasia.doc
Americans for Informed Democracy's Organizers Toolkit - Darfur and Beyond: The Role of the ICC
In March of 2005, the U.N. Security Council referred the crimes in Darfur to the International Criminal Court. Notably, the U.S., a veto power on the Security Council, decided not to use its veto to block this historic action. Just months later though, in August of 2005, President Bush appointed John Bolton as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Bolton has a clear record of ardently opposing the International Criminal Court and aggressively seeking to undermine its effectiveness and legitimacy.
Resource Link: http://www.aidemocracy.org/globalgovernanceicc.doc
Americans for Informed Democracy's Organizers Toolkit - Entrepreneurship in a Globalized World
Thomas Friedman's bestseller The World is Flat argues that advances in technology are leveling the global competitive playing field and reshaping the challenges and opportunities faced by the next generation of entrepreneurs. U.S. entrepreneurs now compete more directly with businesses around the world, while working more cooperatively with foreign businesses and labor to manufacture and deliver their products. What does the changing global landscape mean for socially responsible global entrepreneurship? What are the challenges? What are the opportunities? Americans for Informed Democracy is bringing town hall style discussion of these questions to universities across the U.S. through its Entrepreneurship in a Globalized World initiative.
Resource Link: http://www.aidemocracy.org/entrepreneur.doc
Americans for Informed Democracy's Organizers Toolkit - Global HIV/AIDS
Nearly 40 million people around the world live with HIV or AIDS. More than half of the infected reside in Sub-Saharan Africa alone. This global pandemic is affecting not only the health and well-being, but also the economy and security of countries around the world. Realizing the crucial role that young people can play in combating the global pandemic, Americans for Informed Democracy is focusing this February on global HIV/AIDS and the role that young people can play in combating it.
Resource Link: http://www.aidemocracy.org/globalaids.doc
Americans for Informed Democracy's Organizers Toolkit - Reforming the U.N. for a Safer World
On March 21, 2005, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan presented a new report for sweeping reform in the United Nations, In Larger Freedom. In his report, Annan calls for a collective security system to fight terrorism, an enlarged Security Council, a revamped UN human rights system and new guidelines for military action. While the reforms are critical to the U.N.'s continued effectiveness in a changing world, questions remain as to whether the U.S. will support these reforms, which many advocates believe are necessary to address the pressing security and development imperatives of the twenty-first century, from the genocide in Darfur to the Millennium Development Goals.
Resource Link: http://www.aidemocracy.org/globalgovernance.doc
Americans for Informed Democracy's Organizers Toolkit - Securing the Future
Now more than ever, Americans are asking serious questions about how the changing global environment is impacting all of our lives. Research shows us that climate instability and oil dependence are not just environmental concerns, but problems that will affect the national security, economy and health of our country. Americans for Informed Democracy is thus focusing its Securing the Future initiative about the changing global environment on specifically climate and energy issues.
Resource Link: http://www.aidemocracy.org/securethefuture.doc
Americans Talk Issues
The ATI Foundation promotes a democratic process that combines repeated large-scale, random polling of Americans with 30-minute deliberations between individual voters and unbiased professional interviewers. The result is a consensus of public opinion, which sometimes includes unexpected positions and solutions. As explained in the book Locating Consensus for Democracy, Public Interest Polling provides an inexpensive, practical way to locate a consensus of all Americans on major national issues.
Resource Link: http://www.publicinterestpolling.com
Americans' Role in the World: Building a More Secure Future (NIF Issue Book)
As the only superpower left standing after the Cold War, America exercises global dominance. Yet, the September 11 attack showed us that we are not immune to the world's problems. Powerful and prosperous, yet not universally liked, Americans are no longer certain about their security in the twenty-first century. This issue book presents four perspectives on the questions of what kind of world we want our children and grandchildren to live in and what we will have to do to achieve it.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/AmericasRole_IssueGuide.pdf
AmericanValuesAre.com
AmericanValuesAre.com was designed to promote civic education and civic engagement. Civic education leads to responsible citizenship. Responsible citizens are the core foundation of our democratic system. Our guides are designed to encourage dialogue about what it means to be a citizen, and to energize more Americans to be engaged in shaping and interacting with their own government. We also hope to be able to inform and educate people on how to engage in the dialogue that leads to common ground and minimizes partisan debate that divides and demoralizes us.
Resource Link: http://www.americanvaluesare.com
AmericaSpeaks
Promoting the founding belief that every citizen has a right to impact the decisions of government, AmericaSpeaks serves as a neutral convener of large-scale public participation forums. Through close consultation with leaders, citizens, the media and others, AmericaSpeaks designs and facilitates deliberative meetings for 500 to 5,000 participants. Its partners have included regional planning groups, local, state, and national government bodies, and national organizations. Issues have ranged from Social Security reform to redevelopment of ground zero in New York.
Resource Link: http://www.americaspeaks.org
AmericaSpeaks' Network News
AmericaSpeaks, a non-profit organization, engages citizens in the public decisions that impact their lives through their innovative 21st Century Town Meetings, as well as citizen engagement consulting, strategic planning services, and public speaking. Their one-way e-newsletter, geared towards their network of AmericaSpeaks facilitators, is sent out once a month.
Resource Link: http://www.americaspeaks.org/resources/facilitators/newsletter/
America?’s Global Role Issue Guide
Public Agenda.
September 11th dramatically recast how the U.S. engages the world. The U.S. remains, as it has for the past decade, the world's sole remaining superpower. The question of how we relate to the world -- whether on economic globalization, the environment, human rights, global health crises, relations with China and Russia -- needs to be addressed, whatever happens in the struggle with al Qaeda. Public Agenda Issue Guides or ?“Citizen Choicework Guides?” contain background information on the topic and present three different approaches to the issue for people to deliberate.
Resource Link: http://www.publicagenda.org/issues/frontdoor.cfm?issue_type=americas_global_role
An Empirical-Theoretical Analysis Framework for Public Participation in Environmental Impact Assessment
Juan Palerm. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 43 (5), 581-601, 2000.
Public participation has been increasingly recognized as one of the most important aspects of environmental impact assessment. However, the definition of adequate evaluative criteria for public participation, with a strong theoretical backing, the functionality of empirical best practice and the consideration of the country-specific context, has remained elusive. The evaluative framework developed here is an attempt to fill this gap.
Resource Link: http://taylorandfrancis.metapress.com/(mwc0e345ergrh245f53we445)/app/home/main.asp
An Evaluation of the Ford Foundation's Neighborhood and Family Initiative
Robert Chaskin, Selma Chipenda-Dansokho, Mark Joseph, and Carla Richards. Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago, 2001.
This evaluation of the Ford Foundation's Neighborhood and Family Initiative reviews its activities since 1996 and distills lessons learned about comprehensive approaches to community building, including lessons about the role of collaboration, resident participation, funding, outcomes, and evaluation.
Resource Link: http://www.chapinhall.org/article_abstract.aspx?ar=1295&L2=63&L3=108
An Evaluation Tool-Kit for Study Circles
Ratnesh Nagda. Study Circles Resource Center.
The tool-kit is a community-centered and user-friendly guide to evaluation for study circles organizers. It focuses on empowerment evaluation and the logic model.
An Experiment in Digital Government at the United States National Organic Program
Stuart Shulman. Agriculture and Human Values, 20, 253-265, 2003.
Digital communications is having an influence on the ways in which rule making takes place in democratic systems of governance. Such approaches create new opportunities for participation as well as several governance challenges. A significant issue is the definition of meaningful public participation in rule making. The paper uses the National Organic Programme's use of digital systems to create rule summaries related to issues such as genetic engineering, biosolids, irradiation and the role of the board.
Resource Link: http://www.springerlink.com/
An Introduction to Collaborative Technologies
Sandy Heierbacher. National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation (NCDD), 2004.
Collaborative technology can create an interactive learning environment involving people who are hundreds or thousands of miles apart. Businesses are far more savvy with the more sophisticated packages of high-tech tools available than we are in the dialogue and deliberation community, and the prohibitive cost of many of the tools, software and services primarily marketed to businesses is the most obvious reason for that.
An Online Environment for Democratic Deliberation: Motivations, Principles, and Design
Todd Davies, Brendan O'Connor, Alex Angiolillo Cochran, Jonathan J. Effrat.
This paper elucidates the experience and thinking behind our new web-based environment for asynchronous group deliberation: Deme (pronounced 'deem'). Deme grew out of participation in and observations of group decision making and community democracy, and is being developed within a university-community partnership to enhance civic participation and to bridge digital divides.
Resource Link: http://www.stanford.edu/~davies/deme-principles.pdf
An Overview of Multi-Stakeholder Civic Scenario Work
Generon Consulting, 2001.
The purpose of a civic scenario project is to build the leadership to change the course of a country?’s history. A group of influential leaders - a microcosm of the society, representing all the principal stakeholders - works together to uncover what has happened, is happening, might happen, and should happen in their country, and what they must do to enact that vision. Through a structured process of action and reflection, with each other and with other societal leaders, they build the shared understanding and commitment necessary to bring forth a better future. This 6-page paper synthesizes Generon Consulting's learnings from their experiences leading civic scenario projects in numerous countries, and outlines a state-of-the-art civic project.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/civic_scenario.pdf
An Overview of Public Consultation Mechanisms Developed to Address the Ethical and Social Issues Raised by Biotechnology
Thérèse Leroux, Marie Hirtle, and Louis- Nicolas Fortin. Journal of Consumer Policy, 21 (4), 445 - 481, 1998.
Biotechnology, whether applied to plants, animals, or humans is a rapidly expanding industry. Citizens, often organized in groups or organizations, wish to express their views and even to participate in the decision-making process that authorized the marketing of new biotechnology derived products. In order to allow participation of the public in the debate on the ethical and social issues raised by biotechnology, it is important to select appropriate consultation mechanisms.
Resource Link: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/
Andrus Family Fund
AFF funds community reconciliation projects within the United States that put their Collaborative Change Approach to the test in addressing one of AFF's three priority issues: identity-based conflict, police-community conflict and conservation conflict. Presently, AFF does not fund international projects, although it will consider supporting international research that will inform our domestic work. AFF also funds programs that help people leaving the foster care system transition to independence.
Resource Link: http://www.affund.org
Animating Democracy Initiative
Animating Democracy, a program of Americans for the Arts, fosters arts and cultural activity that encourages and enhances civic engagement and dialogue. It is based on the premise that democracy is animated when an informed public is engaged in the issues affecting people's daily lives. Launched in fall 1999, ADI is a four-year programmatic initiative of Americans for the Arts which fosters artistic activity that encourages civic dialogue on important contemporary issues.
Resource Link: http://www.artsusa.org/animatingdemocracy
Animating Democracy: The Artistic Imagination as a Force in Civic Dialogue
Barbara Schaffer Bacon, Cheryl Yuen and Pam Korza, Animating Democracy Initiative of Americans for the Arts. Americans for the Arts, 1999.
This report reveals pivotal and innovating roles that the arts can play in the renewal of civic dialogue as well as challenges faced by arts and cultural organizations as they engage in this work.
Resource Link: http://www.artsusa.org/animatingdemocracy
Anna Scheleit, Artist
Anna Scheleit's public art piece "The State Hospital: In Memoriam" promoted civic dialogue about the mental health system in America through Habeas Corpus, a one time site-specific sound installation of J.S. Bach's Magnificat, making the abandoned building "sing in memory of the thousands of individuals whose lives were affected by the institution."
Resource Link: http://www.1856.org
Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania
The Annenberg Public Policy Center has been the premier communication policy center in the country since its founding in 1993. By conducting and releasing research, staging conferences and hosting policy discussions, its scholars have addressed the role of communication in politics, adolescent behavior, child development, health care, civics and mental health, among other important arenas. The Center?’s researchers have drafted materials that helped policy-makers, journalists, scholars, constituent groups and the general public better understand the role that media play in their lives and the life of the nation. The Policy Center maintains offices in Philadelphia and Washington D.C.
Resource Link: http://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org
Anti-Bias Curriculum: Tools for Empowering Young Children
Louise Derman-Sparks and the A.B.C. Task Force. Educators for Social Responsibility.
This resource shows early childhood educators how to examine biases, learn how they influence children, and explore ways to reduce, handle, or even eliminate them. The guide moves beyond multicultural education to creating an anti-bias environment that is developmentally appropriate. Includes a comprehensive bibliography as well as sections on learning about disabilities, gender identity, racial and cultural differences, and how to resist stereotyping.
Resource Link: http://esrnational.org/Merchant2/merchant.mvc
Antioch University - Ph.D. in Leadership and Change
This is a distinctive, intensive-residency, doctoral program that combines faculty-mentored, individualized learning in the student's area of professional interest with a challenging interdisciplinary core curriculum. The focus of the program is on understanding and leading organizational change.
Resource Link: http://www.phd.antioch.edu/Pages/APhDWeb_Program/overview
Antioch University McGregor - Community Change and Civic Leadership
The Individualized Liberal and Professional Studies (ILPS) master's program at Antioch University McGregor offers a concentration in community change and civic leadership. This concentration builds on LeadershipPlenty®, a training program sponsored by the Pew Partnership for Civic Change. This training of trainers program was designed by adult educators to prepare participants to teach the fundamental civic skills needed to effect community change.
Resource Link: http://www.mcgregor.edu/civic/index.html
Antioch University McGregor - Conflict Resolution Graduate Programs
Antioch University's Graduate Conflict Resolution Programs are internationally recognized with a reputation for graduating students who are highly skilled and knowledgeable theorist-practitioners.
Resource Link: http://www.mcgregor.edu/cr/
AntiRacismNet Mailing Lists
AntiRacismNet is an international online network of anti-racism organizations and practitioners. The site hosts dozens of mailing lists for groups and organizations such as the World Conference Against Racism, Project Change, and Movement Beyond Borders.
Resource Link: http://www.antiracismnet.org/subscribe/index.html
AOL Instant Messenger
A free instant messaging service from AOL. The AIM Express service allows you to use AOL Instant Messenger from any computer with Internet Access.
Resource Link: http://www.aim.com
Appreciative Inquiry
Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is about the coevolutionary search for the best in people, their organizations, and the relevant world around them. In its broadest focus, it involves systematic discovery of what gives "life" to a living system when it is most alive, most effective, and most constructively capable in economic, ecological, and human terms. AI involves, in a central way, the art and practice of asking questions that strengthen a system's capacity to apprehend, anticipate, and heighten positive potential.
Appreciative Inquiry Commons
The AI Commons is devoted to the sharing of academic resources and practical tools on Appreciative Inquiry and the rapidly growing discipline of positive change. The site is hosted by Case Western Reserve University's Weatherhead School of Management. Appreciative Inquiry is the coevolutionary search for the best in people, their organizations and the relevant world around them.
Resource Link: http://appreciativeinquiry.case.edu
Appreciative Sharing of Knowledge: Leveraging Knowledge Management for Strategic Change
Tojo Thatchenkery. Taos Institute Publishing, 2005.
True knowledge sharing in organizations occurs less regularly than most of us think. What can be done to help create a system in which people share the internal "know-how" unique to each organization? In this contribution to change management, Tojo Thatchenkery describes a brand new methodology called Appreciate Sharing of Knowledge [ASK] and provides a step-by-step tool kit for anyone interested in knowledge management.
Approaches to Deliberative Democracy: a Cross-Border Study
John Church, Citizen Participation Partnership Project, University of Alberta.
A key challenge for those concerned about the condition of western democracies is to develop models of democratic deliberation that live up to key norms of inclusion and just representation, while elevating participants' understandings of the issues at stake, and allowing them to develop reflective policy recommendations that are legitimate in the eyes of deliberators themselves, and with a broader public. The purpose of the research is to examine existing consultative practices in three policy sectors (Health, Environment and Aboriginal) and test and evaluate emerging approaches to deliberative democracy in Canada and the United States.
APSA-CIVED
APSA (the American Political Science Association).
Originally established by the APSA Task Force on Civic Education for the Next Century (1966-2000), CIVED is a public discussion list for scholars and pracitioners of civic education and civic engagement.
Resource Link: http://www.h-net.org/~cived/
Ariga
This site provides invaluable information about organizations that promote cooperation between Israelis/Jews/Zionists and Palestinians/Muslims/Arabs. Opened to the public in 1995, Ariga was the first web-based source of news from Israel emphasizing the peace process. Ariga is an open platform, unaffiliated with any specific group.
Resource Link: http://www.ariga.com
Arizona State University - Intergroup Relations Center
The IRC provides education and training opportunities to students, faculty, and staff as well as intergroup conflict prevention and mediation services. It sponsors retreats, workshops, seminars, and institutes for faculty, staff and students, and collects, develops, and disseminates educational resources and data on discrimination, hate crimes, and intergroup conflict incidents at ASU.
Resource Link: http://www.asu.edu/provost/intergroup/
Around the Kitchen Table (e-Journal)
Around the Kitchen Table is an eJournal on economic opportunity published by Demos. Demos is a non-partisan, non-profit public policy research and advocacy organization which seeks to bring everyone into the life of American democracy and to achieve a broadly shared prosperity characterized by greater opportunity and less disparity.
Resource Link: http://www.demos-usa.org/aroundthekitchentable/
Arsalyn
A program of the Ludwick Family Foundation, Arsalyn promotes constructive dialogue between groups with diverse viewpoints as well as the sharing of models and methods. Arsalyn has been convening a series of regional conferences geared toward helping young people--especially politically active youth--develop skills that will help them communicate effectively with those of opposing views or with more lukewarm potential allies without alienating them or poisoning the wells of deliberation and common action. The aim of these conferences: to explore of the art of political deliberation and to apply this art in 'bridging the partisan divide.'
Resource Link: http://www.arsalyn.org
Art, Dialogue, Action, Activism: Case Studies from Animating Democracy
Americans for the Arts' Animating Democracy Initiative, 2005.
This 114-page book opens with an essay by Detroit-based activist, cultural worker, and nonagenarian, Grace Lee Boggs. The book?’s case studies feature projects by the Council for the Arts of Greater Lima and Sojourn Theatre on longstanding issues of race and trust among city and county leaders, Los Angeles Poverty Department on the advent of crack in the United States and drug policy reform, The Esperanza Peace and Justice Center on engaging disenfranchised people in dialogue and action on current issues of cultural equity and democracy, and Out North Contemporary Art House on the role of same-sex couples in society.
Resource Link: http://americans4thearts.stores.yahoo.net/noname.html
Ascentum
Ascentum is a Canada-based professional services firm that combines a unique technology expertise with specialized management consulting services. Dialogue Circles is Ascentum's intermodal approach to consultation that aims to maximize the synergies between the traditional and online worlds of consultation and dialogue. Dialogue Circles provides clients with the flexibility to hold online or traditional consultation and dialogue. According to Ascentum, many of the most successful consultation and dialogue endeavors now involve a mix of online tools and traditional face-to-face approaches that complement one another.
Resource Link: http://www.ascentum.ca
Ascentum's Dialoguecircles Training
Ascentum's dialoguecircles training series includes a wide array of courses on consultation and dialogue (Introduction to Intermodal Consultation and Dialogue, Dialoguecircles Methodology for Consultation and Dialogue, Analyzing Results from Consultation and Dialogue Projects, etc.) designed to meet your needs. All courses and certification programs are based on our proven dialoguecircles methodology. Developed by Sandra Zagon, Joseph Peters and Manon Abud, experts in the consultation and dialogue field, our training courses are practical, relevant and dynamic.
Resource Link: http://www.dialoguecircles.com/training
AScribe Newswire
AScribe Newswire distributes news from nonprofit and public sector organizations. We provide direct, immediate access to mainstream national media for 600 colleges, universities, medical centers, public-policy groups and other leading nonprofit organizations.
Resource Link: http://www.ascribe.org/
Assessing Campus Diversity Initiatives: A Guide for Campus Practitioners
Mildred Garcia, Cynthia Hudgins, Caryn McTighe Musil, Michael T. Nettles, William E. Sedlacek, and Daryl G. Smith. Association of American Colleges & Universities, 2002.
This 184-page guide provides tips and tools for designing and developing effective diversity evaluations. Topics addressed include the need for assessment, designing an evaluation plan, institutional context, audience, data collection and analysis, performance indicators, and theoretical models. An appendix also includes sample assessment and evaluation tools from campuses across the country.
Assessing Deliberation: Setting the Agenda, Implementing Policy, and Outcomes
Lisa-Marie Napoli, Ph.D., Becky Nesbit and Lisa Blomgren Bingham. Submitted to the 2006 National Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation, 2006.
This 33-page research report presented at NCDD's 2006 conference examines AmericaSpeaks' 21st Century Town Meeting - one important model for facilitating citizen participation through large scale (100-5,000) dialogue in which citizens come together, listen to each other in a public arena, and make decisions as a collective community. Many researchers ask why there is a gap between scholarship and practice in the field of deliberation; this study responds to the call for empirical testing by examining the AmericaSpeaks model of a 21st Town Meeting. Specifically, this study examines agenda setting, implementation, and outcomes in the context of three different cities where the Town Hall Meetings occurred.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/Bingham-AssessingDelibPaper.doc
Assessing EPA's Federal Advisory Committee Act Committees: A User's Guide with Questionnaires
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2003.
This user's guide gathers information and tools for EPA staff to use in generating feedback on the effectiveness of EPA Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) Committees.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/EPA_federal_adv_comm_act.doc
Assessing EPA's Listening Sessions: A User's Guide with Questionnaires
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2003.
This user's guide gathers information and tools for EPA staff to use in generating feedback on the effectiveness of public listening sessions and the effectiveness of follow-up after them.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/EPA_listening_sessions.doc
Assessing EPA's Public Hearings: A User's Guide with Questionnaires
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2003.
This user's guide gathers information and tools for EPA staff to use in generating feedback on the effectiveness of public hearings and the effectiveness of follow-up after them.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/EPA_public_hearings.doc
Assessing EPA's Public Meetings: A User's Guide with Questionnaires
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2003.
This user's guide gathers information and tools for EPA staff to use in generating feedback on the effectiveness of public meetings and the effectiveness of follow-up after them.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/EPA_public_meetings.doc
Assessing EPA's Small Discussion Groups: A User's Guide with Questionnaires
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2003.
This user's guide gathers information and tools for EPA staff to use in generating feedback on the effectiveness of small discussion groups.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/EPA_small_disc_grps.doc
Assessing EPA's Sponsored Community Advisory Groups: A User's Guide with Questionnaires
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2003.
This user's guide gathers information and tools for EPA staff to use in generating feedback on the effectiveness of Community Advisory Groups (CAGs).
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/EPA_sponsored_comm_adv_grps.doc
Assessing Impacts of Citizen Engagement Through Public Deliberation
Sue Williams, Ph.D., Ron C. Powers, Ph.D., Renee Daugherty, Ph.D. and Wendy Petterson.
This PowerPoint Presentation provides an overview of a study to determine the impact of Public Policy Institutes (PPI's) and subsequent local issues forums on fostering citizen engagement through public deliberation.
Resource Link: http://www.ssu.missouri.edu/commdev/pubdelib/REPORTS/powersetal.ppt
Assessing the Effectiveness of Project-Based Public Involvement Processes: A Self-Assessment Tool for Practitioners
The Transportation Research Board, Committee on Public Involvement in Transportation, 1999.
This 17-page document is an adaptable and practical guide which produces output in a 'scorecard' format. It is intended to provide the practitioner with a means of conducting a self-assessment of the effectiveness of a specific public involvement campaign for a specific planning or project development activity (e.g., the development of a long range plan or a specific capital improvement). It is not intended to evaluate the overall public involvement processes or procedures guiding all public involvement activities such as a State department of transportation or Metropolitan Planning Organization would develop under ISTEA regulations.
Resource Link: http://www.trbpi.com/publications/assessmenttool.pdf
Assessing the Effects of Public Participation
Kathleen Halvorsen. Public Administration Review, 63 (5), 535, 2003.
This article presents the results of research designed to test participatory democracy assertions that high-quality public participation can affect participants' beliefs in desirable ways. It examines the relationships between exposure to quality participation and participant beliefs about the trustworthiness and responsiveness of a public agency and the value of including different viewpoints in public meetings.
Resource Link: http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/
Assessing Your Collaboration: A Self-Evaluation Tool
Lynne M. Borden and Daniel F. Perkins. Journal of Extension [On-line], 37 (2)., 1999.
This tool offers a self-assessment exercise which allows groups to rate their collaboration on key factors including goals, communication, sustainability, evaluation, political climate, resources, catalysts, policies/laws/regulations, history, connectedness, leadership, community development, and understanding community. The tool helps groups identify the factors that need to be worked on so groups can develop strategies to address these issues, thus allowing the group to move forward and accomplish their goals.
Resource Link: http://www.joe.org/joe/1999april/tt1.html
Asset Based Community Development
Instead of focusing on a community's needs, deficiencies and problems, Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) helps communities become stronger and more self-reliant by discovering, mapping and mobilizing all their local assets.
Asset Building and Community Development
Gary Paul Green and Anna Haines. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA, USA, 2002.
Can residents work together to improve the quality of life in their communities? There is continued skepticism about community-based efforts to overcome the problems of concentrated poverty and racial segregation in the inner city, underdevelopment in rural areas, and social isolation. Yet, there are numerous examples of residents helping their local communities provide affordable housing, job training, and financing for businesses. In ?“Asset Building and Community Development?” Gary Paul Green and Anna Haines provide an engaging, thought-provoking, interdisciplinary overview of the community development field.
Resource Link: http://www.sagepub.com/home.nav
Asset-Based Community Development Institute
The ABCD Institute was formed to assist in providing training nationally regarding the Asset-Based Community Development approaches developed by John McKnight and John Kretzmann at Northwestern University and documented in the book Building Communities from the Inside Out. ABCD produces resources and tools for community builders to identify, nurture, and mobilize neighborhood assets.
Resource Link: http://www.northwestern.edu/IPR/abcd.html
Association for Community Health Improvement
The Association for Community Health Improvement is the premier national association for community health, healthy communities and community benefit. We convene and support leaders from the health care, public health, community and philanthropic sectors to help achieve shared community health goals, and work with hundreds of members to strengthen community health through education, peer networking and the dissemination of practical tools.
Resource Link: http://www.communityhlth.org
Association for Conflict Resolution
ACR is a professional organization dedicated to enhancing the practice and public understanding of conflict resolution. ACR represents and serves over 7000 mediators, arbitrators, facilitators, educators, and others involved in the field of conflict resolution and collaborative decision-making. ACR was launched in 2001, when the Academy of Family Mediators (AFM), the Conflict Resolution Education Network (CREnet), and the Society for Professionals in Dispute Resolution (SPIDR) merged into one organization.
Resource Link: http://www.acrnet.org
Association for the Study and Development of Community
ASDC is a research and development organization for community capacity building and social problem solving. ASDC represents a network of leading community development practitioners and scientists in the United States and Europe, with offices in Gaithersburg, Maryland and Milan, Italy. ASDC provides capacity building services to government agencies, foundations and nonprofit organizations.
Resource Link: http://www.capablecommunity.com
Association of American Colleges & Universities
AAC&U is the leading national association concerned with the quality, vitality, and public standing of undergraduate liberal education. Its members are committed to extending the advantage of a liberal education to all students, regardless of their academic specialization or intended career. Founded in 1915 by college presidents, AAC&U now represents the entire spectrum of American colleges and universities - large and small, public and private, two-year and four-year. AAC&U comprises more than 1,000 accredited colleges and universities that collectively educate more than five million students every year.
Resource Link: http://www.aacu.org/
At Issue: Marriage. Exploring the Debate Over Marriage Rights for Same-Sex Couples
GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network), 2003.
This resource offers educators six lesson plans for high school aged students that challenges them to explore the range of complex issues reflected in the marriage debate. The resource was developed at the time when the U.S. was awaiting the decision of the Massachusetts Supreme Court on the right of same-sex couples to civil marriage.
Resource Link: http://www.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/educator/library/record/1411.html
At The Table
Connect with others, share information, and help build the worldwide movement for youth participation at this online clearinghouse featuring everything you need to know about effectively involving youth in your organization and community. Hosted by the Innovation Center for Community and Youth Development.
Resource Link: http://www.AtTheTable.org
Attribution Theory
Attribution theory is concerned with how individuals interpret events and how this relates to their thinking and behavior. Attribution theory assumes that people try to determine why people do what they do. A person seeking to understand why another person did something may attribute one or more causes to that behavior. According to Heider a person can make two attributions 1) internal attribution, the inference that a person is behaving in a certain way because of something about the person, such as attitude, character or personality. 2) external attribution, the inference that a person is behaving a certain way because of something about the situation he or she is in.
Auditing Community Participation
Mark Randell.
The central issue in any community development activity is that of participation. Without community participation, there are obviously no partnerships, no developments, no programmes. This 5-page paper looks at a way in which the success or failure of community participation programmes may be measured in a principled and inclusive manner, befitting the spirit and ethos of community development. Along the way, some comments are made concerning 'social capital' and trust, and how these concepts - if married with knowledge from psychology - may point the way to better participation programmes.
Resource Link: http://www.humansciences.com.au/presentations/auditing_participation.pdf
Auditing Community Participation: An Assessment Handbook
Danny Burns and Marilyn Taylor. Bristol, UK: The Policy Press, 2000.
Auditing community participation looks at ways of assessing levels of community involvement in area regeneration initiatives. Through an audit of participation, communities themselves can positively facilitate learning and dialogue for partners and partnerships. The report provides tools and appraisal exercises for measuring the history and patterns of participation; the quality of participation strategies adopted by partners and partnerships; the capacity within partner organisations to support community participation; the capacity within communities to participate effectively; and the impact of participation and its outcomes.
Resource Link: http://www.hammicksbma.com
Autonomy Freedom and Deliberation
Sebastiano Bavetta and Francesco Guala.
Recent attempts to model and measure freedom in the Freedom of Choice Literature (FCL) have focused on the range of opportunities enjoyed by individuals. In this paper we focus instead on the range of autonomous choices available to individuals. We illustrate how this approach differs from traditional proposals in FCL, and discuss a metric that captures the autonomy-aspect of freedom of choice.
Resource Link: http://philosophy.ucsd.edu/Courses/winter03/152/autonomy9.pdf
Avril Orloff, Graphic Facilitator
As a graphic facilitator, I create a visual map of the conversation at meetings, workshops, dialogues and other group processes, using words and images to literally draw out people?’s thinking and surface the ?“big picture.?” Listening carefully for meaning as well as words, I create a graphic depiction of the conversation as it unfolds, drawing out patterns, themes and connections to weave the parts into an integrated whole.
Resource Link: http://avrilorloff.com
Awakening Participation: Building Capacity for Public Participation in Environmental Decisionmaking
The Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe, 1996.
This REC Public Participation Training Module / Participant Workbook reinforces the REC's ongoing commitment to increasing public participation in environmental decision making. The Training Project is an outgrowth of the expertise gained through several years of REC policy research and cooperation with environmental leaders throughout the region on public participation issues, and following the development of a series of REC public participation workshops and publications. This Training Project addresses the needs to overcome local obstacles to effectively involve the public in environmental decision making processes.
Resource Link: http://www.rec.org/REC/Publications/PPTraining/cover.html
Backcasting
Backcasting is a method of analysing alternative futures, often energy futures. Its major distinguishing characteristic is a concern with how desirable futures can be attained. It involves working backward from a desired future end point or set of goals to the present to determine the physical feasibility of that particular future and the policy measures that would be required to reach that end point. End points are usually chosen for a time 25 to 50 years in the future.
Bali Institute for Global Renewal
BIGR is a world learning center that engages multicultural leadership and facilitation training, deep dialogue, indigenous wisdom, global consciousness, intergenerational activism and other action-oriented skills and training that empowers individuals, groups and organizations in their quest to make a difference in the world. BIGR includes a consortium of international organizations, corporations, NGOs, universities, thought leaders and consultants who are invested in advancing new forms of leadership training, intergenerational collaboration, nonviolent conflict resolution and social activism as part of a worldview that promotes a sustainable, humane and culturally diverse life for all.
Resource Link: http://www.baliinstitute.org
Bay Area Nonviolent Communication (BayNVC)
BayNVC's mission is to help create a world where everyone's needs are met peacefully and people have the skills for making peace. BayNVC facilitates workshops, series, intensive retreats, and practice groups throughout the U.S. We offer NVC trainings to local organizations like churches, businesses, schools, and healthcare institutions as well as counseling for individuals, couples and families. Our Leadership Program offers a yearlong, community-based opportunity for those interested in teaching NVC. Graduates of the Leadership Program are now teaching in diverse locales such as Sri Lanka and Thailand.
Resource Link: http://www.baynvc.org
Becoming a Conflict Competent Leader: How You and Your Organization Can Manage Conflict Effectively
Craig E. Runde and Tim A. Flanagan. Jossey-Bass, 2006.
Becoming a Conflict Competent Leader combines research, conceptual models, practitioner experience, and stories that highlight the core conflict competencies. The book underscores the importance for leaders to develop the critical skills they need to help them, their colleagues, and their organizations deal more effectively with conflict and move their organizations forward.
Resource Link: http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0787984701.html
BeComing: Women's Circles, Women's Lives (DVD)
Stephanie Ryan and Sarita Chawla.
BeComing is an unscripted documentary which offers a rare opportunity to witness what transpires in the privacy of women's circles. The ten women filmed are multi-cultural and cross-generational, with an age span from thirty to eighty. BeComing takes an experiential look at a woman's circle and the women who create it. By joining their circle over a two-year period, we see first-hand what it is to build and be a part of a community, a part of our society which has been lost to some of us. The women speak of their process of creating and sustaining circle, as well as the effects of the circle in their daily lives.
Resource Link: http://www.becoming-womenscircles.com/ordering.html
Before Push Comes to Shove: Building Conflict Resolution Skills with Children
Nancy Carlsson-Paige and Diane E. Levin. Educators for Social Responsibility, 1998.
For Calvin and Angela, trash day is the best day of the week to find great playtime items. But when they end up in a conflict that results in anger and put-downs, they find themselves searching for a way to communicate and arrive at a solution that makes both of them happy. By using Best Day of the Week as a starting point, Before Push Comes to Shove shows teachers how they can begin to build conflict resolution skills in young children in ways that are meaningful and embedded in every day school experiences.
Resource Link: http://esrnational.org/Merchant2/merchant.mvc
Beginning With the End in Mind
Julie Pratt. West Virginia Center for Civic Life, with support from the Kettering Foundation.
Issue framing is rooted in the belief that democracy depends upon people making choices together about how to deal with problems in their communities. Framing an issue for public deliberation requires us to examine a problem from many angles. It encourages us to be curious about - and even compassionate toward - ideas that differ from our own, so that our deliberations may help us discover common ground for action. A well-framed issue will be inclusive of differing perspectives and will be framed in public terms that citizens can relate to. This great 22-page workbook takes you through the various components or steps of framing an issue for public deliberation.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/Pratt-IssueFramingWorkbook.doc
Belvedere
Belvedere is software designed to help support problem-based collaborative learning scenarios with evidence and concept maps. With Belvedere, middle school and high school students learn critical inquiry skills that they can apply in everyday life as well as in science.
Resource Link: http://lilt.ics.hawaii.edu/lilt/software/belvedere/
Benton Foundation
The Foundation works to realize the social benefits made possible by the public interest use of communications. Provides links to online tools for community organizing and community building.
Resource Link: http://www.benton.org
Best Practices for Government Agencies: Guidelines for Using Collaborative Agreement-Seeking Processes
The Society for Professionals in Dispute Resolution (now the Association for Conflict Resolution), 1997.
The recommendations in this report were developed through a joint effort of the SPIDR Environmental/Public Disputes Sector and the Consortium on Negotiation and Conflict Resolution in Atlanta, Georgia, supported by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. This report focuses on best practices for government agencies and other users in the U.S. and Canada, reflecting the membership of the SPIDR Environmental/Public Disputes Sector. While potentially applicable to other countries, the recommendations will likely need to be tailored to the political frameworks, institutions and cultural norms in those societies.
Resource Link: http://acrnet.org/acrlibrary/more.php?id=13_0_1_0_M
Beth's Blog
In Beth's Blog, Beth Kanter writes about the effective use of technology and social media for grassroots nonprofit organizations and causes. The site includes how-tos in text, video, screencasts, and photos. Beth is a nonprofit technology consultant who works on the human side of technology, focusing on evaluation, planning, assessment, training, and curriculum development. Beth served on the 2006 NCDD conference Tech Team.
Resource Link: http://beth.typepad.com
Better Environmental Policy Studies: How To Design And Conduct More Effective Analyses
Lawrence Susskind, Ravi K. Jain and Andrew O. Martyniuk. Island Press, 2001.
Environmental policy studies commissioned by government agencies or other stakeholders can play a vital role in environmental decisionmaking; they provide much-needed insight into policy options and specific recommendations for action. But the results of even the most rigorous studies are frequently misappropriated or misunderstood and are as likely to confuse an issue as they are to clarify it. Better Environmental Policy Studies explores this problem, as it considers the shortcomings of current approaches to policy studies and presents a pragmatic new approach to the subject. Reviewing five cases that are widely regarded as the most effective policy studies to have been conducted in the U.S. in the last few decades, the authors present a comprehensive guide to the concepts and methods required for conducting effective policy studies.
Better Together
Better Together is the final report of the Saguaro Seminar: Civic Engagement in America, an initiative of Professor Robert D. Putnam at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. The project focuses on expanding what we know about our levels of trust and community engagement and on developing strategies and efforts to increase this engagement. A signature effort has been a multi-year dialogue held on how we can increasingly build bonds of civic trust among Americans and their communities.
Resource Link: http://www.BetterTogether.org
Beyond Heroes and Holidays: A Practical Guide to K-12 Anti-Racist, Multicultural Education and Staff Development
Enid Lee, Deborah Menkart, and Margo Okazawa-Rey, Eds.. Washington, DC: Network of Educators on the Americas, 2002.
Beyond Heroes and Holidays is a 432-page interdisciplinary guide for teachers, administrators, students and parents. It offers lessons and readings developed by teachers that show how to analyze the roots of racism; investigate the impact of racism on our lives, our families and our communities; examine the relationship between racism and other forms of oppression; and learn to work to dismantle racism in our schools, communities, and society.
Resource Link: http://www.teachingforchange.org/Beyond_Heroes/beyond_heroes.html
Beyond Intractability Knowledge Base
Beyond Intractability is a free and comprehensive system for accessing the peace and conflict resolution field's cumulative body of knowledge on the nature of difficult and intractable conflicts, as well as strategies for reducing the destructiveness of these conflicts.
Resource Link: http://www.beyondintractability.org
Beyond Neutrality: Confronting the Crisis in Conflict Resolution
Bernard Mayer. Jossey-Bass, 2004.
In this thought-provoking, passionately written book, Mayer - an internationally acclaimed leader in the field - dares practitioners to ask the hard questions about alternative dispute resolution (ADR). What?’s wrong with conflict resolution? Why aren?’t more individuals and organizations using conflict resolution when they have a problem? Why doesn?’t the public know more about it? What are the limits of conflict resolution? When does conflict resolution work and when does it not? Offering a committed practitioner?’s critique of the profession of mediation, arbitration, and ADR, Beyond Neutrality focuses on the current crisis in the field of conflict resolution and offers a pragmatic response.
Resource Link: http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0787968064.html
Beyond Public Meetings: Connecting Community Engagement with Decision-Making
Vivien Twyford, Max Hardy, John Dengate, Stuart Waters and Dr. Vicki Vaartjes. Published by Twyford Consulting, 2007.
Beyond Public Meetings challenges myths and assumptions associated with community engagement and provides organisations, including all layers of government, with a comprehensive guide to why and how communities can be engaged to make better decisions. Written by five internationally recognised experts in the field of community engagement, the book provides a best practice guide to community engagement, building upon the successful framework developed by the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2).
Resource Link: http://www.twyford.com.au/Book_brochure.pdf
Beyond Race Awareness: White Racial Identity and Multicultural Teaching
Sandra M. Lawrence. The Journal of Teacher Education, 48(2), pp.108-117., 1997.
Interviews examined whether white students' shifts in thinking about themselves as racial beings and about systems of oppression during a multicultural education course were evident in later teaching practice. Though students initially resisted learning about their own racism, they eventually became more willing to take some responsibility for racism.
Resource Link: http://jte.sagepub.com
Beyond the 'Up or Down' Vote
AmericaSpeaks.
An evaluation of AmericaSpeaks' first national project, Americans Discuss Social Security.
Resource Link: http://www.americaspeaks.org/library/social_sec.pdf
Beyond the Comfort Zone: Honest Conversations on Race, Reconciliation and Responsibility
Rob Corcoran, Hope in the Cities.
This paper was presented at a national forum on Building Constructive Frameworks for Improving Ethnic Relations: Best Practices Here and Abroad 50 Years After Brown, hosted by the University of Denver, August 19-21, 2004.
Resource Link: http://www.iofc.org/en/programmes/hic/resources/papers/824.html
Beyond the Reinvention of Government
Alexandra Samuel.
For the past ten years, the Alliance for Converging Technologies team has tracked developments as they reshaped the business-government interface. They are now convinced that a more fundamental consideration of governance is urgently needed, aimed at producing a road map and migration plan for the shift from industrial to digital governance. This encompasses the challenge of reinventing government through electronic service delivery and public-private partnerships, but also extends beyond it by attempting a reformulation of the very notion of governance.
Resource Link: http://www.alexandrasamuel.com/governance/beyondreinvention.pdf
Beyond the Usuals: Ideas To Encourage Broader Public Participation in Your Community
The Institute for Local Government of the Collaborative Governance Initiative.
A brief overview of ideas that can assist in making civic engagement efforts more inclusive and representative of your community.
Beyond the Vocal Few: Ideas To Encourage Broader Public Participation In Your Community
This 2-page document was used as a handout for the workshop entitled "Collaborative Governance in Local Government: Choosing Practice Models and Assessing Experience" given by Terry Amsler, Lisa Blomgren Bingham, and Malka Kopell at the 2006 NCDD Conference. The handout offers suggestions for achieving better representation in public involvement and civic engagement efforts that were compiled by the Institute for Local Government?’s Collaborative Governance Initiative.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/Beyond_Vocal_Few.doc
Bibliography: "Campus climate" reports
Originally compiled by Robin Miller for the National Consortium of Directors of LGBT Resources in Higher Education. Last updated October 22, 2002.
Resource Link: http://www.lgbtcampus.org/resources/campus_climate.html
Bigger Picture
Bigger Picture is a consulting company based in Scandinavia. We provide visual learning and dialogue tools and consulting services enabling ongoing sustainable organizational and personal change. We are a network of consultants, facilitators and illustrators joining forces to create learning designs and processes with visual support.
Resource Link: http://www.biggerpicture.dk
Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company
The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company is a multicultural company committed to performing innovative, collaborative works of dance-theater. The Company has distinguished itself through its teaching and performing in various universities, festivals and under the aegis of government agencies such as the US Information Agency (in Eastern Europe, Asia and South East Asia). Audiences of approximately 50,000 to 100,000 annually see the Company across the country and around the world.
Resource Link: http://www.billtjones.org
Biodiversity and the Appropriation of Women's Knowledge
Helen Zweifel and Indigenous Knowledge Initiative. World Bank, Netherlands, 1998.
Argues that the vision of a truly global knowledge partnership will be realized only when the people of the developing countries participate as both contributors and users of knowledge. There is, therefore, a need not only to help bring global knowledge to the developing countries, but also to learn about indigenous knowledge (IK) from these countries, paying particular attention to the knowledge base of the poor.
Biolaw and Deliberative Democracy: Regulating Human Genetic Technology in a Democratic Pluralist Society
Kathy Liddell.
The UK government reported in 1999 that the regulatory framework for biotechnology ('biolaw') should be based on a system of expert advisory panels that advise Ministers about scientific advances, ethical implications and public opinion in a transparent, timely and independent way. Put in such a general and abstract form, this sounds uncommonly reassuring. However, the complexity lies in the detail. For example: what sort of people should be the appointed experts, to what extent should the experts be influenced by public opinions, and how should they go about determining public opinions? This research will consider whether some of these tensions are rationally resolved by deliberative democracy.
Resource Link: http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/assets/wtd003344.pdf
Blog On: Building Online Communities with Web Logs
Todd Stauffer. McGraw-Hill/OsborneMedia, 2002.
This 361-page book explains the basics of blogs, reviews popular blog tools, and shows how to build an active community around your blog site by using message boards, mailing lists, and numerous other features. Includes practical tips for making tweaks and improvements with HTML, Flash, Web images, and much more.
Blogger
Blogger is a web-based tool that helps you publish to the web instantly on your own 'blog.' Blogger gives you a way to automate (and greatly accelerate) the blog publishing process without writing any code or worrying about installing any sort of server software or scripts. And yet, it still gives you total control over the look and location of your blog.
Resource Link: http://www.blogger.com
Bohm Dialogue
The late quantum physicist David Bohm observed that both quantum mechanics and mystical traditions suggest that our beliefs shape the realities we evoke. He further postulated that thought is largely a collective phenomenon, made possible only through culture and communication. Human conversations arise out of and influence an ocean of cultural and transpersonal meanings in which we live our lives, and this process he called dialogue.
Boston Prochoice and Prolife Leaders Dialogue
The Public Conversations Project.
Read about PCP's groundbreaking 7-year abortion dialogue involving pro-choice and pro-life leaders in the Boston area. PCP has been doing dialogue work with Prochoice and Prolife activists and others since 1989.
Resource Link: http://www.publicconversations.org/pcp/resource_details.php?ref_id=97
Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community
Robert D. Putnam. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000.
Putnam shows how we have become increasingly disconnected from family, friends, neighbors and our democratic structures - and how we may reconnect. Putnam warns that our stock of social capital - the very fabric of our connections with each other, has plummeted, impoverishing our lives and communities. But America has civicly reinvented itself before, and can do it again.
Resource Link: http://www.bowlingalone.com
Bowling Together: Online Public Engagement in Policy Deliberation
Stephen Coleman and John Gotze.
In his famous book Bowling Alone, U.S. political scientist Robert Putnam argues that a decline in membership of civic networks has resulted in a precipitous drop in political engagement. People become engaged in civic and wider political affairs when they have acquired habits of communal connection; as these habits fade, political engagement atrophies. Whether or not one subscribes entirely to Putnam's theory of social capital, it is undoubtedly the case that most developed democracies are experiencing a collapse of confidence in traditional models of democratic governance. This report outlines a model of e-democracy that could begin to reverse this trend.
Resource Link: http://bowlingtogether.net
Brainstorming
Brainstorming is a method for developing creative solutions to problems. It works by focusing on a problem, and then having participants come up with as many deliberately unusual solutions as possible and by pushing the ideas as far as possible.
Brandy Agerbeck and Loosetooth.com
Brandy Agerbeck has mapped conversations in many industries: biotechnology, consulting, education, financial, food, insurance, medical, pharmaceutical, retail, technology, transportation, and utilities. She has graphically facilitated groups from 2 to 200 people, working with start-ups as well as Fortune 500 companies. Agerbeck is skilled in both hand drawing and computer illustration. Agerbeck has worked in front of thousands of people since 1996, and has a B.A. from Grinnell College in Studio Art.
Resource Link: http://www.loosetooth.com/Viscom/gf.htm
Bread, Bricks and Belief: Communities in Charge of Their Future
Mary Lean. Kumarian Press, 1995.
Mary Lean shows how a foundation built on ethics and spirituality has made a significant impact on community development in post-industrial cities and Third World villages. Readers enter poor cities and villages to meet Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh leaders who, with their driving spirit, seed the community with their energy and vision. Readers see how these efforts take root, steadily changing the cultural and economic life of these once despondent and declining communities.
Resource Link: http://www.kpbooks.com/details.asp?title=Bread%2C+Bricks%2C+and+Belief
Breaking Robert's Rules: The New Way to Run Your Meeting, Build Consensus, and Get Results
Lawrence E. Susskind and Jeffrey L. Cruikshank. Oxford University Press, 2006.
Every day in communities across America hundreds of committees, boards, church groups, and social clubs hold meetings where they spend their time engaged in shouting matches and acrimonious debate. Whether they are aware of it or not, the procedures that most such groups rely on to reach decisions were first laid out as Robert's Rules more than 150 years ago by an officer in the U.S. Army's Corps of Engineers. Its arcane rituals of parliamentary procedure and majority rule usually produce a victorious majority and a very dissatisfied minority that expects to raise its concerns, again, at the next possible meeting. Breaking Robert's Rules clearly spells out how any group can work together effectively.
Breaking the Impasse: Consensual Approaches to Resolving Public Disputes
Lawrence Susskind and Jeffrey Cruikshank. Basic Books, 1989.
Drawing on his experience at the MIT-Harvard Public Disputes Program, a mediator and his co-author provide the first jargon-free guide to consensual strategies for resolving public disputes. Indispensable to citizen activists and to business and government leaders.
Breakout Groups
Breakout groups are subdivisions of a larger meeting to deal with specific issues. Small groups meet in separate areas -- corners of a large room or several smaller rooms. Each group appoints or elects a discussion leader, and each participant has a chance to express an opinion. Afterwards, groups report back to the large meeting. In neighborhood meet ings to discuss transit service issues, the Boston Transportation Department asked break out groups to identify priority issues. After each group reported, the larger meeting set priorities to report to the regional transit authority.
Bridge to Baghdad
Downtown Community Television Center (DCTV), 2003.
As Americans wait in anticipation to see how the dawn of a new Iraq will unfold, many questions of the war, and life under Saddam, remain unanswered. Imagine being able to call up an old friend and ask these very questions, directly, honestly, with no hesitation. This is what happened in early May when DCTV and Chat the Planet brought together the youth of the critically acclaimed 'Bridge to Baghdad' to speak again for the first time since the bombs fell. Bridge to Baghdad I was filmed on March 1, just two weeks before the start of what was to become 'Operation Iraqi Freedom.' American audiences were instantly enchanted with the simple premise of the show: to put the youth of New York City and the youth of Baghdad in dialogue with one another about the future of the nations which someday they will govern.
Resource Link: http://bridgetobaghdad.org
Bridging Cultural Conflicts: A New Approach for a Changing World
Michelle LeBaron. Jossey-Bass, 2003.
In our global society, challenging conflicts abound in personal, business, government, and international settings. Many of these conflicts are complicated by layers of miscommunication, cultural misunderstandings, and completely different ways of looking at the world. These conflicts cannot be solved by goodwill or sincere intentions alone. In our multicultural world, we need new tools to address gaps in communication and understanding and the conflicts that flow from them. Bridging Cultural Conflicts answers this need in groundbreaking ways that cut through complexity, replacing confusion with clarity.
Resource Link: http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-078796431X.html
Bridging the Gap: The Role of Spatial Information Technologies in the Integration of Traditional Environmental Knowledge and Western Science
Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Gernot Brodnig. The Electronic Journal on Information Systems in Developing Countries, 1 (1), 1-15, 2000.
Agenda 21 dedicates a whole chapter to the role and importance of information for sustainable development. Among the provisions on harnessing the potential of information and communication technologies (ICT) one paragraph addresses the need for a strengthening of the capacity for traditional information. Local communities and resource users should benefit from mechanisms that provide them with the know-how they need to manage their environment and resources sustainability, applying traditional and indigenous knowledge and approaches.
Resource Link: http://bcsia.ksg.harvard.edu/publication_list.cfm?program=STPP&ln=all&gma=22
Bridging the Racial Divide
Paul Martin Du Bois and Jonathan Hutson, The Center for Living Democracy. Brattleboro, VT: Center for Living Democracy, 1997.
Includes lessons, tips and success stories from 65 intergroup dialogues across the country, plus an annotated reading list of resources. Although this book is no longer available and the Center for Living Democracy has closed its dorrs, it was one of the first books to provide best practices from race dialogues in the U.S. Published at the time of President Clinton's Initiative on Race.
Briefing
Briefings are often a way of providing information on a specific issue or initiative to a special audience. The presentation may be delivered by an industry, government or organisation's representative, and is typically followed by detailed discussions in a question and answer format.
Bringing Citizen Voice and Client Focus into Service Delivery
Goetz J. Gaventa, A.M.. Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex.
This study, commissioned by the UK's Department for International Development, examines over 60 case studies of both public sector reforms to foster stronger client focus in service delivery, and civil society initiatives to demand improved services. It concludes that, for citizen engagement with public service providers to move beyond consultation to real influence, citizens must enjoy rights to a more meaningful form of participation. This would include formal recognition for citizens' groups, their right to information about government decision-making and spending patterns, and rights to seek redress for poor quality service delivery. Public sector providers, for their part, need assurances regarding the mandate and internal accountability of such groups.
Resource Link: http://www.ids.ac.uk/ids/bookshop/wp/wp138.pdf
Bringing Local Knowledge into Environmental Decision Making: Improving Urban Planning for Communities at Risk
Jason Coburn. Journal of Planning Education and Research, Vol.22 (2003): 420-433, 2003.
This article reveals how local knowledge can improve planning for communities facing the most serious environmental and health risks. Community participation in environmental decisions is putting pressure on planners to find new ways of fusing the expertise of scientists with insights from the local knowledge of communities. This article defines local knowledge, reveals how it differes from professional knowledge, and argues that local knowledge can improve planning in at least four ways: 1) adding to the knowledge base of environmental policy; 2) including new and previously silenced voices; 3) providing low-cost policy solutions; and 4) highlighting inquitable distributions of environmental burdens.
Resource Link: http://jpe.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/22/4/420
Bringing Peace Into the Room: How the Personal Qualities of the Mediator Impact the Process of Conflict Resolution
Daniel Bowling and David Hoffman, Editors. Jossey-Bass, 2003.
Bringing Peace Into the Room examines the personal qualities that make a mediator effective. The authors of this volume go beyond traditional descriptions of academic training, theoretical orientation, and refinement of technique to confront issues related to personal temperament and the crucial psychological, intellectual and spiritual qualities of the mediation professional - qualities that are often the most potent elements of successful mediation.
Resource Link: http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0787968501.html
Bringing Society In: Toward a Theory of Public Service Motivation
James L. Perry, Indiana University. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Vol. 10, No. 2: 471-488, 2000.
This article seeks to develop a theory of motivation that 'brings society in' to the motivation equation and reflects variations across institutions in the motivation process. A literature review identifies anomalies in dominant theories of motivation and reinforces the need for models that are more inclusive of social and institutional variables. Foundational premises of a revised theory of motivation are presented. The paper concludes with a theory of motivation that accounts for motivational processes encountered in government and voluntary organizations.
Resource Link: http://jpart.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/10/2/471
Brisbane Declaration on Community Engagement
The Brisbane Declaration drew on numerous definitions and aspirations for community engagement, including IAP2's core values and the Queensland Government's community engagement resources. A draft of the Declaration was reviewed and revised to reflect the feedback from the community of practitioners, academics, policy advisers, government and citizens who responded to a questionnaire. Importantly, there were also a number of deliberative sessions on the Declaration held during the 2005 International Conference on Engaging Communities. Feedback from these sessions was incorporated into the final version of the Declaration.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/brisbane_declaration.pdf
Broadening the Debate: The Tharaka Participatory Action Research Project
Guido Giarelli. Food and Agriculture Organization, United Nations, Bologna, Italy, 1999.
This article challenges devolution and populist approaches to biodiversity conservation and forest management by examining several of the main assumptions on which they are based.
Resource Link: http://www.nuffic.nl/ciran/ikdm/4-2/articles/giarelli.html
Brookings Institution
The Brookings Institution is a private nonprofit organization devoted to independent research and innovative policy solutions. For more than 90 years, Brookings has analyzed current and emerging issues and produced new ideas that matter?—for the nation and the world. For policy-makers and the media, Brookings scholars provide the highest quality research, policy recommendations, and analysis on the full range of public policy issues.
Resource Link: http://www.brookings.org
Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra
The Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra's Klinghoffer Dialogue Project used opera to engage the people of Brooklyn in dialogue on the effects of tensions between Israelis and Palestinians on their community.
Resource Link: http://www.brooklynphilharmonic.org
Buddhist Peace Fellowship
BPF seeks to awaken peace where there is conflict, bring insight to institutionalized ignorance, promote communication and cooperation among sanghas, and in the spirit of wisdom, compassion, and harmony, offer practical help wherever possible. Members are involved in disarmament work, environmental and human rights, including campaigns that oppose oppression of Buddhists in Bangladesh, Burma, Vietnam, and Tibet.
Resource Link: http://www.bpf.org
Budgets and Ballots in Brazil: Participatory Budgeting from the City to the State
Aaron Schneider and Ben Goldfrank. Institute of Development Studies, Brighton, Sussex, England, 2002.
Budgeting institutions in the state of Rio Grande do Sul bring participatory democracy to public finance. A chief impact of participatory institutions is to change the relative power of groups within society. In this case, with the Workers' Party in state office, participatory decision-making strengthened lower-class groups interested in redistribution to the poor. Putting participatory budgeting in place was no easy task, however, as it required overcoming the difficulties of incorporating face-to-face decision-making at a scale unprecedented in terms of the number of people and the amount of money at stake.
Resource Link: http://www.ids.ac.uk/ids/bookshop/wp/wp149.pdf
Building a Common Future: Jewish-Palestinian Dialogue
Jewish-Palestinian Living Room Dialogue Group of San Mateo County, 2001.
An 11-page how-to brochure of principles, rationale, guidelines, and answers to often-asked questions about Sustained Dialogue. This freely downloadable PDF document was prepared by the Jewish-Palestinian Living Room Dialogue Group of San Mateo, California, which has been going strong for over a dozen years and has inspired many other Jewish-Palestinian living room dialogues to launch across the country.
Resource Link: http://traubman.igc.org/dialoguehow.pdf
Building a Digital Community: A Leadership Guidebook
The Governor's e-Communities Task Force.
On Aug. 31, 2000, Governor James S. Gilmore III and Secretary of Technology Donald W. Upson asked the newly established Governor's e-Communities Task Force to develop a template, or guide, for communities wishing to leverage the power of the Internet to improve their competitiveness and enrich the lives of their citizens. The Governor, the Secretary and the Task Force understand that many communities' economic vitality depends on their ability to connect seamlessly both to their communities and to the rest of the world. According to their vision, Virginia communities will create a network of individual community portals that reflect local priorities and maintain common elements, and that connect each community to the state, the nation and the world.
Resource Link: http://www.councils.cit.org/ecommunities/pdf/guidelines.pdf
Building a Home for the Heart: Using Metaphors in Value-Centered Circles
Pat Thalhuber, B.V.M., and Susan Thompson. Living Justice Press: St. Paul, Minnesota.
Discussing values is central to any restorative justice process, especially Circles. Based on years of experience as Circle keepers, Pat and Sue show how they use metaphors to facilitate the discussion of values and to move the dialogue in Circles to much deeper levels.
Resource Link: http://www.livingjusticepress.org
Building a More United America: Final Report of the Uniting America Series
The American Assembly, 2002.
This report provides a summary of the four-year series of national Assemblies in the Uniting America series, and is designed to catalyze a national dialogue on ways to help reverse some of the most divisive forces within American society. The Uniting America series was created to deal with some of the most divisive tensions in our society and move us toward a more united America. Since the horrors of September 11, 2001, our purpose has become even more significant, as many underlying tensions within our society have become obscured by a sense of national unity. As a companion to this report, we have written a manual that offers suggestions for organizing community dialogues.
Resource Link: http://www.americanassembly.org
Building Collaborative Capacity in Community Coalitions: A Review and Integrative Framework
Pennie G. Foster-Fishman, Shelby L. Berkowitz, David W. Lounsbury, and Nicole A. Allen. American Journal of Community Psychology, 29(2), 241-261., 2001.
This article presents the results of a qualitative analysis of 80 articles, chapters, and practitioners' guides focused on collaboration and coalition functioning. The purpose of this review was to develop an integrative framework that captures the core competencies and processes needed within collaborative bodies to facilitate their success. The resulting framework for building collaborative capacity is presented. Four critical levels of collaborative capacity - member capacity, relational capacity, organizational capacity, and programmatic capacity - are described and strategies for building each type are provided. The implications of this model for practitioners and scholars are discussed.
Resource Link: http://springerlink.metapress.com
Building Communities from the Inside Out: A Path Toward Finding and Mobilizing a Community's Assets
John P Kretzmann and John L. McKnight, Asset-Based Community Development Institute (ABCD). Evanston, IL: The Asset-Based Community Development Institute at Northwestern University's Institute for Policy Research, 1993.
This book includes a step-by-step description of asset-based community development, a strengths-based approach for identifying and building upon the human resources that are already present in any community.
Resource Link: http://www.northwestern.edu/ipr/abcd.html
Building Communities of Practice: A Summary Guide
Prepared for INK ABM/URP, Ethekwini Municipality (South Africa) by Pioneers of Change, 2005.
This 16-page handbook provides simple lessons for creating vibrant cmmunities of practice. The guidebook is based on a research project on ten diverse international case studies of Communities of Practice in the public sector, ranging from Canada to India, from Brazil to Scotland. The intention with this guidebook is to provide a quick summary and practical sense of Communities of Practice and their potential, and how to go about cultivating them effectively.
Resource Link: http://pioneersofchange.net/services/CoP%20Handbook2.pdf/download
Building Community Capacity in Evaluating IT Projects: Outcomes of the LEARNERS Project
June Lennie, Greg Hearn, Lyn Simspon, Emma da Silva, Megan Kimber, and Mary Hanrahan. Creative Industries Research and Applications Centre and Service Leadership and Innovation Research Program, Queensland University of Technology, QLD, Australia, 2004.
This report details case studies, findings and outcomes from the LEARNERS project (Learning, Evaluation, Action & Reflection for New technologies, Empowerment and Rural Sustainability), which was conducted from 2001-2004. The project was undertaken in collaboration with two communities in rural Queensland - the Tara and Stanthorpe Shires - and five industry partners. It involved implementing and conducting an ongoing evaluation of a participatory process for evaluating community-based communication and information technology.
Resource Link: http://www.creativeindustries.qut.edu.au/research/documents/learners-report.pdf
Building Community Capacity: A Definitional Framework and Case Studies from a Comprehensive Community Initiative
Robert J. Chaskin, University of Chicago. Urban Affairs Review, 36, 2921-323, 2001.
The notion of community capacity building is both explicit and pervasive in the rhetoric, missions, and activities of a broad range of contemporary community development efforts. However, there is limited clarity about the meaning of capacity and capacity building at the neighborhood level. The author suggests a definitional framework for understanding and promoting community capacity, explores the attempt to operationalize a capacity-building agenda through the examination of two contrasting case studies within a multisite comprehensive community initiative (CCI), and suggests some possible next steps toward building community capacity through social change efforts such as CCIs.
Resource Link: http://uar.sagepub.com/cgi/content/short/36/3/291
Building Consensus for a Sustainable Future: Guiding Principles
National Round Table on the Environment and Economy, 1993.
This guide was developed by Canadian Round Tables to build awareness, understanding and interest in using consensus decision-making processes as a means to achieve a sustainable future. It is not a "how-to" for consensus building but a set of guidelines and key steps to help a consensus process succeed. It reflects the experiences of round tables throughout Canada.
Resource Link: http://acrnet.org/pdfs/sustainable.pdf
Building Cultural Bridges
Joby S. Robinson, Robert P. Bowman, Tod Ewing, Janice Hannah and Ana Lopez-De Fede. National Educational Service, 1997.
The publication of Building Cultural Bridges is an exciting move toward building a set of tools to better raise our children. It provides a repertoire of methods and approaches for teachers, families, community workers, and others to teach children the rich value and potential of diversity. Includes more than 50 interactive, hands-on lessons form the core of this research-based resource for addressing diversity. One great activity is on page 112 of the Leader's Guide ("Put Your Fears in Arrears"). In this wonderful resource, the emphasis is on action - taking a stand against prejudice and building bridges across cultures and communities.
Building Deliberative Communities
Michael Briand. Pew Partnership for Civic Change, 1995.
A 36-page booklet introduces the reader to the role deliberation can play in creating new opportunities for communities to work together in more productive ways. The report draws on statistical and educational research to support the thesis that deliberative discussions can help a community learn its own strengths and weaknesses and can help bolster its confidence in its ability to change itself for the better. Using a Community Convention (a contemporary version of the New England town meeting) as a vehicle, the report explores the possibility of achieving a representative voice from all community segments.
Building Democratic Governance: Tools and Structures for Engaging Citizens
National League of Cities, 2005.
As the role of local officials in reforming public involvement increases, the National League of Cities (NLC) believes there is a need to assist them as they choose how to get citizens involved and at what level of engagement. This 84-page report from NLC's CityFutures Program provides principles, suggestions, and ideas for local elected leadership on citizen involvement.
Resource Link: http://www.nlc.org/ASSETS/6B83BE044C544D4AA963D48B884434FF/demgov.pdf
Building Digital Bridges: Creating Inclusive Online Parliamentary Consultations
Nicola Hall.
This report seeks to address the real problems of social exclusion faced by online consultations and discussions. The UK Parliament is a pioneer in using this process, but it is not alone; parliaments, assemblies and governments all over the world are now experimenting with or planning for the online consultation process. Nicola Hall's study should serve as a useful guide to best practice for many of these projects. The Hansard Society's emphasis is upon digital bridge-building rather than accepting the inevitability of the digital divide.
Resource Link: http://www.hansardsociety.org.uk/publications/archive
Building Learning Communities in Cyberspace: Effective Strategies for the Online Classroom
Rena M. Palloff and Keith Pratt.
This book focuses on the task of creating a sense of community among learners. The authors share their insight into what it takes to foster feelings of safety and a sense of shared learning among students and faculty involved in computer-mediated distance education.
Building New Political Actors: A Model for the Emergence of New Political Actors
Robert Axelrod.
The question of the aggregation and disaggregation of political actors is essential for the understanding of the future of global politics, both in terms of international security affairs and international political economy. A model based upon tribute is presented to show how new political actors can emerge from an aggregation of smaller political actors. The tribute model provides an existence proof that it is possible to use simple local rules to generate higher levels of organization from elementary actors. In particular it shows that a dynamics of 'pay or else' combined with mechanisms to increase and decrease commitments can lead to clusters of actors that behave largely according to the criteria for independent political states.
Resource Link: http://www.vf.utwente.nl/~hmiproj6/AL/Building.pdf
Building Online Communities: Transforming Assumptions into Success
Victoria Bernal, Benton Foundation.
"Online community" is the concept of convening people in virtual space and describes a range of online activities including electronic collaboration, virtual networks, Web-based discussions or electronic mailing lists. Creating a successful online community is one of the most sought after and elusive goals in a Web strategy, and an online community can be a powerful tool to bring constituents together to share their concern for an issue. Before you start planning your own virtual community, read this article by community builder Victoria Bernal to learn about what an online community can and can't do for your organization.
Resource Link: http://www.benton.org/publibrary/practice/community/assumptions.html
Building Participation in the New Scotland: Scottish Civic Forum First Review
Scottish Civic Forum, 2001.
The Forum's task is to translate the aspirations and rhetoric of 'the new Scotland' into reality. The Forum's broad aims are to push forward the boundaries of consultation, moving beyond the present system of limited consultation exercises to real engagement of civic society in a participatory, dialogic democracy. This paper talks of ways to build a Scotland in which all belong and can be heard.
Resource Link: http://www.civicforum.org.uk
Building Strong Neighborhoods: A Study Circle Guide for Public Dialogue and Community Problem Solving
Study Circles Resource Center (SCRC), 1998.
A four-session discussion guide on many important neighborhood issues including: race and other kinds of differences; young people and families; safety and community-police relations; homes, housing and beautification; jobs and neighborhood economy; and schools.
Resource Link: http://www.studycircles.org/en/DiscussionGuides.aspx
Building United Judgment: A Handbook for Consensus Decision-Making
Michael Avery, Brian Auvine, Barbara Streible and Lonnie Weiss. Center for Conflict Resolution; reprinted by the Fellowship for Intentional Community, 1981.
Consensus decision making in groups can maximize cooperation and participation of all group members. Consensus brings together the needs, resources, and ideas of every group member by means of a supportive creative structure. This classic introduction to secular consensus was recently brought back into print by the Fellowship for Intentional Community. It is an excellent explanation of what it means to make the switch from voting to consensus, and how to unlock the potential of groups working with the whole person. Highly recommended, it is the companion publication to A Manual for Group Facilitators.
Resource Link: http://store.ic.org
Built to Change: How to Achieve Sustained Organizational Effectiveness
Edward E. Lawler, III and Chris Worley; Foreward by Jerry Porras. Jossey-Bass, 2006.
In this groundbreaking book, organizational effectiveness experts Edward Lawler and Christopher Worley show how organizations can be ?“built to change?” so they can last and succeed in today?’s global economy. Instead of striving to create a highly reliable Swiss watch that consistently produces the same behavior, they argue organizations need to be designed in ways that stimulate and facilitate change. Built to Change focuses on identifying practices and designs that organizations can adopt so that they are able to change.
Resource Link: http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0787980617.html
By Popular Demand: Revitalizing Representative Democracy Through Deliberative Elections
John Gastil. University of California Press, 2000.
Building on the success of citizen juries and deliberative polling, Gastil proposes improving our current process by convening randomly selected panels of citizens to deliberate for several days on ballot measures and candidates. Voters would learn about the judgments of these citizen panels through voting guides and possibly information printed on official ballots. The result would be a more representative government and a less cynical public.
Resource Link: http://faculty.washington.edu/jgastil/
By the People
By the People: America in the World, an initiative of MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, aims to energize and enhance the national conversation on America's role in the world through a series of national and local broadcasts and events that demonstrate the relevance of foreign policy issues to local concerns. The project includes three national PBS specials, two cycles of local programming to be produced by PBS stations in cooperation with community organizations, national and local forums for civic dialogue, and an interactive web site.
Resource Link: http://www.macneil-lehrer.com/btp/
ByDesign-eLab
byDesign-eLab was founded in 1997 in association with the McLuhan Program at the University of Toronto as an informal think tank and testing ground engaged in research, education and product development focused on new media and policy. The eLab is now a private organization dedicated to realizing significant public interest projects. As such, eLab researches and engages in "humane participant design" of accessible public spaces online to ensure that the economic and social benefits of digital media can be shared through mutual exchange of vital information and resources among networked communities of geography, interest and practice.
Resource Link: http://www.bydesign-elab.net
C.S. Mott Foundation
The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, a private philanthropy based in Flint, Michigan, makes grants in the U.S. and selected regions internationally through four programs: Civil Society, Environment, Pathways Out of Poverty, and Flint Area. Through its four programs, and their more specific program areas, the Foundation seeks to fulfill its mission of supporting efforts that promote a just, equitable and sustainable society.
Resource Link: http://www.mott.org
Café to Go! A Quick Reference Guide for Putting Conversations to Work
The World Cafe Community Foundation, 2002.
This concise 7-page guide to the World Café covers the basics of the process. It includes brief outlines of each principle, a description of Café Etiquette, an outline of key elements of the World Café conversations, and tips for creating Café ambiance.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/cafetogo.pdf
Cafe Utne
In 1991, the Utne Reader, an alternative press magazine (now Utne Magazine), led with an article on Salons, online and face-to-face forums which foster conversation, connection, engagement, and community involvement. The organization was bombarded with interest from readers to start salons and 10 years and 500 salons later, they continue to sponsor neighborhood face-to-face conversations, as well as online conversations. Utne's salon movement morphed into Let's Talk America, a program organized jointly with NCDD, Conversation Cafe and World Cafe, which run small group dialogues across the country in 2003, 2004 and 2005 to encourage Americans to bridge the political divide.
Resource Link: http://www.utne.com/salons
California Anti-SLAPP Defeats Drug Class Actions
Defense Counsel Journal, 68 (4), 485 - 488, 2001.
Considerable publicity has been generated concerning a series of class actions commenced in 2000 involving attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Within a little more than a year, 4 of the 5 class actions have been dismissed. This note examines one aspect of one of those dismissals, the interesting application of California's anti-SLAPP statute (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) to a Ritalin class action (taken from distributor's website).
Resource Link: http://www.iadclaw.org/dfcpres.cfm
Calling the Circle: The First and Future Culture
Christina Baldwin, Peer Spirit. Bantam, 1998.
The original small-press edition of Calling the Circle has become one of the key resources for the rapidly-growing 'circle' movement. This newly revised edition brings Baldwin's work to an even broader audience ranging from women's spirituality groups to corporate development teams. Includes detailed instructions and suggestions for getting started, setting goals, and solving disagreements safely and respectfully.
Resource Link: http://www.peerspirit.com
Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center
The Cambridge Multicultural Art Center (CMAC) is a non-profit corporation founded in 1978 as an arts center focused on helping diverse populations better understand one another. Our mission is to present visual and performing arts programs to educate the community about diversity, and make our facility available to artists or groups that might not otherwise have access to a professionally equipped facility or the cultural mainstream.
Resource Link: http://www.cmacusa.org
Campaign Reform Issue Guide
Public Agenda.
When money changes hands in politics, a cloud of suspicion rises. Now so much money is changing hands -- upwards of $3 billion in a presidential election year -- the cloud never lifts. Running for office is an expensive proposition, particularly for president or for statewide offices like governor or senator, but the amounts that have changed hands in recent years are staggering. Public Agenda Issue Guides or ?“Citizen Choicework Guides?” contain background information on the topic and present three different approaches to the issue for people to deliberate.
Resource Link: http://www.publicagenda.org/issues/frontdoor.cfm?issue_type=campaign_finance
Campus Climate for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender People: A National Perspective
Susan R. Rankin. The Policy Institute of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (www.thetaskforce.org), 2003.
This 78-page report details the experiences of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) people at 14 colleges and universities across the country. Based on a survey of nearly 1700 students, faculty, and staff, Campus Climate documents experiences and perceptions of anti-GLBT bias and harassment, along with levels of institutional support for GLBT people. It highlights differences in experiences between various identity groups (e.g. students vs. faculty/staff, gays/lesbians vs. bisexuals, people of color vs. whites, etc.).
Resource Link: http://www.thetaskforce.org/downloads/CampusClimate.pdf
Campus Diversity and Student Self-Segregation: Separating Myths from Facts
Debra Humphreys. Association of American Colleges & Universities.
A survey of the most recent research suggests that, indeed, campus diversity is leading to significant educational and social benefits for all college students. It also suggests that, contrary to popular reports, student self-segregation is not, in fact, a dominant feature of campus life today. This paper summarizes new research on campus diversity and on the actual extent of student self-segregation and interaction across racial/ethnic lines on college campuses today. Written for the Ford Foundation Campus Diversity Initiative.
Resource Link: http://www.diversityweb.org/diversity_innovations/institutional_leadership/campus_climate_culture/student_segregation.cfm
Campus-ADR.org
The primary objective of the Campus Conflict Resolution Resources project (Campus-adr.org) is to significantly increase administrator, faculty, staff and student awareness of, access to, and use of conflict resolution information specifically tailored to the higher education context. The Resource Center builds on the success of the Campus Mediation Resources (CMR) website built by Bill Warters and hosted by the Mediating Theory and Democratic Systems program at Wayne State. The CMR site has been phased out.
Resource Link: http://www.campus-adr.org
Can America's Democracy Be Improved?
Lawrence Susskind and Liora Zion. Draft Working Paper of the Consensus Building Institute and the MIT-Harvard Public Disputes Program, 2002.
Ideally, the democratic process ought to "direct the exercise of political rights toward the satisfaction of interests" and operate in ways that involve and educate all relevant stakeholders . The current structure and practice of representative democracy in the United States fall short of this ideal in several ways. First, too few people are involved in a meaningful way in most decisions that affect them and their communities, and there is too much dependence on electing representatives to speak on behalf of those whom they serve. Second, there is an over-reliance on majority rule, and a lack of emphasis on forging political consensus. This means that the concerns of certain "minorities" are constantly ignored. Very little effort has been made to increase the capacity of people who disagree or come from disparate schools of thought to interact in ways that encourage deeper understanding or reconciliation of differences.
Resource Link: http://www.lawrencesusskind.com/content/contributions/democracy.pdf
Can Congress Cope with IT?: Deliberation and the Internet
Donald R. Wolfensberger.
The purpose of this paper is to explore the vast, unknown stretch of territory lying between the two poles of speculation described above with particular emphasis on how the Internet will affect deliberation in the U.S. Congress. Obviously, with the Internet still in relative infancy, speculation at this early stage as to how and to what extent it will affect the way we govern ourselves is just that--speculation. Nevertheless, some possible trend lines are already appearing along with hints from various sources about the emerging shape of this latest phase in the mass communications revolution. Moreover, we already have the historical perspective of how other communications innovations were initially greeted, compared to their actual impact. If nothing else, though, this exploration demonstrates that it is still possible, and hopefully fruitful, to ponder the future of deliberation.
Resource Link: http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_fullinfobk.php/isbn=0130996173
Can Consultation of Both Experts and the Public Help Developing Public Policy? Some Aspects of the Debate in France.
Claire Weill. Science and Public Policy 30(3): 199-203, 2003.
This paper considers the move in France toward deliberative democracy processes for risk regulation. The authors propose the following three guiding principles for decision-making processes: 1-technical or expert evaluation must occur throughout the process; 2-coordination of expert and public consultation so that the opinion of each category of participant is identifiable; and 3-decision making is informed by a range of opinions, proposals and options.
Resource Link: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/
Can Deliberation Induce Greater Preference Structuration? Evidence from Deliberative Opinion Polls
Iain McLaen, Christian List, James Fishkin and Robert Luskin.
Instead of inducing convergence on a small set of well-defined issue-dimensions, discussion may, conceivably, exacerbate the complexity and intractable multidimensionality of a given collective decision problem. The present paper is an empirical study into this question. The authors study data from deliberative opinion polls (hereafter DOPs) conducted by Fishkin and his colleagues. In DOPs, participants are first asked to express their views on a given subject by confidentially answering a range of questions, then they meet for group discussion and deliberation, and finally they are asked to express their views again using the same questions as before.
Resource Link: http://www.svet.lu.se/links/Demokratiresurser/papers_deliberativ_demokrati/PreferenceStructuration.pdf
Can Deliberative Democracy Save Us?
Lisle C. Carter, Jr..
The author focuses on whether the prescriptions of deliberative democracy and democratic empowerment are likely to be able to form the basis of practical programs that can resist and possibly reverse decline in the public sphere. The author sees these prescriptions as linked: deliberative democracy is the political offspring of the dialogic nature of individual development; democratic empowerment makes deliberative democracy work in society for ordinary people. And the urgency of this focus is apparent when the reader looks at as the author does briefly two frequently cited factors in our contemporary political environment: the media and special interests, two powerful factors of the political environment that have tended increasingly to work against citizens' deliberation and empowerment.
Can the human being thrive in the work place? Dialogue as a strategy of hope
B. Wesorick and L. Shiparksi. Michigan: Practice Field Publishing, 1997.
An excellent resource for those working with groups which are new to dialogue. It includes strategies and stories that show ways to introduce and go deeper into the use of dialogue in the workplace.
Can the White House Help Catalyze Civic Renewal? A proposal for a Civic Partnership Council
Carmen Sirianni, Harry Boyte, Jerome Delli Priscoli and Benjamin Barber. Reinventing Citizenship Project of the Center for Democracy and Citizenship at the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. Funded by The Ford Foundation In Collaboration with the White House Domestic Policy Council, 1999.
This 1999 proposal outlines the rationale for and structure of a "Civic Partnership Council?” attached to the Domestic Policy Council and chaired by the Vice President. Even today, it provides a great starting place for thinking about the creation of an office or council that would promote public problem solving and collaborative governance within the U.S. policymaking structure.
Canadian Community for Dialogue and Deliberation
The NCDD-inspired 2005 Canadian Conference on Dialogue and Deliberation has been transformed into the Canadian Community for Dialogue and Deliberation. Mirroring the growth of this exciting field of practice, C2D2's website will also grow and reflect the different emergent streams of the Canadian dialogue and deliberation community from coast to coast.
Resource Link: http://www.c2d2.ca
Canadian Institute for Public Engagement
The Canadian Institute for Public Engagement is a new national, non-profit organization dedicated to building and improving best practices in public engagement. Located in Ottawa, with representation across Canada and international connections, the Institute reports to an experienced Board of Directors and receives input from a dedicated and knowledgeable Advisory Committee. The Institute is building its membership base and will be seeking input from members along the way.
Resource Link: http://www.instituteforpublicengagement.org
Canadian International Institute of Applied Negotiation (CIIAN)
The Canadian International Institute of Applied Negotiation (CIIAN) is dedicated to the prevention and resolution of destructive conflict at the local, national and international levels. We believe that conflict competency is a cornerstone for such achievement. CIIAN integrates innovative ADR techniques coupled with applied research into the practice of conflict resolution, mediation and other Track II diplomacy approaches. Our conflict prevention and peacebuilding initiatives view intervention as a design process including the utilization of lessons learned.
Resource Link: http://www.ciian.org
Canadian Peace Institute (CPI) Discussion Group
As part of the Canadian Culture of Peace Program (CCOPP), this list is intended to promote networking, communication and information dissemination among all (formal and informal) Canadian Peace Educators.
Resource Link: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CPIdiscussion
Canadian Peace Research & Education Association (CPREA) Discussion Group
Canadian Peace Research & Education Association (CPREA) was founded in 1966 to advance research and promote education on the causes of war and the conditions of peace. The discussion group provides a forum for people interested in these topics to discuss their views.
Resource Link: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CPREAdiscussion
Canadian Policy Research Networks
CPRN creates knowledge and leads public debate on social and economic issues important to the well-being of Canadians. The birth of CPRN's Public Involvement Network (PIN) in 2002 reflects the growing conviction in policy circles that effective public policy requires effective public engagement.
Resource Link: http://www.cprn.ca
Candidate Evaluation Panel
Citizen Evaluation Panels are citizen deliberative councils that evaluates candidates for public office, making inclusive "We the People" recommendations available to voters through Voter Information Booklets, websites, news reports, etc.
Capitol Advantage
Capitol Advantage is the nation's pioneer and premier provider of online and off-line grassroots solutions for corporations, nonprofit groups, associations, educational institutions and other organizations. Capitol Advantage affiliated companies, under the leadership of Robert Hansan, have a 20-year track record of helping citizens make their voices heard - from the school house to the White House, from Main Street to Wall Street.
Resource Link: http://www.capitoladvantage.com
Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflict
The Carnegie Corporation of New York established the Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflict in 1999 to address the looming threat to world peace of intergroup violence and to advance new ideas for the prevention and resolution of deadly conflict. Their 'publications' and 'educational resources' sections are useful resources for teachers.
Resource Link: http://www.ccpdc.org
Carter Center
The Carter Center, in partnership with Emory University, is committed to advancing human rights and alleviating unnecessary human suffering. Founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, the Atlanta-based Center has helped to improve the quality of life for people in more than 65 countries.
Resource Link: http://www.cartercenter.org
Case Foundation
The Case Foundation's mission is to achieve sustainable solutions to complex social problems by investing in collaboration, leadership, and entrepreneurship. Today, the foundation is pursuing a number of initiatives, and is particularly focused on three strategies: Encouraging collaboration; Supporting successful leaders; and Fostering entrepreneurship in the nonprofit sector. The foundation is applying these strategies to meet the needs of underserved children and families; create thriving and sustainable economic development for communities; bridge cultural and religious divides; expand civic engagement and volunteerism; and accelerate innovative approaches to health care.
Resource Link: http://www.casefoundation.org
Case Study 2 - Porto Alegre, Brazil: Participatory Approaches in Budgeting and Public Expenditure Management
World Bank / World Bank and Participation / Participation Sourcebook, 2003.
This 5-page case study presents a broad review of an experience in Participatory Budgeting introduced by the Workers Party (PT) in the Brazilian city of Porto Alegre, as part of their agenda of deepening democracy through ?“popular administration?” of government. Having won several municipal elections in 1989, including Sao Paulo with over 10 million people, the PT began a creative experiment of engaging a wide spectrum of people to formulate city budgets. The Porto Alegre case in particular, having been nominated by the 1996 UN Summit on Human Settlements in Istanbul as an exemplary ?‘urban innovation?’, has stood out for demonstrating an efficient practice of democratic resource management.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/PortoAllegra_Case.pdf
Case Study of the Danish Board of Technology
Sandy Heierbacher. The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, 2003.
The Board of Technology was established by the Danish Parliament in 1986 to help ensure that technology decisions are made wisely. In its assessments of technology issues, the Board makes use of expert knowledge as well as the insight and experience of non-expert citizens. Armed with this knowledge, the Board of Technology is able to serve as an independent source of high-quality advice and assessment to the Parliament regarding technology issues. The Board of Technology also encourages decision-makers and citizens to engage in informed debate and discussion about technology issues.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/Danish_Board_case.doc
Case Study of the Fernald, Ohio Citizens Advisory Board
Sandy Heierbacher. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2003.
FCAB provides advice to the U.S. Department of Energy on issues pertaining to the remediation (clean-up) of the DOE site in Fernald, Ohio. The site was used to produce uranium for nuclear weapons from 1951 to 1989, during which time over one million pounds of uranium were released into the surrounding environment. FCAB recommendations and advice provide the DOE with an understanding of the issues and concerns that are important to local stakeholders and ensure that these perspectives influence activities pertaining to the clean-up and future use of the Fernald site.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/Fernald_case.doc
Case Study of the Health Effects Institute
Sandy Heierbacher. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2003.
HEI is an independent, nonprofit corporation chartered in 1980 to provide high-quality, impartial and relevant scientific information on the health effects of emissions from motor vehicles and other sources of environmental pollution. HEI is funded equally by the EPA and the motor vehicle industry. Although not a public participation program, HEI was examined because of its ability to remain neutral, retain the respect of all stakeholders, and produce high-quality research findings on the health effects of a variety of pollutants.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/Health_Effects_Inst_case.doc
Case Study of the Kentucky Center for Public Issues
Sandy Heierbacher. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2003.
KCPI is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit public policy organization based in Frankfort, Kentucky?’s capital. KCPI?’s mission is to help citizens explore, understand and confront issues critical to the future of Kentucky. Among other things, KCPI runs Policy Councils, which involve a diverse group of experts and interested citizens from all parts of the state to consider and, if appropriate, propose improvements in public policies. Policy Councils study a specific contentious issue in depth, obtain public input and raise public awareness about the issue, arrive at a consensus about the issue when possible, and sometimes take action on their findings.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/KCPI_case.doc
Case Study of the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council
Sandy Heierbacher. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2003.
NEJAC was created in 1993 as a part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency?’s Office of Environmental Justice. NEJAC helps the OEJ address environmental justice issues and integrate environmental justice into the EPA?’s policies, programs and activities. It does this by bringing community, industry and state/local government groups together to find solutions to environmental justice problems and by providing the EPA with independent advice and recommendations on matters related to environmental justice.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/NEJAC_case.doc
CATCH: Decision Support for Stakeholders in Catchment Areas
D. Collentine, D. Forsman, V. Galaz, S.K. Bastviken, and A. Stahl-Delbanco. Water Policy, 4 (5), 447 - 463, 2005.
Policy proposals for the management of water resources need to take into account two emerging themes: public involvement in the development of resource use policy and water management on a catchment level. The CATCH-model, a decision support system for catchment-based water management, builds on the use of 'discourse and deliberation' within stakeholder groups to define relevant socio-economic parameters and the relationships between these parameters. The sets of matrices that describe these parameters and their interrelation serve as the basis for evaluation of alternative management strategies and evaluation of specific measures for improving water quality.
Resource Link: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/
Categorizing the Dialogue & Deliberation Community
National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation, 2002.
The following is a working document developed in 2002 to ensure that members of the planning team for the first National Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation were aware of the various streams of dialogic and deliberative practice. The 2002 conference was the first major event to bring people together from the entire spectrum of D&D practice, and it was important to us that all of these streams felt welcomed to the conference, and were represented in all aspects of the conference - from the handbook to the break-out sessions.
Caucus Systems Inc.
Caucus Systems is a leading provider of online collaborative environments for global 1000 companies. Caucus Systems creates online collaborative environments that integrate data sources with structured conversations for action, allowing people to work together online as they do face-to-face - by discussing shared information to reach actionable decisions. Group Jazz is part of the Caucus Consortium, supporting the work of groups that meet face-to-face, online, or both.
Resource Link: http://www.caucus.com
Cause For Concern: Hate Crimes in America
Civilrights.org, the Civil Rights Coalition for the 21st Century.
The first major comprehensive assessment of the hate crime problem in the United States, Cause for Concern discusses what is being done to promote respect for diversity and to combat crimes based on bias. The document includes ten recommendations for additional action by every sector of society.
Resource Link: http://www.civilrights.org/publications/reports/cause_for_concern/
CEC Artslink
CEC ArtsLink is an international arts service organization. Our programs support exchange of artists and cultural managers in the United States with their counterparts in Central Europe, Russia and Eurasia.
Resource Link: http://www.cecartslink.org
Center for Art and Public Life's Art and Social Justice Curriculum Project
In 2005-2006, the Center for Art and Public Life worked in a year-long partnership with two Oakland-based schools to tap the expertise and energy of teachers and artists to develop and deliver arts integrated curricula to all students via The Art and Social Justice Curriculum Project. The project teamed K-12 teachers and Center coaching artists to develop and implement curricula focused on social justice and civic engagement through the arts via art workshops, seminars, classroom visits, and one-on-one coaching for non-arts teachers. Sample curricula from the project can be found on the Center website.
Resource Link: http://center.cca.edu/academics/institute/curriculum.php
Center for Assessment and Policy Development (CAPD)
CAPD is a non-profit organization founded in 1987 to help institutions, communities and public systems craft and execute thoughtful responses to pressing social issues--particularly, improving outcomes for children, adolescents, and families. CAPD works on many issues, including education, violence prevention, community change, reduction in racism (particularly institutional racism), leadership, and civic engagement.
Resource Link: http://www.capd.org
Center for Civic Participation
The Center for Civic Participation increases civic engagement by individuals and organizations in ways that both strengthen our democratic institutions and encourage public involvement in civic life. CCP?’s long-term goal is creating and sustaining a pro-democracy movement in the U.S. with the energy and momentum needed to be successful. We make sure this movement has adequate financial resources combined with strong leadership. To this end, we connect non-partisan groups with the training, legal and technical assistance, new technology, money and other resources needed to be as effective as possible.
Resource Link: http://www.ccp.org
Center for Collaborative Organizations
The Center for Collaborative Organizations, formerly the Center for the Study of Work Teams, is based at the University of North Texas and was created for the purpose of education and research in all areas of collaborative work systems. The Center officially incorporated as a nonprofit organization in 1992, although the first conference was held in 1990.
Resource Link: http://www.workteams.unt.edu
Center for Collaborative Policy
The Center is a joint program of California State University, Sacramento and the McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific. The mission of the Center is to build the capacity of public agencies, stakeholder groups, and the public to use collaborative strategies to improve policy outcomes. The Center produces a quarterly newsletter called The Collaborative Edge.
Resource Link: http://www.csus.edu/ccp/
Center for Community Change
CCC helps low-income people improve their communities and change policies and institutions that affect their lives by developing their own strong organizations. CCC helps people to develop the skills and resources they need to improve their communities as well as change policies and institutions that adversely affect their lives.
Resource Link: http://www.communitychange.org
Center for Deliberative Democracy
Housed in the Department of Communication at Stanford University and established in 2003, the Center for Deliberative Democracy is devoted to research about democracy and public opinion obtained through Deliberative Polling. Developed by Professor James S. Fishkin, Deliberative Polling is a technique which combines deliberation in small group discussions with scientific random sampling to provide public consultation for public policy and for electoral issues.
Resource Link: http://cdd.stanford.edu/
Center for Digital Storytelling
The Center for Digital Storytelling is a California-based non-profit arts organization rooted in the art of personal storytelling. We assist young people and adults in using the tools of digital media to craft, record, share, and value the stories of individuals and communities, in ways that improve all our lives. Digital stories serve as touchstones to dialogue.
Resource Link: http://storycenter.org
Center for Information and Research on Civic Engagement (CIRCLE)
Since 2001, CIRCLE has conducted, collected, and funded research on the civic and political participation of young Americans. CIRCLE promotes research on the civic and political engagement of Americans between the ages of 15 and 25. Although CIRCLE conducts and funds research, not practice, the projects that we support have practical implications for those who work to increase young people's engagement in politics and civic life. CIRCLE is also a clearinghouse for relevant information and scholarship. CIRCLE is based in the University of Maryland's School of Public Policy.
Resource Link: http://www.civicyouth.org
Center for Neighborhood Technology
CNT is engaged in a range of projects to assist economic and community building efforts in neighborhoods. CNT's mission is to invent and implement new tools and methods that create livable urban communities for everyone.
Resource Link: http://www.cnt.org
Center for New Community
The Center for New Community is a faith-based initiative whose mission is to revitalize congregations and community for genuine social, economic and political democracy. The Center's two main programs focus on building democracy and revitalizing church and community through faith-based organizing.
Resource Link: http://www.newcomm.org
Center for Nonviolent Communication
CNVC is a nonprofit training and peacemaking organization dedicated to fostering the 'Nonviolent Communication' process. NVC is a method for being heard, hearing others, clearly and confidently expressing our needs and dreams, and for working through conflict with compassion and success. NVC encourages people to reframe how they express themselves and hear others by focusing on what they are observing, feeling, needing, and requesting.
Resource Link: http://www.cnvc.org
Center for Restorative Practice
The purpose of the Center for Restorative Practice is to develop, implement and study collaborative and restorative processes for use by families, communities and organizations in the service of social justice.
Resource Link: http://www.restorativepractice.org
Center for Strategic Facilitation (CSF)
CSF is a partnership of consultants experienced in training, facilitation and organizational development, who collaborate to expand the use of participatory approaches and methods by individuals, organizations and communities. CSF is affiliated with The Institute of Cultural Affairs, a leader over the past four decades in promoting lasting positive change in communities, nonprofit organizations and businesses. They utilize a distinct and proven approach developed by the ICA called the Technology of Participation (ToP), and offer a number of trainings on facilitative leadership and group facilitation methods.
Resource Link: http://www.strategicfacilitation.com
Center for Wise Democracy
The Center assists communities in creating Wisdom Councils - randomly-selected, facilitated 'juries,' reflecting the larger diversity of the community - which engage in dialogue about the larger system and arrive at creative consensus on shared visions. These visions in turn serve to increase the quality of the dialogue among the larger community.
Resource Link: http://www.wisedemocracy.org
Center for Wise Democracy - Dynamic Facilitation Training
The Center assists communities in creating Wisdom Councils - randomly-selected, facilitated 'juries' reflecting the larger diversity of the community - which engage in dialogue about the larger system and arrive at creative consensus on shared visions. These visions in turn serve to increase the quality of the dialogue among the larger community. "Dynamic facilitation" is used to facilitate Wisdom Councils, and the Center provides trainings in dynamic facilitation regularly.
Resource Link: http://www.tobe.net/info/general.html
Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue
The Geneva-based Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue is an independent and impartial organisation whose motivation is to reduce human suffering in war. We believe preventing and resolving armed conflicts is the surest means of doing so. The HD Centre is active in a number of conflict resolution projects around the world, promoting and facilitating dialogue among belligerents. In support of these projects we conduct research and analysis bringing forward practical policy recommendations to improve international efforts to secure and sustain peace.
Resource Link: http://www.hdcentre.org
Centre for World Dialogue
Established in 1995, the Cyprus-based Centre for World Dialogue is an international NGO that exists to promote greater understanding between the peoples of the world. The Centre has hosted conferences, seminars and meetings in Cyprus and elsewhere on issues of international concern and publishes a quarterly journal called Global Dialogue, which promotes the exchange of ideas on a broad range of international issues. Subscriptions to the journal, which aims to encourage debate as an alternative to violence, are $60/year for individuals and $92/year for institutions.
Resource Link: http://www.worlddialogue.org
Centrinity
Centrinity's FirstClass software is a cost-effective, highly scalable, feature-rich messaging and communications solution for enterprises, learning organizations, governments and service providers. FirstClass uses Collaborative Groupware, which provides users with the ability to effectively communicate and share valuable resources and information via email, conferencing, directories, individual and shared calendars and online chats. FirstClass has been used by thousands of organizations to create powerful online electronic communities that enable individuals and groups of people to work more effectively.
Resource Link: http://www.centrinity.com
Change Facilitation s.r.o.
Change Facilitation s.r.o is a global network of Change Management consultants who facilitate complex change processes. Change Facilitators use approaches that benefit your entire system, and adapt their interventions to local cultural conditions. Change Facilitation can offer you state-of-the-art advice and training on managing change.
Resource Link: http://www.change-facilitation.org
Change Management Blog
This blog, hosted by Holger Nauheimer from Germany, is for change management facilitators and anyone interested in the subject. The concept of change management describes a structured approach to transitions in individuals, teams, organizations and societies that moves the target from a current state to a desired state.
Resource Link: http://www.change-management-blog.com
Change Management Toolbook
The Change Management Toolbook includes a broad range of tools, methods and strategies which you can apply during different stages of personal, team and organizational development, in training, facilitation and consulting. It is based on the wealth of tools and principles that have been provided by Kurt Lewin, Edgar Schein, Peter Senge, Arie de Geus, Robert Dilts, Virgina Satir, Bert Hellinger, Harrison Owen, David Cooperrider, Marvin Weisbord, Steve de Shazer - just to name a few - and many other great teachers.
Resource Link: http://www.change-management-toolbook.com
Change Management Toolbook
The Change Management Toolbook is an online collection of more than 60 tools, methods and strategies which you can apply during different stages of personal, team and organizational development, in training, facilitation and consulting. It is divided in three principle sections: Self, Team and Larger System. The Change Management Toolbook is published by Change Facilitation, Global Network for Exploring, Creating and Celebrating Change.
Resource Link: http://www.change-management-toolbook.com
Change.org
Launched in February 2007, Change.org is a community platform that creates a social network for over 1 million nonprofit organizations. Each organization has free access to an online dashboard through which they can review activity on their network and directly engage with their supporters by posting fundraising projects, events, photos, videos, news stories and blog entries. Change.org enables nonprofit organizations to harness the power of social networking technology to build community around their organization and extend their reach and social impact.
Resource Link: http://change.org
Changemakers
Changemakers, an initiative of Ashoka - Innovators for the Public, focuses on the rapidly growing world of social entrepreneurship by providing inspiration, resources, and opportunities for those interested in social change throughout the world. Includes the vast Changemakers Library, which offers a plethora of social change tools and resources, categorized under such topics as Effective Governance, Children/Youth and Conflict Mediation & Resolution.
Resource Link: http://www.changemakers.net
Changing Assumptions about Government and Politics
National League of Cities.
The NLC Democratic Governance Panel developed this one-page chart to explain the differences between traditional citizen involvement (politics as usual) and democratic governance. The chart addresses such questions as "Who is responsible for solving public problems?", "What are the criteria for ?“good government??”, and "How should governments recruit citizens?"
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/NLC_Changing_Assumptions.doc
Changing Frames: Leadership and Governance in the Information Age
Steven A. Rosell, Viewpoint Learning.
The ability of a society or an organization to prosper in this world of rapid change will depend on developing forms of leadership and governance that can operate effectively across the shifting boundaries of the information society and new economy. As members of the Roundtable on Renewing Governance, senior executives from Canada's federal and provincial governments, private sector, organized labour, and voluntary sector worked together for almost two years to discover forms of leadership appropriate to these new economic, social and political realities. The roundtable met with leading authorities on leadership and governance and examined case studies undertaken by the members in their own organizations.
Resource Link: http://www.viewpointlearning.com/changingframes/changingframes.pdf
Changing the Conversation on Education in Connecticut
Will Friedman. Public Agenda, 2004.
A report on 10 years of public engagement on public education topics in over 75 communities across Connecticut. Supported by the William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund, the report serves as a comprehensive case study of how public engagement can work in communities across America and discusses the specific accomplishments in Connecticut.
Resource Link: http://www.publicagenda.org/pubengage/pdfs/connecticut_public_engagement_2005.pdf
Changing the Way We Govern: Building Democratic Governance in your Community
National League of Cities, 2006.
Drawing on case studies of successful projects, this guide: explains how to educate, involve, and mobilize citizens in a variety of events and initiatives; describes how communities have used democratic governance approaches to address key issues; builds on city strategies for accomplishing key tasks using shorter-term mechanisms; and describes some of the more permanent, structural forms of democratic governance that have emerged recently. Changing the Way We Govern is an essential tool for anyone who is tired of the conflict and apathy created by old-fashioned citizen involvement methods ?– and who wants to tap into the full potential of citizens and public life.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/NLC-ChangingTheWay.pdf
Chapin Hall Center for Children
The University of Chicago runs this research and development center, which offers many downloadable publications on community building and capacity building efforts, child welfare, etc.
Resource Link: http://www.chapin.uchicago.edu
Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago
Building knowledge to serve children is the mission of the Chapin Hall Center for Children. Located at the University of Chicago, Chapin Hall is a research and development center that brings the highest standards of scholarship and the intellectual resources of one of the world's great research universities to the real-world challenges of policymakers and service providers struggling to ensure that children grow, thrive, and take their place in a formidable world. Working behind the scenes with lawmakers and government administrators, as well as on the front lines with program providers, Chapin Hall puts rigorous, non-partisan research in the hands of those who shape the programs and policies that affect all children in their daily lives.
Resource Link: http://www.chapinhall.org
Characteristics of Debate, Dialogue and Deliberation Table
This chart, which compares dialogue, deliberation and debate in simple terms, is taken from materials for a workshop entitled ?“Deliberation forums: a pathway for public participation.?” The workshop was given by Zelma Bone, Judith Crockett and Sandra Hodge at the APEN (Australasia Pacific Extension Network) International Conference 2006 on Practice Change for Sustainable Communities in Victoria, Australia.
Resource Link: http://www.regional.org.au/au/apen/2006/refereed/1/2918_bonetz.htm
Charrette ends with plan for village
Melissa Maracle, Staff writer. Franklin Press (Macon County, Georgia), 2007.
This article provides a nice overview of New Urbanism, and of how charrettes were used in a Georgia town.
Charrettes
Charrettes are typically a potent combination of modern design studio and town meeting, with a dash of the teamwork from an old-fashioned barnraising mixed in. Most start with a hands-on session for citizens and continue in an around-the-clock, energetic push until a plan is finished about a week later. A charrette can be a breakthrough event that helps overcome inertia and creates a meaningful master plan. Properly executed, this technique can produce a master plan that is more useful, better understood, and more quickly produced than one formed by other methods.
Resource Link: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/reports/pittd/charrett.htm
Charrettes in Site Design and Land Use Regulation
Dino C. La Fiandra. Maryland Bar Journal. September/October, 2006.
There is a relatively new planning and zoning tool gaining popularity in Maryland known as "charrettes." A charrette is a series of meetings involving the stakeholders and the charrette team. Contrary to traditional zoning and development principles which apply a rigid set of regulations to proposed development within a defined geographic area, charrettes use a different methodology to design a project uniquely from scratch, or almost from scratch. In Maryland and elsewhere, charrettes have been used as a catalyst to permit a departure from restrictive zoning regulations which obstruct creative development. This article examines the use of charrettes in Maryland and elsewhere as they have emerged over the past few years.
Resource Link: http://www.wtplaw.com/publication.cfm?sp=publication&id=216
Chicago Public Art Group
CPAG unites communities and artists in creating high quality public art. They produce mosaics, murals, sculptures, seating installations, banners, and space designs. Their skilled, professional artists specialize in collaborating with community participants to make delightful, meaningful, permanent, and safe public artworks.
Resource Link: http://www.cpag.net
Child Care Citizen ChoiceWork Guide
Public Agenda.
Should we encourage a parent to stay home even if it means a loss of financial security or a slow down in their career? What if there's only one parent or if a family simply can't live on one income? What kinds of child care policies by government and employers would be the most helpful to today's families? This Citizen ChoiceWork Guide (and video) from Public Agenda examines three approaches: help parents take care of their own children; provide quality, affordable child-care options for those parents who need the most help; and provide comprehensive, quality child care for all families.
Resource Link: http://www.publicagenda.org/pubengage/pe_toolkit.cfm
Child Care Issue Guide
Public Agenda.
America has changed drastically over the past 30 years and so has the way it performs one of society's basic acts: caring for its children. Our world is now filled with two-income families and single-parent families, and far fewer of what we consider the "traditional" family: a father who works and a mother who stays home with the children. Public Agenda Issue Guides or ?“Citizen Choicework Guides?” contain background information on the topic and present three different approaches to the issue for people to deliberate.
Resource Link: http://www.publicagenda.org/issues/frontdoor.cfm?issue_type=childcare
Children in Urban Regeneration: Foundations for Sustainable Participation
Suzanne Speaks. Community Development Journal, 35 (1), 31, 2000.
Throughout the 1990s, urban policy in Britain was premised on the importance of public participation in local regeneration and governance, with a view to empowerment and developing citizenship. However, one group, frequently overlooked by the participation process is children, precisely the group whose perceived lack of citizenship causes such concern to many. Whilst they are often only offered token involvement in community regeneration projects, empirical research with children suggests they are capable of the same involvement as adults. Many of the barriers to adult participation may have been avoided if they had been encouraged to be involved fully as children.
Resource Link: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/
Children's Social Consciousness and the Development of Social Responsibility
Sheldon Berman, Educators for Social Responsibility. SUNY Press, 1997.
This book breaks new ground in our understanding of the development of social consciousness and social responsibility in young people and the educational practices that promote this development. The author shows that children's awareness of the social and political world emerges far earlier and their moral abilities are more advanced than we thought. He provides educators and researchers with the developmental understandings and instructional strategies necessary to enable students to become active, caring, and responsible members of our social and political community.
Resource Link: http://esrnational.org/Merchant2/merchant.mvc
Children?’s Theatre Company
The Children's Theatre Company (CTC) is recognized as North America's flagship theatre for young people and families as well as a major cultural and artistic resource in Minnesota. Founded in 1965, CTC has set a standard for excellence in theatre for young people, the creation of new work, and arts education. CTC has utilized dialogue both to develop performances and to encourage audience members to engage following performances.
Resource Link: http://www.childrenstheatre.org
Chime and Stone
This modification of open conversation in a small group (2-30 people) has some of the benefits of a formal Talking Circle without the constraints. It is best done with the group sitting in a circle.
Choice Work
Choice work is the work of making choices in Deliberation. It is work because we have conflicting values and motives - both within ourselves and with each other - about how to deal with any difficult issue.
Choice Work Dialogues: Fostering Public Engagement on Growth in Orange County
Viewpoint Learning, Inc., 2002.
Public learning is traditionally perceived as a one-way distribution of knowledge. In this 22-page presentation, the authors challenge that notion as incomplete, citing a wealth of flawed assumptions in the traditional model. When citizens engage in collaborative or deliberative discussions, they often learn from each other in ways differing from the traditional. The experience in Orange County, California shows the worth of the new model and provides lessons for future efforts for public engagement.
Resource Link: http://www.regionalstewardship.org/Documents/ChoiceWorkDialogues.pdf
Choices for the 21st Century Program
The Choices Program at Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies offers deliberation-focused supplemental curriculum units for U.S. History, World History and Global Studies. Choices units feature historical background, a role play centered on alternative policies, primary source materials, detailed lesson plans and study guides. Units are affordable.
Resource Link: http://www.choices.edu
Christine Valenza, Graphic Facilitator
Christine Valenza has been illustrating the thoughts and processes of groups for over 20 years. Through her deep listening she creates a rapid in-real time visual synthesis of ideas. This work has taken her to Russia, Europe, Asia, Scandinavia, Nairobi, Jerusalem and Barcelona.
Resource Link: http://www.christinevalenza.com
CIRCLE (The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement)
CIRCLE promotes research on the civic and political engagement of Americans between the ages of 15 and 25. Although CIRCLE conducts and funds research, not practice, the projects that we support have practical implications for those who work to increase young people's engagement in politics and civic life. CIRCLE is also a clearinghouse for relevant information and scholarship. CIRCLE is based in the University of Maryland's School of Public Policy.
Resource Link: http://www.civicyouth.org
Circles of Change: A Quiet Revolution in Haiti
Produced and directed by Jane Regan and Daniel Morel/Wozo Productions in collaboration with Beyond Borders.
Learn how Beyond Borders promotes participatory learning and leadership by viewing Circles of Change, a 20-minute DVD/VHS video documentary about the grassroots movement that is transforming notions and practices in education and leadership in Haiti and beyond. Through Open Space and Touchstones Discussions (Reflection Circles), the seeds of change are being planted among a new generation of Haitian leaders.
Resource Link: http://www.circlesofchange.com
Citizen Agenda-Setting, Digital Government, and the National Organic Program
Stuart W. Shulman.
This experiment in electronic government has yielded a rich database that, because of its format and size, presents novel analytical challenges. New methodologies are needed to efficiently assess and integrate citizen comments into the regulatory process. This researcher currently is collaborating with USDA staff who implemented the public comment process. Staff members have supplied an initial data set of over 20,000 comments submitted to the NOP via Internet technology.
Resource Link: http://erulemaking.ucsur.pitt.edu/doc/papers/APSA2000.pdf
Citizen Agenda-Setting: The Electronic Collection and Synthesis of Public Commentary in the Regulatory Rulemaking Process
Stuart Shulman, Steven Zavestoski, David Schlosberg, David Courard-Hauri, and Dyson Richards.
Digital communications technology is changing democratic governance. Federal agencies are deploying new technologies to improve citizen/government interaction during the regulatory rulemaking process. In a "Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies" released by the White House on December 17, 1999, the President called attention to the importance of upgrading the "capacity of regulatory agencies for using the Internet to become more open, efficient, and responsive" (Clinton 1999).
Resource Link: http://www.isi.edu/dgrc/dgo2001/papers/session-3/shulman.pdf
Citizen Choicework
Citizen Choicework offers a powerful, proven approach to civic dialogue and action. Too often, "community forums" are merely panels of experts telling people what's good for them. Or they are public free-for-alls, where only the loudest voices prevail. In contrast, Citizen Choicework is based on a deep respect for the public's capacity to address issues when circumstances support, rather than thwart, dialogue and deliberation. Given the right conditions, the public's ability to learn, to get involved and to make decisions is far greater than most realize.
Citizen Committee
Sometimes referred to as Public Advisory Committee or Public Liaison Committee, a Citizen Committee is a group of representatives from a physical or interest-based community, appointed to provide comments and advice on an issue.
Citizen Consensus Council
A citizen consensus council is a microcosm of a larger population where citizens dialogue to deep agreement about issues of common concern. It is usually a group of 12-24 diverse citizens selected at random from (or to be demographically representative of) their organization, community, country, etc.
Citizen Corps: A Guide for Local Officials
Citizen Corps, 2002.
Citizen Corps is the component of USA Freedom Corps that creates opportunities for individuals to volunteer to help their communities prepare for and respond to emergencies by bringing together local leaders, citizen volunteers and the network of first responder organizations, such as fire departments, police departments and emergency medical personnel. The goal is to have all citizens participate in making their communities safer, stronger, and better prepared for preventing and handling threats of terrorism, crime, and disasters of all kinds.
Resource Link: http://www.citizencorps.gov/pdf/council.pdf
Citizen Deliberative Council
Citizen Deliberative Councils (CDCs) are temporary, face-to-face councils of a dozen or more citizens whose diversity reflects the diversity of their community, state or country. Usually council members are selected at random, often with additional criteria to ensure gender, racial, socioeconomic and other diversity.
Citizen Initiative Review
The Citizen Initiative Review (CIR) is a political process through which an official Citizen Deliberative Council reviews proposed ballot initiatives and summarizes their findings and recommendations in voter information booklets.
Citizen Jury
Citizen juries use a representative sample of citizens (usually selected in a random or stratified manner), who are briefed in detail on the background and current thinking relating to a particular issue, and asked to discuss possible approaches, sometimes in a televised group.
Citizen Participation and Democracy in the Netherlands
Ank Michels.
In this paper the author studies the issue of citizen participation in Dutch democratic thought. The paper focuses on the question what role Dutch thinking on democracy has attributed to citizen participation. What is the meaning of participation with respect to the quality of democracy? In the first section, two different views on participation and democracy will be presented. The sections 2, 3 and 4 investigate the Dutch perspective on the meaning of citizen participation for democracy. The paper concludes with a summary of the main characteristics of the Dutch view on citizen participation and democracy, and describes some implications for the debate on democracy and participation within the European Union.
Resource Link: http://www.essex.ac.uk/ecpr/events/jointsessions/paperarchive/uppsala/ws12/Michels.pdf
Citizen Participation and Environmental Risk: A Survey of Institutional Mechanisms
Daniel Fiorino. Science, Technology, & Human Values, 15 (2), 226-243, 1990.
Standard approaches to defining and evaluating environmental risk tend to reflect technocratic rather than democratic values. One consequence is that institutional mechanisms for achieving citizen participation in risk decisions rarely are studied or evaluated.
Resource Link: http://www.sagepub.com/
Citizen Participation and Local Government in Latin America: Advances, Challenges and Best Practices
Isabel Licha. Asian Development Bank (ADB), 2002.
In this document, we explore the issue of the participatory practices of Latin American local government that have emerged recently within the framework of the advance of the decentralization process. We show that the main challenge faced by local governments is that of promoting participatory processes of public administration that really help strengthen local governability through efficient, fair, sustainable, and democratic development policies, within the framework of the new rules of play for fiscal management.
Resource Link: http://www.adb.org/Documents/Events/2002/Citizen_Participation/Overview_LAC.pdf
Citizen Participation and Local Government in Latin America: Advances, Challenges and Best Practices
Isabel Licha. Asian Development Bank (ADB), Array.
In this document, we explore the issue of the participatory practices of Latin American local government that have emerged recently within the framework of the advance of the decentralization process. We show that the main challenge faced by local governments is that of promoting participatory processes of public administration that really help strengthen local governability through efficient, fair, sustainable, and democratic development policies, within the framework of the new rules of play for fiscal management.
Resource Link: http://www.adb.org/Documents/Events/2002/Citizen_Participation/Overview_LAC.pdf
Citizen Participation and Social Inclusion Procedures in Santo Andre, Brazil: Participatory Budgeting and City of the Future Project
Cid Blanco Jr. Presentation delivered at the World Bank Urban Research Symposium in Washington, D.C., December, 2002.
This presentation provides an overview of the research done on participatory budgeting in Santo Andre, Brazil. The author proposes to analyze different aspects of the budgeting, as well as look for opportunities for both positive and negative lessons-learned. The author deals with many challenges that face participatory budgeting and suggests some steps to take in further research and development of new practice.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/Blanko_Partic_Budgeting.pdf
Citizen Participation and the Empowerment Zone
Beverly M. Dockeray-Ojo.
The City of Atlanta Empowerment Zone project, from application to implementation has been one of the most citizen intensive processes in the history of planning in Atlanta. The surge pre-Olympic development benefited empowerment zone implementation projects and helped market trends to favor in town development. EPA non-attainment limitations favoured redevelopment on existing infrastructure, and the City's Renaissance program emphasizes those goals. New development in Atlanta, since the Olympics has surpassed expectations, resulting in new challenges such as gentrification, demand for increased municipal services and new quality of life amenities. These new challenges require new solutions.
Resource Link: http://www.acturban.org/biennial/DOC_Net_Comm/ezhistory.pdf
Citizen Participation Handbook
Planning Department of the Municipality of Anchorage, Alaska.
Citizen participation is the contemporary stand-in for the town meeting of early America. It is a formalized method to make possible a meaningful exchange of factual information, opinions, objectives, and alternatives between decision makers, proponents, and citizens. This handbook is a means to encourage citizens in Anchorage, Alaska to participate in the city's planning process, as well as a resource to teach them how.
Resource Link: http://www.muni.org/planning/CP_Handbook.cfm
Citizen Participation in City Planning and Development
Janice E. Perlman.
What the authors found is that each of the 20 cities in our network has developed certain innovative policies or practices that make a better use of their human, natural, and built environment and resources in problem solving. These "success stories" are not clustered in one or even a few cities, but found across the entire spectrum. Field teams for the Mega-Cities Project have just completed a Global Leaders' Survey in which they interviewed the 120 prominent leaders in each city across business, government, academia, media, labor and the voluntary sector. The authors demonstrate that these creative approaches, often transforming several problems into an integrated solution, can successfully be adapted across cities regardless of their diverse economic and political systems or levels of technological sophistication.
Resource Link: http://www.megacitiesproject.org/publications/pdf/mcp004.pdf
Citizen Participation in Decision Making--a Challenge for Public Land Managers
Lloyd C. Irland, J. Ross Vincent.
Citizen participation in decision making presents a major challenge to public land managers. Increased participation is needed to counter an imbalance between commodity and noncommodity users in access to information and to influence on decisions. Two serious decisions in implementing participation programs are how much influence to allow to citizen groups, and how to assure proper representation of diverse groups in the process. Vigorous citizen participation programs can benefit land managing agencies by helping to reduce conflict, by improving public understanding, and by helping managers assess public attitudes.
Resource Link: http://jrm.library.arizona.edu/data/1974/273/2irla.pdf
Citizen Participation in Decision Making: Is It Worth the Effort?
Renee Irvin and John Stansbury. Public Administration Review, Jan/Feb, 64, 1 ABI/INFORM Global p. 55, 2004.
Motivated by contextual problems encountered in a participatory watershed management initiative, this article reviews the citizen-participation literature and analyzes key considerations in determining whether community participation is an effective policy-making tool.
Resource Link: http://www.iap2.civicore.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=resources.viewresource&id=366&type=Resource database
Citizen Participation in Health (Care) Decision Making: What We Know and Where We Might Go
John B. Church, M. I. Wanke, L. D. Saunders, R. Pong, C. Spooner and M. Dorgan. Centre for Health Promotion Studies, 2001.
This paper examines the concept of citizen participation within the context of a series of basic questions from which decision makers might draw some policy relevance. These questions include: How is the organization/program accountable? Who should participate? What level of input could the community have in the decision-making process? In what types of decisions might citizens be involved? Given what we know, where might we go from here?
Resource Link: http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/chps/publications_orders.cfm
Citizen Participation in Housing and Community Development: A Handbook for Planning, Decision Making, Implementation, and Evaluation
Tennessee Housing Development Agency, 2000.
This handbook is a guide for housing and community development professionals who work with citizens to develop and carry out citizen participation activities within the wider context of development policies and programs. It will also serve to provide a better understanding of the citizen participation process, define responsibilities of development professionals at several levels, apply experience and research in citizen participation program development to housing and community development work.
Resource Link: http://www.state.tn.us/thda/Research/ccplan00.pdf
Citizen Participation in Political Life
Heikki Paloheimo. European Social Survey, 2004.
These tables include data from the European Social Survey 2002/2003, with information about citizens' political activity, interest, and trust, to name a few.
Resource Link: http://www.om.fi/uploads/3lyin391kg.pdf
Citizen Participation in Politics: Role of the New Communication Media
Michael Macpherson.
The ideal that all members of a community or "polis" should be able to participate in reaching common decisions has often been dismissed as impractical (especially where large populations are concerned, but also for other reasons). A "town meeting" for Moscow, even for New York, is difficult to conceive. However, with modern technology it is theoretically possible to allow all citizens to inform themselves about public issues and to vote on them electronically. There is much talk "on and off-line" about the chances of ICT to improve citizen participation in political life, which because of the new electronic media may assume new and surprising forms. In this article, the author concentrates on potential reform of the "rich", western-style democracies.
Resource Link: http://www.netcaucus.org/books/egov2001/pdf/citizen_.pdf
Citizen Participation in Rural Bangladesh: Reality and Perceptions
Simeen Mahmud.
In this study the CGs are considered collective actions at the community level aimed at providing a space for citizen participation that will enable citizen 'voice' to be heard, citizen influence to be felt and provider accountability to be established. This paper explores the prevailing notion about citizen participation and identifies the existing challenges to citizen agency and participation. Here, participation itself is seen as a capability or right needed to function as a citizen, and other capabilities are needed for participation. The CG is used as the entry point for exploring the meaning of citizen participation and to identify the boundaries of participation spaces for poor people and women in the socio-economic context of rural Bangladesh. These boundaries are barriers that confront people in their efforts at acquiring the capability to participate.
Resource Link: http://www.bids-bd.org/Spaces_and_places_of_citizen_participation.pdf
Citizen Participation in the Activities of the Inter-American Development Bank
Inter-American Development Bank, 2000.
The present document sets forth the basic concepts and guidelines that would be incorporated into the Inter-American Development Bank's Strategic Framework on Participation. It is based on the preliminary study done in the Sustainable Development Department (SDS): "Towards a Conceptual Framework for Public Consultation and Participation" (March 2000), which was submitted to many organizations of civil society (OCSs) for consideration and consultation, and placed on the Bank's web page.
Resource Link: http://idbdocs.iadb.org/wsdocs/getdocument.aspx?docnum=351767
Citizen Participation Partnership Project (CiPPP) Technical Report
John Church, Ollie Triska, Kent Rondeau, Doug Wilson, P. Susan Wagner, Bob McKim, Ray Lafleur, Karyn Gibbons, Josh Marko, Melanie Chapman, Aliyah Mawji, and Deborah Lafleur.
Citizen participation is considered a key building block of primary care within our health care system. Community Health Centres (CHCs) are community-based health organizations which provide a range of health and social services through professional teams. CHCs are known for their emphasis on community care and citizen participation in decision making. Currently, regional health authorities (RHAs) across Canada are developing CHCs to address the health reform objectives of government. This study compared citizen participation in CHCs in eight Canadian provinces in relation to the characteristics of the communities served and the characteristics of the CHCs.
Resource Link: http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/chps/pdfs/technical_report_06-001_web.pdf
Citizen Participation Plan for the Community Development Block Grant Program
City of Gardena, 2001.
This Citizen Participation Plan (CPP) sets forth the City of Gardena's policies and procedures for citizen participation in the development of the Consolidated Plan and related documents and any subsequent amendments. The CPP provides an opportunity for nonprofit service agencies and the community to work in partnership with the City to identify needs and allocate CDBG funds. While this plan will aim to ensure the participation of all citizens, special assurances will be made to ensure the participation of several characteristically underrepresented groups.
Resource Link: http://www.ci.gardena.ca.us/businesses/econdev/GCPP-new.PDF
Citizen Participation Program for the General Plan Update
City of Tuscon, 2001.
The purpose of the Growing Smarter Citizen Participation program is to continue the Mayor and Council's policy and the staff's practice of providing the highest level of opportunity for the citizens of the City of Tucson to participate in the planning and land use decision-making process and to ensure the process complies with the Arizona Revised Statutes. This document outlines that Citizen Participation Program.
Resource Link: http://www.marana.com/Planning/generalplan/plan-8-a-citizen.html
Citizen Participation: Can We Measure Its Effectiveness?
Judy Rosener. Public Administration Review, 38 (5), 457-463, 1978.
Citizen participation mandates proliferate, but there is little agreement among and between citizens and administrators as to their goals and objectives. While citizen participation takes on meaning only within a value context, most citizen participation programs fail to acknowledge this reality. Ignoring the centrality of value to the participation concept has resulted in confusion as to the meaning, expectations, and cause and effect relationships between participation programs and societal goals.
Resource Link: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/
Citizen Reflective Council
The concept "citizen reflective councils" is emerging through our deeper study of the concept Citizen Deliberative Council. In most materials at www.co-intelligence.org - and in the book The Tao of Democracy - we've used the term "Citizen Deliberative Council to embrace a set of democratic innovations that we now believe may need to be reconceptualized.
Citizen Science Toolbox Case Study: Byron Bay Expert Panel
Coastal CRC, Surfrider Foundation.
Byron Shire Council (BSC) in New South Wales, Australia, is engaged in the development of a coastline management plan that proposes a number of options for future coastal development. The plan gives particular focus to current beach erosion issues in the Northern Byron Shire beaches of Belongil and New Brighton. The process for development of the plan has included Council-hosted public meetings to discuss the preferred options with the community.
Resource Link: http://www.coastal.crc.org.au/toolbox/casestudies/cs_expertpanel.pdf
CitizenPost
In the summer of 2006, the Case Foundation published Cynthia Gibson's groundbreaking paper "Citizens at the Center: A New Approach to Civic Engagement." The publication generated much discussion and debate, and this blog was created to allow the conversation to continue. Focused on all things "citizen-centered" (a term which includes not only citizens, but also those who aspire to be citizens, including immigrants), the blog attempts to dig down into how we can make civic engagement, civic discourse, political involvement, volunteering, and other good practices part and parcel of everyday life rather than something people do in their spare time or occasionally.
Resource Link: http://www.citizenpost.blogspot.com
Citizens and Public Deliberation Workshop
A collaborative project of the Council on Public Policy Education (CPPE), the Inter American Foundation (IAF), and the Inter-American Democracy Network (IADN). Kettering Foundation, 2003.
The 10 initiatives (case studies) represented here present a great opportunity for learning. In varying ways they reflect the shared view that long-run economic well-being in a community is critically affected by the qualities of the practices through which decisions on issues related to economic performance are made. Thus the community itself can be seen as an economic resource. If so, local development projects, aside from their inherent merits, can be seen as catalysts for the long-term development of civic decision-making capacity. This document also serves as a schedule for the Citizens and Public Deliberation Workshop at the Kettering Foundation.
Resource Link: http://www.publicpolicy-educouncil.org/pdf/CPD_W-shop_English_9_3.pdf
Citizens as Partners: Information, Consultation, and Public Participation in Policy-Making
Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development, 2001.
This report is based on extensive surveys and case studies of OECD Member countries undertaken over the last two years. It provides a unique source of comparative information on measures adopted in OECD countries to strengthen citizens' access to information, to enhance consultation and encourage their active participation in policy-making. The report offers an overall framework within which to examine a wide range of country experiences, identify examples of good practice and highlight innovative approaches.
Resource Link: http://www1.oecd.org/publications/e-book/4201131e.pdf
Citizens at the Center: A New Approach to Civic Engagement
Cynthia M. Gibson, PhD. The Case Foundation, 2006.
The central claims of this noteworthy 31-page white paper are that "public service" is a more powerful frame around which to rally Americans for democratic renewal than "civic engagement" and the encouragement of public deliberation should be at the center of renewal efforts. Scholar Peter Levine of the University of Maryland has written that he considers the paper a breakthrough. Cynthia Gibson makes deliberation-linked-to-action the heart of civic engagement, instead of voting and/or service.
Resource Link: http://casefoundation.iad.cachefly.net/pdf/citizen_whitepaper_web.pdf
Citizens Building Communities: The ABCs of Public Dialogue
League of Women Voters Education Fund, Pub #2070, 2005.
This League of Women Voters booklet is designed to share some of the basic principles involved in public dialogue processes and to acquaint the reader with what is needed to organize various types of gatherings, from small- and large-group interactions to online formats. Included are some basic planning questions as well as resources to help the reader conduct citizen engagement through dialogue at the community level. Citizens Building Communities is designed to help users understand some of the basics and guide them to resources so that they can foster dialogues at the community level.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/abcs.pdf
Citizens Health Care Working Group
Established by the US Congress in 2003, the Citizens Health Care Working Group is mandated to create a nationwide public debate about improving the health care system to provide every American with the ability to obtain quality, affordable health care coverage. Congress is expected to vote on the recommendations that result from the debate. The group is holding a series of small and large-scale public meetings throughout 2006 aimed at engaging the American public in establishing the values and priorities that must drive health care reform in 2008 and beyond.
Resource Link: http://www.citizenshealthcare.gov
Citizens Jury Process
The Citizens Jury process is a method for gathering a microcosm of the public, having them attend five days of hearings, deliberate among themselves and then issue findings and recommendations on the issue they have discussed. No deliberative method has been more carefully designed or thoroughly tested than this method.
Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform
The unique Citizens?’ Assembly process was pioneered in British Columbia (Canada) in 2004. The process gathered a randomly-selected group of voters together over the course of a year to learn about electoral systems, conduct public hearings, and spend an extended amount of time deliberating about what new electoral system (if any) should replace the existing one. Ontario is following the BC process pretty closely. The Ontario Assembly will meet in three phases: a learning phase, a public hearing phase, and a deliberation phase. The Assembly is empowered to craft a recommendation for a new electoral system that will be put directly to a public referendum....
Citizens' Juries and Environmental Value Assessment
RK Blamey, RF James, R Smith and S Niemeyer.
The purpose of this research report is to introduce deliberative forms of public participation and to contrast them with other forms of public participation, particularly community surveys and environmental valuation surveys. The purpose of the latter is to elicit information in monetary terms regarding the benefits to the community from improvements in the natural environment, or the costs associated with environmental losses.
Resource Link: http://cjp.anu.edu.au/pubs.html
Citizens' Juries and Small Group Decision Making
RK Blamey, P McCarthy and R Smith.
The main characteristic distinguishing the citizens jury from most other forms of public participation is the central role assigned to discursive group processes. As outlined in the first research report in this series (Blamey, James, Smith and Niemeyer 2000), the aim of discursive or deliberative democratic processes is to obtain reasoned agreement among free and equal citizens. Members of the public are asked to work as a group to find the best solution to a community problem by considering information from expert witnesses and by deliberating together on the merits of different options. The main objective of this report is to provide an overview of the literature on small group and jury decision-making and to consider the implications of this literature for the conduct of deliberative processes such as the citizens jury.
Resource Link: http://cjp.anu.edu.au/pubs.html
Citizens' Juries: Reflections on the UK Experience
Clare Delap.
Citizens' juries have become established in the UK in a remarkably short space of time. They are an approach to public participation which appears acceptable both to policy makers and to people in communities. This article will give an overview of the approach as it has been adopted in the UK. Then, using examples from two citizens' jury processes in Scotland, it will examine how citizens' juries can enable local people to make a difference to policy, but only if they are run an open and public manner and if they address locally relevant issues.
Resource Link: http://cjp.anu.edu.au/pubs.html
Citizens' Panels as a Form of Deliberative Technology Assessment
Georg Hörning. Science and Public Policy 26(5): 351-359, 1999.
This paper considers the use of citizen panels as a deliberative mechanism for technology assessment.
Resource Link: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/
Citizenscape
Developed by the Citizens and Civics Unit of the government of Western Australia, the Citizenscape website is designed to provide resources for those interested in active citizenship and community consultation and participation. The site incorporates a catalog of direct links to government consultation efforts on a range of policy issues.
Resource Link: http://www.citizenscape.wa.gov.au
Citizenship and Education in 28 Countries: Civic Knowledge and Engagement at Age Fourteen
International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement.
This study explored what young people around the world think about democracy, what they know about how democratic institutions work, and to what extent they expect to get involved in civic activities once they are adults. The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (www.iea.nl) released the study.
Resource Link: http://www.wam.umd.edu/~iea
Citizenship: Building a Shared Future
Western Australian Citizenship and Multicultural Advisory Council, 2000.
It is within the human condition to develop an identity both as an individual and as part of a group or community. Australia's rich community life has been forged by people of diverse ethnic backgrounds and experiences, contributing to our society through many types of involvement. However, in the complex and changing globalised environment that we live in today, it is easy for people to feel powerless and dislocated from society. This Citizenship Discussion Paper is about the people of Western Australia having a say in the type of future they want to build for the next generation of citizens and the part that they want to play in this most important of endeavours.
Citizenspace
This site provides citizens an opportunity to learn more about how British democracy works, as well as take part in online consultations on a range of policy matters. Developed under the UKOnline initiative of the British government.
Resource Link: http://www.citizenspace.co.uk/index_html
CitizenSpeak
CitizenSpeak is a free email advocacy service for grassroots organizations. Inspired by MoveOn email campaigns, CitizenSpeak provides the same e-advocacy capability at the community level in English and Spanish. CitizenSpeak campaigns are easy to set-up and only require a web-browser and basic web-surfing skills to use. CitizenSpeak launched in 2007 in conjunction with Mobile Active, RingTones08.com - a free site that lets people create and share ringtones about the 2008 election.
Resource Link: http://www.citizenspeak.org
Citizens?’ Juries: Theory into Practice
Anna Coote and Jo Lenaghan. Institute for Public Policy Research, London, England, 1977.
This publication looks at ten consultation techniques that can help to build successful participation. The consultation techniques examined include citizens' juries, citizens' panels, focus groups, satisfaction survey research and referendums and ballots. The report assesses which techniques are best suited to particular objectives. Case studies drawn from all regions of the UK highlight the methods councils have already used to consult residents, their successes and drawbacks.
Resource Link: http://www.ippr.org.uk/
Citizens?’ Panels
A Citizens?’ Panel is a large, demographically representative group of citizens used to assess public preferences and opinions. Citizens?’ panels are made up of a representative sample of a local population and are used by statutory agencies, especially local authorities, to identify local issues and consult service users and non-users. Potential participants are generally recruited through random sampling of the electoral roll or door-to-door recruitment. They are then selected so that membership is made up of a representative profile of the local population in terms of age and gender.
CitizenTube
CitizenTube is a new website from the makers of YouTube, a popular website where people share their videos. CitizenTube is a place where everyone who is politically minded, from website users to candidates, has the same chance to be seen and heard.
Resource Link: http://www.youtube.com/citizentube
City Lore
City Lore is a nonprofit membership organization, founded in 1986 to produce programs and publications that convey the richness of New York City's cultural heritage. City Lore?’s staff includes folklorists, historians, anthropologists, and ethnomusicologists, all of whom specialize in the creation of programs and materials for public education and enjoyment. In addition to staff projects, affiliated individuals and organizations work through City Lore to produce independent films, exhibits, and other media projects.
Resource Link: http://www.citylore.org
City of Portland's Restorative Gentrification Listening Project
The Restorative Gentrification Listening Project seeks to understand the harms of gentrification by listening to the stories of those most directly impacted and then working to repair the harm and prevent further harm. "Gentrification" is the purchase and renovation of houses and stores in deteriorated urban neighborhoods by upper- or middle-income people, thus improving property values but often displacing low-income families and small businesses. This project of Portland's Office of Neighborhood Involvement is run by NCDD member Judith Mowry. The project uses restorative listening circles to address issues of racism and social injustice in order to build community and cultural understanding and to find ways to act together to include and value all members of the community.
Resource Link: http://www.portlandonline.com/oni/index.cfm?c=25967
City Scan
City Scan works with residents in urban areas to identify, prioritize and resolve neighborhood problems. City Scan has been working with neighborhood groups in four Connecticut cities to identify problems that city government can fix -- abandoned cars, vacant buildings, potholes, graffiti, and litter. We train youth or adult volunteers to use handheld computers, digital cameras, and GIS mapping software to inventory these street-level conditions.
Resource Link: http://www.city-scan.com
City Theatre
City Theatre produces and develops contemporary plays that engage and challenge diverse audiences. Each production identifies an organization or agency whose constituents can benefit from creatively expressing their concerns.
Resource Link: http://www.citytheatrecompany.org
City Voices, Children's Needs
The National League of Cities.
Describes widespread concerns about the quality of schools, violence by and among young people, and inadequate opportunities for youth to become engaged in constructive activities during non-school hours.
Resource Link: http://www.nlc.org
Civic Awakening in the Jury Room: A Test of the Connection between Jury Deliberation and Political Participation
John Gastil, E. Pierre Deess and Phil Weiser.
Deliberative democratic theory posits that civic discussion leads to increased involvement in public affairs. To test this claim, this study explored the link between jury deliberation and electoral participation. It was hypothesized that empanelled jurors who reach verdicts are more likely to vote in subsequent elections than empanelled jurors who fail to reach a verdict or even begin deliberations. Data collected in Thurston County, Washington, supported this hypothesis. Controlling for other trial features and past voting frequency, citizens who served on a criminal jury that reached a verdict were more likely to vote in subsequent elections than were those jurors who deadlocked, were dismissed during trial, or merely served as alternates.
Resource Link: http://www.com.washington.edu/program/instructors/gastil/civic.pdf
Civic Dialogue, Arts & Culture: Findings from Animating Democracy
Americans for the Arts, 2005.
This 312-page book from Animating Democracy explores the power of the arts and humanities to foster civic engagement while advancing possibilities for arts and humanities organizations to be vital civic as well as cultural institutions. From 2000 to 2004, Americans for the Arts, with support from the Ford Foundation, implemented Animating Democracy, an initiative to foster artistic activities encouraging civic dialogue on important contemporary issues. This book examines the experiences of 37 arts and humanities projects, realized by a wide range of cultural organizations. These projects explored such issues as race relations, economic inequity, gentrification, school violence, the role of same-sex couples in society, and the influx of immigrants and refugees in communities, among others.
Resource Link: http://americans4thearts.stores.yahoo.net/civdialarcul.html
Civic Engagement Alliances for Change: Module Outline
Civic Engagement Alliances for Change.
The module "Civic Engagement: Alliances for Change" will add value in both Citizen Strengthening and Institutional Reform, the two pillars of CESI Learning Program. Concepts comprising this module address community empowerment, coalition building and the engagement of citizens, all steps toward Citizen Strengthening. Guiding principles to foster partnerships and alliances and practical tools for effective civic engagement highlighted in the module will support different aspects of Institutional Reform.
Civic Engagement: A Guide for Communities
Melinda Patrician and Palma Strand. The Arlington Forum, a local initiative of the Civic Organizing Foundation, 2006.
This 17-page booklet grows out of the authors' experiences over a number of years in the community of Arlington, Virginia. What is offered here is not a "cookbook" formula but a set of questions and touchstones--civic conversation, "inreach," and civic governance--to help citizens, in whatever roels and communities they find themselves, grapple with the need for civic engagement. Working through these questions and referring back to the touchstones is, we have found, the essence of vital and vibrant civic engagement.
Resource Link: http://www.arlingtonforum.org
Civic Health Indicators: Enhancing Community Capacity
JCCI, 2002.
Indicators are quantitative measures of the quality of community life. Well-being and progress in a community can be measured by indicators of outcomes in the major elements of the quality of life, such as education, the economy, the natural environment, the social environment, culture and recreation, health, mobility, and public safety. However, no community would reach its potential for well-being without the civic capacity to engage effectively in mutual learning, decision making, and action to maintain and improve the quality of life in each of these elements.
Resource Link: http://www.jcci.org/Civic%20Health%20Indicators.pdf
Civic Index: Measuring Your Community's Civic Health
National Civic League. The National Civic League, 1999.
This revised edition of the Civic Index is a 12-point community self-evaluation tool. The Civic Index assesses what the National Civic League calls civic infrastructure (the characteristics that communities possess to effectively solve problems). Whether the challenges being faced are economic development, low-income housing, transportation planning or any other, the healthy functioning of the 12 components of the Civic Index is vital for success.
Resource Link: http://www.ncl.org
Civic Infrastructure
Cincinnati EZ.
Community residents expressed a strong desire to improve their abilities to work together in solving the array of economic and social problems affecting their neighborhoods. Discussion on this issue emerged as part of the community's assets and needs analysis (SWOT analysis) and resulted in the formation of a working group on civic infrastructure, which published this document.
Resource Link: http://www.empowercincy.org/implementation_civic.pdf
Civic Innovation in America: Community Empowerment, Public Policy and the Movement for Civic Renewal
Carmen Sirianni and Lewis Friedland, Civic Practices Network. University of California Press, 2001.
This book is a scholarly examination of the civic renewal movement that has emerged in the United States in recent decades. In contrast to some recent studies that stress broad indicators of civic decline, this study analyzes innovation as a long process of social learning within specific institutional and policy domains with complex challenges and cross-currents. The study is based upon interviews with more than 400 innovative practitioners, as well as extensive field observation, case study, action research and historical analysis.
Resource Link: http://www.cpn.org
Civic Journalism
Civic journalism sets out to provide people with detailed news and information about specific issues to allow them to make the decisions they are called on to make in a democratic society. Newspapers, radio and television stations, and the internet combine to provide forums for citizens to question their politicians, polling the electorate to elicit the major issues and then questioning legislators.
Civic Life International
Civic Life International is an organization dedicated to promoting deliberative dialogue and active citizenship in African and local communities. The organization consists of a team of journalists, dialogue and policy researchers and practitioners who work with citizens, agencies, faith groups and institutions to disseminate educational programs that foster citizen?’s and community well being.
Resource Link: http://www.civiclifeint.org
Civic Minded blog
Catch up on the latest in online politics and democracy with the Corante blogging network's Civic Minded group blog. Civic Minded is a guide to the political impact of the Internet, looking at issues ranging from online organizing and campaigning to the big picture of how new technology is changing democratic communities.
Resource Link: http://civicminded.corante.com/
Civic Participation in National Governance
Maria Gonzalez de Asis.
This module has been designed to provide civil society organizations and individuals, and public officials representatives with a set of tools and techniques enacted to promote good governance at the national level. Moreover, it will expose participants to conceptual and theoretical explanations of governance and participation, as well as to a series of practical experiences from different countries.
Resource Link: http://www.worldbank.com/wbi/governance/assessing/pdf/asis_citizens.pdf
Civic Practices Network (CPN)
CPN's website features an array of excellent resources for the "new citizenship movement." The Network shares a commitment to bringing practical methods for public problem solving into every community and institutional setting in the U.S.
Resource Link: http://www.cpn.org
Civic Reflection
Civic reflection is the practice of bringing together a group of people who are engaged in common civic work to read and talk about fundamental questions of civic life. This form of dialogue draws upon the rich resources of the humanities--using readings of literature, philosophy, and history, and the age-old practice of text-based discussion--to help civic leaders think more carefully and talk more comfortably about their values and choices.
Civic Results
At Civic Results, we work with our clients to plan and implement initiatives addressing the physical, social, civic and human infrastructure challenges facing their communities. Our clients include governmental entities, community organizations, businesses and non-profit institutions nationwide. We provide specialized services including interactive keypad meetings, meeting design and facilitation, strategic planning and visioning, management of public processes, stakeholder group dialogues, collaborative partnerships and solution-oriented campaigns.
Resource Link: http://www.civicresults.org
Civic Revolutionaries: Igniting the Passion for Change in America's Communities
Douglas Henton, John Melville and Kim Walesh. Jossey-Bass, 2003.
Civic Revolutionaries offers a practical guide for renewing the great American tradition of spirited, breakthrough community leadership. By their very nature, revolutionary leaders help their communities reconcile the competing values on which our nation was built: individualism and community, freedom and responsibility, trust and accountability, economy and society. Like the Founders, today's civic revolutionaries are extraordinary leaders who are deeply committed to place, not just to specific issues or constituencies. They provide the vital spark, inspiring others who must ultimately own the revolution if it is to be successful. Written for leaders in business, government, education, and community, Civic Revolutionaries features practical guidance and in-depth case studies from communities across the country.
Resource Link: http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0787963933.html
CivicEvolution
CivicEvolution is a new technology that helps people develop proposals collaboratively. You can propose an idea and lead a team to develop the idea into a full proposal. Or, you can join a team to help develop a proposal suggested by someone else. The estimated time to complete a proposal in this deliberative, asynchronous environment is three weeks. The proposals that are developed have six sections: an idea, goals, action plan, impacts, first steps, and key research. Proposals are developed as people submit and rate key points for each section of the proposal in order. The key points from the previous section provide the foundation for the next section.
Resource Link: http://civicevolution.org
CivicSpace
CivicSpace is a community organizing platform supported by an ecology of users, developers, and vendors. It allows you to build communities online and offline that can communicate effectively, act collectively, and coordinate coherently with a network of other related organizations. CivicSpace enables bottom-up people-powered campaigns to operate on a more level playing field with more traditional top-down organizations, and, similarly, allows top-down organizations to leverage the power of grassroots organizing. Our open source CivicSpace Drupal distribution now powers over 2,000 organization's websites and the top six CivicSpace/Drupal servicing firms employ over 50 staff members.
Resource Link: http://www.civicspacelabs.org
CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
CIVICUS is an international alliance dedicated to strengthening citizen action and civil society throughout the world. CIVICUS holds an annual World Assembly - one of the largest annual civil society conferences. CIVICUS is based in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Resource Link: http://www.civicus.org
Civil Dialogue: Making It Work Better
Elodie Fazi and Jeremy Smith. Study commissioned by the Civil Society Contact Group, 2006.
NGOs play a growing role in shaping the EU project through their participation in a "civil dialogue" with the EU institutions. After several decades of involvement in the European project, the time came for a common reflection on how to make this dialogue between EU and its citizens work better. This study is based on an overview of dialogue with EU institutions and on case studies with a particular focus on national NGOs?’ involvement, and looks at the practice of dialogue between NGOs and EU institutions, reviewing what works and what doesn?’t, and making recommendations for change.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/Civil_Dialogue.pdf
Civil Society and Democracy in Global Governance
Jan Aart Scholte. Global Governance, 8 (3), 281 ?– 304, 2002.
Recent years have witnessed substantial civil society mobilisation on questions of global governance. This paper considers the implications of this development for democracy. After specifying concepts of 'civil society', 'democracy', 'globality' and 'governance', the paper identifies deep democratic deficits that have emerged as a consequence of contemporary globalisation. The discussion then outlines various ways that civil society can either enhance or undermine democracy in the governance of global relations.
Resource Link: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/csgr/research/workingpapers/2001/wp6501.pdf/
Civil Society, Political Capital, and Democratization in Central America
John A. Booth and Patricia Bayer Richard. American Journal of Political Science, 40 (4), 1996.
Few studies have examined political repression's effects upon individual behavior and attitudes. We theorize that regimes use repression to constrain political behavior and values so as to limit demands and opposition. We therefore expect intense repression to reduce participation and support for democracy.
Resource Link: http://168.96.200.17/ar/libros/lasa97/boothbayerrichard.pdf
Civilrights.org (The Online Social Justice Network)
Civilrights.org provides a home for policy perspectives, strategies, and research. Run by the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, a coalition of 180 organizations working for equality and justice. Visitors can post events to the calendar, add content to the library, etc.
Resource Link: http://www.civilrights.org
Clean Talk
Clean Talk is a communications model specifically designed for expressing challenging or difficult messages in ways that avoid the triggering of defensive responses. It enables facilitators to speak powerfully in groups while minimizing the possibility of creating a destructive wake of reaction. Clean Talk also opens up trust and allows for more responsibility to be shared in any conversation. Clean Talk was developed by Cliff Barry, founder of Shadow Work Seminars.
Resource Link: http://www.shadowwork.com/cleantalk.html
Climate Change Dialogue
The climate change issue is a real one. It is now widely accepted that our climate is changing, and the Earth is warming. No one can deny this, since meteorlogical data confirms the last few years are the warmest on record. The only discussion whether this effect is manmade or natural.
Close Up Foundation
The Close Up Foundation is the nation's largest nonprofit, nonpartisan citizenship education organization. Since its founding in 1970, Close Up has worked to promote responsible and informed participation in the democratic process through a variety of educational programs.
Resource Link: http://www.closeup.org
Co-Intelligence Email Bulletins
Co-Intelligence Institute.
Tom Atlee, Founder of the Co-Intelligence Institute (CII), regularly sends out inspiring and informative messages about collective intelligence to his mailing list of over 1000 people. CII promotes awareness of co-intelligence (a shared, integrated form of intelligence) and of many tools and ideas that can be used to increase it. CII's website is loaded with excellent, useful resources.
Resource Link: http://www.co-intelligence.org
Co-Intelligence Institute
Founded by Tom Atlee, CII promotes awareness of co-intelligence (a shared, integrated form of intelligence) and of many tools and ideas that can be used to increase it. CII's website is loaded with excellent, useful resources.
Resource Link: http://www.co-intelligence.org
Co-Laboratories of Democracy: How People Harness Their Collective Wisdom to Create the Future
Alexander N. Christakis, with Kenneth C. Bausch, Institute for 21st Century Agoras. Information Age Publishing Inc., 2006.
We have all experienced the benefits of dialogue when we openly and thoughtfully confront issues. We have also experienced the frustration of interminable discussion that does not lead to progress. Co-Laboratories of Democracy enable large, diverse groups to dialogue and generate positive results.
Resource Link: http://www.globalagoras.org
Co-Management of Natural Resources
Co-Management of Natural Resources is loosely defined (there is no generally accepted definition) co-management 'means the sharing of power and responsibility for resource management between the government and local resource users' (Berkes IN Empowerment, by Singh and Titi, 140).
COAL
COAL was a two-year project (1992-94) conceived by former faculty member Mary Kathleen Ernst that included a commissioned musical piece and residency by the composer, Judith Shatin, at West Virginia's Shepherd College. The purpose of COAL was to deepen the community's knowledge of and relationship to the arts and 20th century music through a project that had resonance in the region. Shatin's statewide research and interviews with citizens of West Virginia focused her residency on mining history and related contemporary issues.
Resource Link: http://www.americansforthearts.org/animatingdemocracy/labs/lab_040.asp
Coalescing Effective Community Disaster Response: Simulation and Virtual Communities of Practice
Ed Jewett.
This paper discusses the inclusive blend of simulations, models and games and other digital and/or online technologies with local/regional "virtual communities" and communities of practice as a potentially powerful and effective approach to comprehensive community emergency preparedness. It broadly scans a range of important theories, publications, software tools, commercial products and prototypes.
CODEP
Founded in the UK in 1993, CODEP (the Conflict, Development and Peace Network) is a multi-disciplinary forum for academics, organizations and practitioners involved in exploring the causes of conflict and its impact on people's lives. Some of CODEP's activities include an email newsletter, an online database, and an annual international conference on conflict and development.
Resource Link: http://www.codep.org.uk
CODEP Email Newsletter
CODEP (the Conflict, Development and Peace Network) brings together NGOs, consultants, academics and donors who work in development, human rights and peacebuilding to explore the causes of conflict, its impact on people and to improve practice. To submit info for the CODEP e-newsletter, email [email protected] with details on recent publications, upcoming workshops, conferences or seminars, ongoing or completed research and/or projects.
Resource Link: http://www.codep.org.uk
CogNexus Institute: Dialog Mapping
Dialog mapping uses computer software to map a discussion visually so that participants develop a shared understanding of the topic, minimize fragmentation, and more effectively collaborate on solutions. This is used for visually modeling (and hopefully clarifying) the issues, positions and arguments in 'wicked problems' (problems where a group can't even agree on what the problem is). This website includes information on two such software programs, Compendium and QuestMap.
Resource Link: http://www.cognexus.org/id41.htm
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
Cognitive dissonance is a communication theory adopted from social psychology. The title gives the concept: cognitive is thinking or the mind; and dissonance is inconsistency or conflict. Cognitive dissonance is the psychological conflict from holding two or more incompatible beliefs simultaneously. Cognitive dissonance is a relatively straightforward social psychology theory that has enjoyed wide acceptance in a variety of disciplines including communication.
Collaborating: Finding Common Ground for Multiparty Problems
Barbara Gray. Jossey-Bass, 1989.
Veteran mediator Barbara Gray presents an innovative approach to successfully mediating multi-party disputes. A superb resource for managers, public officials and others working to solve complex problems such as labor disputes, disposal of toxic wastes, racial integration, and the use of biotechnology.
Resource Link: http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1555421598.html
Collaborative Democracy Network
A network of over 100 interdisciplinary and international scholars has been established to focus on the need to enhance the role of deliberative and collaborative methods in democratic governance. The goal of the network is to collaborate on research and theory building to strengthen the capacity of democratic governance institutions to produce better public policy. The Collaborative Democracy Network is being coordinated by the Center for Collaborative Policy at California State University Sacramento.
Resource Link: http://www.csus.edu/ccp/cdn/
Collaborative Edge Newsletter
Center for Collaborative Policy at Ca. State University Sacramento.
As collaborative strategies and methods grow more important in dealing with complex and 'wicked' public policy issues, information about cutting edge developments in collaboration methods becomes more essential. The Collaborative Edge, an internet-based newsletter, provides timely information on collaborative strategies and methods to public agencies, civic organizations, and the public. Each quarterly edition includes articles on success stories, tool kits, challenging issues, and news and resources.
Resource Link: http://www.csus.edu/ccp/
Collaborative Governance in Local Government: Choosing Practice Models and Assessing Experience
This workshop at NCDD's 2006 conference addressed how civic engagement practitioners can assist local governments in thinking systematically about and choosing among the various forms of civic engagement in public decision-making, and here is where you can find all five handouts/presentations that from this popular session.
Collaborative Governance in the CALFED Program: Adaptive Policy Making for California Water
Judith E. Innes, Sarah Connick, Laura Kaplan, and David E. Booher.
A new, collaborative model of governance has emerged in the CALFED program, which manages much of California's vast water system. This model emerged out of many years of dialogue among the state's major stakeholders and public agency leaders frustrated by the inability of traditional governance by the three branches - executive, legislative and judicial - to establish significant policy to address the competing needs of the environment and urban and agricultural water users. This paper reports on our research into the history, logic, and workings of this evolving program from its inception as an informal memorandum among agencies in 1994 to its 2004 incarnation with a formal, legislatively established oversight authority.
Resource Link: http://www.csus.edu/ccp/publications/WP-2006-01.pdf
Collaborative Governance Initiative
The Collaborative Governance Initiative, a program of the Institute for Local Government, supports informed and effective civic engagement in public decision-making and helps local officials in California successfully navigate among the many community involvement options that bring the public's voice to the table on important issues. Contact them for information or assistance with civic engagement planning. The Institute for Local Government is the nonprofit research and education affiliate of the League of California Cities.
Resource Link: http://www.ca-ilg.org/cgi
Collaborative Governance: A Guide for Grantmakers
Doug Henton and John Melville (Collaborative Economics), with Terry Amsler and Malka Kopell (Hewlett Foundation). The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, 2006.
This 47-page guide focuses on collaborative governance, an emerging set of concepts and practices that offer prescriptions for inclusive, deliberative, and often consensus-oriented approaches to planning, problem solving, and policymaking. Collaborative governance typically describes those processes in which government actors are participants and/or objects of the processes.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/Collaborative_Governance.pdf
Collective Decision Making Around the World
Ileana Marin. Kettering Foundation, 2006.
Is public deliberation rare? How widespread has it been? Are deliberation?’s organic practices at the very core of collective decision making? Did it exist before governments developed? The case studies included in Collective Decision Making Around the World begin to answer these questions. The research suggests, rather paradoxically, that deliberation may have been widespread throughout the world and throughout history. Taken as a whole, the case studies also show that deliberation is both fragile and powerful. It can be destroyed by top-down politics, but like a sturdy plant, if eradicated in one area, it reseeds itself in another.
Resource Link: http://www.kettering.org/readingroom/pub_detail.aspx?pubID=&catID=22&itemID=2560
Collective Intelligence
Collective Intelligence is the intelligence we generate together through our interactions and our social structures and cultures. Inclusiveness (finding effective ways to include all of the parts of the larger whole) and the creative use of diversity are two key elements for increasing collective intelligence.
Collective Wisdom Initiative
The Collective Wisdom Initiative (CWI) helps make visible an emerging field of collective wisdom, its study and practice. Through its website, commissioned papers, network of active practitioners and continuing research, CWI seeks to articulate key concepts, highlight developing practices and effective group processes, document lived experience and provoke an on-going inquiry in this field as it emerges.
Resource Link: http://www.collectivewisdominitiative.org
College Knowledge: 101 Tips for the College-Bound Student
David Schoem.
This book by University of Michigan professor David Schoem emphasizes dialogue, diversity, civic involvement, and engagement with learning. Through lively tips and compelling student stories about life at college, the book offers thoughtful, practical information for every student who wants to make a successful transition from high school to college.
Resource Link: http://www.press.umich.edu/titleDetailPraise.do?id=91723
Colorado Civic Canopy
The Civic Canopy is an inclusive network of partners working together to build stronger neighborhoods, healthier communities, and a more civil society. Through community dialogues, collaborative projects, and communication among network partners, the Canopy promotes a deeper understanding of civic challenges and more effective ways to solve them together. Just as the rainforest thrives beneath the protective network of trees in its canopy, civil society thrives when we connect the efforts of each to the good of all.
Resource Link: http://www.co-civiccanopy.org
Colorado State University - Center for Public Deliberation
The nonpartisan Center for Public Deliberation (CPD) was founded in August 2006 within the Speech Communication Department at Colorado State University, and serves as an affiliate of the National Issues Forum (NIF) network. Working from a communication perspective, CPD staff and students focus on the process of deliberation, not necessarily its product. Deliberation requires safe places for citizens to come together, good and fair information to help structure the conversation, and skilled facilitators to guide the process. The Center is dedicated to providing these three key ingredients to Northern Colorado.
Resource Link: http://www.cpd.colostate.edu
ColorLines Magazine NewsWire
ColorLines is a national newsmagazine on race and politics. Keep up to date on the magazine's news, editorials, and event info by signing up for occasional emails from their email list, NewsWire. Visit the ColorLines website for more information, or email them at [email protected].
Resource Link: http://www.colorlines.com
Columbia University - Teachers College Peace Education Center (TCPEC)
TCPEC's mission is to further the development of the field of peace education, particularly in recognition of the unprecedented need to address issues of security, war and peace, human rights and social justice, sustainable development and ecological balance. The Peace Education Center was established to provide outreach, resourcing, training and in-service education. The Center conducts research, curricular development and outreach activities in many world regions, working in collaboration with other such centers in the Philippines, Lebanon, India, Jordan, Japan, Israel, and Turkey.
Combining a Televote and Citizens' Jury in a Legislative Review
Lyn Carson, Stuart White, Carolyn Hendriks, Jane Palmer.
Legislative reviews in relation to environmental issues usually follow a predictable path. The chief investigator calls for public submissions or convenes a public hearing. The experts come forward and present facts and opinions and expert opinion is sought through a review of the relevant body of literature. The investigator analyses the data and offers policy recommendations. The wider population is rarely involved. The following case study describes a different approach. Expert evidence was sought and attention was paid to the views of the general public. This case study was an attempt to follow a different path: by converting into reality the rhetoric that abounds about the need for community consultation when policy makers are doing their work.
Resource Link: http://www.australianreview.net/journal/v3/n1/carson.pdf
Combining passions and abilities: Toward dialogic virtuosity
Barnett W. Pearce and Kimberly A. Pearce. Southern Communication Journal. 65: 161-175 (2000)., 2000.
This article explores the idea of "dialogic virtuosity." The authors recognize that there are different approaches to dialogue and attempt to tease out the various strands of dialogic practice and descriptions among scholars and practitioners. The article is part of a special issue of the journal titled "Studies in Dialogue."
Come Together: Increasing Popular Involvement in Local Decision-Making
Neil Lovell and Fiona Henderson. International Journal of Market Research, 42 (2), 157 ?– 187, 2000.
The government's vision for local government is one which involves local communities more actively. Local authorities, therefore, need to promote public participation on a wider scale to involve communities in policy planning and review, and are working towards achieving greater electorate interest in local government activities. Specifically, dealing with low turnout at elections is priority.
Resource Link: http://www.ijmr.com/default.asp
Coming to Public Judgment: Making Democracy Work in a Complex World
Daniel Yankelovich, Public Agenda. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1991.
Yankelovich, co-founder of Public Agenda, focuses on the public's waning ability to influence its future and offers a prescription for strengthening the public's hand in the 'silent power struggle' with the experts.
Resource Link: http://www.publicagenda.org
Comment Connection
Comment Connection is a subscription service customized for public participation professionals and the challenges they face in collecting, analyzing and reporting public comment. Comments can be tracked from multiple projects and multiple project phases.
Common Ground: Center for Cooperative Solutions, UC Davis Extension
For more than 10 years, Common Ground has been a leader in providing collaborative services through facilitation, mediation, negotiation and training. Our services are broad: we help government entities, agencies, private sector organizations, nonprofits, and communities come together and work out solutions to public policy issues including land use, water quality, health, education, and transportation.
Resource Link: http://www.extension.ucdavis.edu/commonground/
Common Ground: The Future of Iowa
The Wallace Foundation's project 'Common Ground: The Future of Iowa - Convening Community Dialogue to Build a Shared Vision of a Sustainable Future' used the play American Dreamer as a catalyst to engage citizens in discussions about pressing issues of developing a vision of a sustainable future. As the project progressed, displays were produced to summarize the process and the outcomes in each county. Photographers were hired to help portray the land, people, and attractions; writers provided their perceptions of each county, a 15-minute documentary was created as a summary of the project.
Resource Link: http://www.wallace.org
Common Sense California
The mission of Common Sense California is to serve as a civic bridge between the citizens of California and our elected officials. We hope to improve and reform the broken system of governance in California so that, together, we can face and resolve the significant, long term challenges facing our state. We span a broad spectrum of professional disciplines and perspectives. We are Republicans, Democrats and Independents.
Resource Link: http://www.commonsenseca.org
Commons Cafe
Commons Cafes were created by Sharif Abdullah to bring diverse groups of people together in small groups to get to know each other.
Commonway Institute
Sharif Abdullah, an attorney who quit law frustrated with its adversarial nature, formed the Commonway Institute in Portland, Oregon. Abdullah helps Commons Caf? organizers recruit a group of about 40 participants from both sides of a cultural divide and foster a discussion group.
Resource Link: http://www.commonway.org
Communication Initiative
The Communication Initiative (The CI) network is an online space for sharing the experiences of, and building bridges between, the people and organisations engaged in or supporting communication as a fundamental strategy for economic and social development and change. It does this through a process of initiating dialogue and debate and giving the network a stronger, more representative and informed voice with which to advance the use and improve the impact of communication for development. This process is supported by a web-based resource of summarised information and several electronic publications, as well as online research, review and discussion platforms providing insight into communication for development experiences.
Resource Link: http://www.comminit.com
Communication Theory
International Communication Association and Blackwell Publishing.
Communication Theory is an international forum that publishes high quality, original research into the theoretical development of communication from across a wide array of disciplines, such as communication studies, sociology, psychology, political science, cultural and gender studies, philosophy, linguistics, and literature.
Resource Link: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=1050-3293&site=1
Communicator e-newsletter
The Dirksen Congressional Center.
The Communicator is a web-based newsletter that provides educators with news and ideas to enhance civic education and improve the understanding of Congress.
Resource Link: http://www.webcommunicator.org
Communitarian Network
Founded and directed by Amitai Etzioni, the Communitarian Network is a coalition of individuals and organizations who have come together to strengthen the moral, social, and political environment. The network provides an e-newsletter and a series of publications regarding community building.
Resource Link: http://www.gwu.edu/~ccps
Communities of Practice: The Organizational Frontier
Etienne C. Wenger, William M. Snyder. Harvard Business Review, January-February, 39-45, 2000.
Not so long ago, companies were reinvented by teams. Communities of practice may reinvent them yet again--if managers learn to cultivate these fertile organizational forms without destroying them.
Resource Link: http://www.kunnskapsnettverk.no/C14/C10/CoP/Document%20Library/KM-07%20Communities%20of%20Practice%20-%20The%20Organizational%20Frontier.pdf
Community At Work
The authors of "Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making" offer a variety of courses on group facilitation skills, effective teams and consulting skills. Community At Work is also a consulting firm, specializing in group decision-making.
Resource Link: http://www.CommunityAtWork.com
Community Based Collaboratives Research Consortium
CBCRC is a network of researchers, mediators and facilitators, government agencies, community groups and environmental groups which seek to understand and assess local collaborative efforts involving natural resources and community development. CBCRC provides a venue for the sharing of research, evaluation and case studies; emerging stewardship issues and practice; and policy outcomes concerning community based collaborative processes.
Resource Link: http://www.CBCRC.org
Community Building Institute
The Community Building Institute (CBI) was founded to help communities improve the way they conduct public business to be more inclusive, more collaborative, and more effective. CBI believes that efforts to build vibrant, sustainable, and healthy communities must involve citizens and a wide array of public and private institutions to achieve real change. CBI works directly with communities as well as with federal and state agencies and national foundations with efforts that serve multiple communities.
Resource Link: http://www.communitytools.net
Community Building on the Web: Secret Strategies for Successful Online Communities
Amy Jo Kim. Peachpit Press, 2000.
The Internet has never been about finding information as much as it has been about finding people who created the information. Kim, designer of web communities for America Online and Adobe, has written a book that will suit everyone from the beginner to the CEO wishing to bring people together, understand a community, create roles for community members, and provide leadership; for all libraries. This book introduces nine essential strategies for creating true community online.
Resource Link: http://www.naima.com/community
Community Building Resource Exchange
This site provides a broad array of resources and information about innovative community building efforts to revitalize poor neighborhoods and improve the life circumstances of residents and their families. The site is a project of the Aspen Institute Roundtable on Comprehensive Community Initiatives for Children and Families.
Resource Link: http://www.commbuild.org
Community Building: What Makes it Work; A Review of Factors Influencing Successful Community Building
Paul Mattessich, Ph.D. and Barbara Monsy, M.P.H.. Saint Paul, MN: Amherst H. Wilder Foundation, 1997.
Reveals 28 factors that are key to successful community building. Nonprofit groups, funders, politicians, schools, and community residents all realize the importance of building their community - making it a safer, friendlier, or healthier place to live and work. This book can be used by these and other community builders to enhance their community initiatives.
Resource Link: http://www.fieldstonealliance.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=7
Community Change Makers: The Leadership Roles of Community Foundations
Ralph Hamilton, Julia Parzen, and Prue Brown. Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago, 2004.
A new analysis of ways in which community foundations throughout the country are developing and expanding their leadership roles in their communities suggests that community foundations' unique access, agility, credibility, and local knowledge place them in a pivotal position at the center of community life.
Resource Link: http://www.chapinhall.org/article_abstract.aspx?ar=1366&L2=63&L3=109
Community Change, Inc.
CCI is a Boston-based non-profit organization which serves as a Center for action and collaboration among individuals and multiracial grassroots groups in the fight to achieve racial justice and equity. CCI maintains a resource center which features an extensive Library on Racism. CCI's website lists the thousands of books, videos, audio tapes, and periodicals which are housed at the library.
Resource Link: http://www.communitychangeinc.org
Community Choice Work: Citizen Deliberations on Issues Related to HIV/AIDS
Chanya Charles of the Academy for Educational Development.
This document outlines the eight steps of the ChoiceWork process and provides stories of how it has worked in various places. The objective is to provide a basic understanding of the mechanics of the approach. According to the authors, it is up to the person implementing the project to add passion, enthusiasm, commitment to inclusion, and action for the HIV-related issue being worked on to make Community ChoiceWork a success.
Resource Link: http://www.aed.org/ToolsandPublications/upload/ChoiceWork.pdf
Community Conferencing as a Special Case of Conflict Transformation
John M. McDonald and David B. Moore. In Restorative Justice and Civil Society. Heather Strang and John Braithwaite, 130-148. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press., 2001.
McDonald and Moore seek to broaden the theory of transformative justice and conflict transformation. Specifically, they deal with community conferencing as the major reactive intervention based on a theory of conflict transformation in many settings: criminal justice, the workplace, education, and more. After summarizing the early theory on conferencing, with emphasis on the importance of the expression of shame in the process, the authors reexamine the notions of shame and guilt, particularly in relation to the sequence of a conference.
Resource Link: http://www.cambridge.org/us/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=0521805996
Community Conferencing: An Interview with Gena Gerard
International Institute for Restorative Practices, 2003.
Gena Gerard is program manager of the Central City Neighborhoods Partnership, Restorative Justice Program (CCNP), Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A. This conferencing program is designed to address livability issues and crimes that affect the quality of life in this urban community. In operation for more than five years, the program has enabled community members to resolve 361 cases out of court. Over 300 community members have been involved as facilitators and conference participants. Gerard was interviewed by journalist Laura Mirsky in August 2002 at IIRP's Third International Conference on Conferencing, Circles and other Restorative Practices.
Resource Link: http://www.realjustice.org/library/ccgerard.html
Community Connections: Citizen Forums for Democracy in the New Millennium
Eddie Swain, Debi Witte and Betty Knighton.
What happens when a well-established, prestigious national community education program goes digital? That is what happened when National Issues Forums (NIF) and the Kettering Foundation enhanced their community discussion forums with distance education technology. Wheeling Jesuit University with its NASA initiatives provided tools and expertise to help NIF and Kettering bridge distance barriers by linking multiple communities in a simultaneous discussion via videoconference technology. The program was also streamed live to the World Wide Web with internet participants contributing via e-mail.
Community Conservation and the Future of Africa's Wildlife
Jeffrey Hackel. Conservation Biology, 13 (4), 726-734, 1999.
The term community-based conservation (CBC) refers to wildlife conservation efforts that involve rural people as an integral part of a wildlife conservation policy. The key elements of such programs are that local communities participate in resource planning and management and that they gain economically from wildlife utilization. In part, CBC is seen as an alternative to the more exclusionary protectionist policies of the past, which often alienated rural people from conservation efforts.
Resource Link: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/
Community Consultation
GHD, 2000.
Community consultation is the design, coordination and implementation of strategies which enable participation and involvement by residents and stakeholders in decision making processes. GHD's specialists design, implement, coordinate and provide advice on community consultation programs, participation and strategies, either as components of our major projects or as services to smaller projects and individual clients.
Resource Link: http://www.ghd.com.au/aptrixpublishing.nsf/AttachmentsByTitle/CS+EnvironmentalNT+PDF/$FILE/NT_Envirnmental_Services_A4.pdf
Community Consultation in Environmental Policy Making
Lyn Carson, Stuart White, Carolyn Hendriks, and Jane Palmer. The Drawing Board: An Australian Review of Public Affairs, 3 (1), 2002.
In 2001, a consultation experiment took place during an independent legislative review commissioned by the Minister for the Environment in New South Wales. Randomly selected citizens participated in a televote and citizens?’ jury on container deposit legislation, and contributed to the final recommendations of the review. The trial of these innovative participatory techniques took place because a research team from the Institute for Sustainable Futures conducting the review believed that it is crucial to include typical citizens if the community?’s preferences are to be determined.
Resource Link: http://www.australianreview.net/journal/v3/n1/carson.pdf
Community Development Citizen Participation Plan
City of Spokane Community Development Program, 2001.
The City of Spokane's Community Development Citizen Participation Plan is designed to create opportunities for citizens to be involved in the development of the City's annual Action Plan Component of the Consolidated Community Development and Housing Plan and the implementation or amendments thereof. This Citizen Participation Plan addresses the 2001 Action Plan Component of the 2000 Consolidated Community Development and Housing Plan.
Resource Link: http://www.spokanecitycd.org/citizen/cpp.htm
Community Dialogue Guide: Conducting a Discussion on Race
The Community Relations Service of the U.S. Department of Justice, 2003.
The Community Relations Service assists communities with crisis management and violence reduction. Their user-friendly Community Dialogue Guide includes sections on the characteristics of community dialogues on race, steps in organizing a dialogue, the role of the dialogue leader, a sample small group dialogue, and more.
Resource Link: http://www.usdoj.gov/crs/publist.html
Community Environmental Policing: Assessing New Strategies of Public Participation in Environmental Regulation
Dara O'Rourke and Gregg Macey. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 2003.
This paper evaluates a new form of public participation in environmental monitoring and regulation advanced through local bucket brigades, which allow community members to sample air emissions near industrial facilities. These brigades represent a new form of community environmental policing, in which residents participate in collecting, analyzing, and deploying environmental information, and more importantly, in an array of public policy dialogues.
Resource Link: http://nature.berkeley.edu/orourke/PDF/CEP-JPAM.pdf
Community Fair
A community event intended to provide project information and raise awareness about particular issues. The fair includes a multiplicity of activities and events of interest to cater for the broadest range of people, for example, sausage sizzles, rides and activities for children, young people's activities and events of interest to adults.
Community Governance in the Information Society
Jean Hartley, David Hunter.
How can local authorities take advantage of the new information and communication technologies to renew their relationships with their citizens and to develop the potential of their areas? What are the policy and management issues that members and senior officers will need to resolve if these programmes of renewal and development are to succeed? This executive briefing is based on the ideas emerging from an initial workshop we ran in the autumn of 1997. The workshop brought together a range of leading representatives from both local government and the wider public, private and voluntary sectors.
Community Health News
The Association for Community Health Improvement is the premier national association for community health, healthy communities and community benefit. Community Health News is a weekly e-newsletter available to anyone who wishes to subscribe for non-commercial purposes. Currently, 2,000 subscribers receive weekly announcements of health trends and statistics, prevention programs, policy initiatives, funding opportunities, tools and best practices.
Resource Link: http://www.communityhlth.org/communityhlth/news/newsletter.html
Community Indicator
Community indicators are statistical measures of a community's quality of life, through which a community can track things getting better or worse. Often they are created through extensive conversations in the community.
Community Juries
Community juries consist of individuals impaneled to hear testimony related to a specific issue. Jurors, chosen for their impartiality, hear reviews of an issue by neutral experts. The jury discusses and deliberates and subsequently issues its findings. Always non-binding and with no legal standing, the findings of such juries can pinpoint "fatal flaws" or gauge public reaction. The Minnesota DOT assembled a community jury to determine public attitudes toward congestion pricing as a traffic-reduction measure. The jury met for five days of hearings with more than 20 witnesses and voted in favor of reducing traffic but against congestion pricing. The jury then voted for increases in the gas tax and for allowing its use in funding transit improvements.
Community Networking Gets Interesting: A Synthesis of Issues, Findings and Recommendations
Center for Civic Networking, 2000.
The stated purpose of this white paper is to: offer a pragmatic sense of renewal to practitioners in the field; invite practitioners to recognize their special gifts and assets and learn how to share knowledge and improve their abilities; help catalyze a new vision for our work that has both tangible economic values as well as social benefit in the communities where we work, live and play. This synthesis of findings discusses results of a retreat held at the Whidbey Institute near Seattle, WA.
Community Organizations and Social Capital: A Guide to Program Evaluation (Draft)
Tom Sander. Saguaro Seminar, JFK School of Government, Harvard University, 2006.
Freely downloadable from the NCDD website, this guide measures social trust, political participation, civic leadership and associational involvement, giving and volunteering, faith-based involvement, informal social ties, diversity of friendship, and equality of civic engagement.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/Program_Evaluation_Guide.doc
Community Participation and Empowerment: Putting Theory into Practice
Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Housing Summary, 4, Yorkshire, England, 1994.
A new Guide to Effective Participation offers a comprehensive framework for thinking about involvement, empowerment and partnership. It also provides an A to Z of key issues and practical techniques for effective participation.
Resource Link: http://www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/housing/h4.asp
Community Participation and Geographic Information Systems
Daniel Weiner, Trevor Harris, and William Craig. IAPAD Organization web site.
Geographic information Systems (GIS) and Geographic Information Technology (GIT) are increasingly employed in research and development projects that incorporate community participation.
Resource Link: http://www.iapad.org/publications/ppgis/Community%20Participation%20and%20Geographic%20Information%20Systems.pdf
Community Participation Can Improve America's Public Health Systems
The Lewin Group, Inc., 2002.
From its outset, the national Turning Point Initiative (TP) saw the importance of engaging the community in public health work. It sought to strengthen the voice of traditionally underserved constituencies in public health planning and policy setting. A basic premise of the Initiative was to increase community awareness of public health priorities and responsibilities, and to mobilize community groups to assume shared ownership for some public health activities. This report describes lessons learned from Turning Point communities that may be useful to local, state, and national policymakers and communities striving to build public health partnerships.
Resource Link: http://www.wkkf.org/Pubs/Health/TurningPoint/Pub3713.pdf
Community Participation in Local Government
Rainbow Alliance, 1996.
Democracy, as we know it in Australia, is fragile and can be easily undermined. Too often, especially recently, it has been used to further individual interests at the expense of the community. This paper aims to strengthen democracy by: (i) identifying the vulnerable points of Victoria's democratic local government system (prior to the installation of Commissioners); (ii) redefining democracy in terms of our preferred style of democracy - participatory democracy; and (iii) presenting ideas as to which processes and structures would maximise participatory democracy at the local government level, assuming that the Councils are democratically-elected.
Community Problem-Solving Project at MIT
The Community Problem-Solving Project is an online learning space for people and institutions worldwide. Site users work on a wide variety of issues, from housing and health care to education and the environment, from labor and economic development to crime and public safety and "comprehensive" community change. They are managers, organizers, supporters, investors, educators and trainers, evaluators, everyday citizens, and more, working in cities and rural communities around the globe to tackle important social problems and seize opportunities to promote change. The site provides information to support your learning and effectiveness, including useful tools for problem-solving in your community or field.
Resource Link: http://www.community-problem-solving.net
Community Programs and Women's Participation: The Chinese Experience
David Coady, Xinyi Dai, and Limin Wang. World Bank Development Research Group, 2001.
Effectively implemented gender-focused interventions can have substantial social benefits when supported by the necessary legal and institutional framework, judging from this rural program in China.
Resource Link: http://www-wds.worldbank.org
Community Psychology Course Syllibus
A 3-page syllabus for Dr. Gretchen Wehrle's Community Psychology course at Notre Dame de Namur University. The course includes training and experience in civic engagement and community dialogues.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/Wehrle-CommunityPsychologySyllabus.pdf
Community Public Art Guide: Making Murals, Mosaics, Sculptures, and Spaces
Olivia Gude, Editor. Chicago Public Art Group.
The Chicago Public Art Group claims that their web-based Public Art Guide is the most comprehensive manual for making public artworks through collaboration with community that has ever been produced. The website represents the collective experience of dozens of dedicated community public artists, working on hundreds of projects, with thousands of participants.
Resource Link: http://www.cpag.net/guide/index.htm
Community Relations Service
CRS, an arm of the U.S. Department of Justice, is a specialized Federal conciliation service available to State and local officials to help resolve and prevent racial and ethnic conflict, violence, and civil disorders. CRS helps local officials and residents tailor locally defined resolutions when conflict and violence threaten community stability and well-being.
Resource Link: http://www.usdoj.gov/crs
Community Resource Manual
Richmond, VA: Hope in the Cities, 1997.
This manual taps into the powerful grassroots movement to heal racial division through community-based dialogue. Focuses on a proven process emphasizing honest words and effective action by teams of people of all races, many faiths and diverse political views. Offers case studies and specific principles that can be adapted by dialogue organizers to meet local needs.
Resource Link: http://www.hopeinthecities.org
Community Weaving
Community Weaving is a innovative approach to foster a community of responsible citizens who create Family Support Networks where they share their time, gifts, talents and resources with others. This community mobilization strategy increases civic engagement and social capital by tapping grassroots resources resulting in the creation of healthy thriving communities. Family Support Networks meet the needs of families and children in the old fashioned way, neighbor to neighbor. Through the use of telephones and a web-based technology families can easily and immediately access a myriad of resources to help themselves and others in the community.
Resource Link: http://www.communityweaving.org
CommunityAnswers.com
A useful web-based resource for community builders, community users, moderators, managers, owners to get advice about building quality online communities. CommunityAnswers.com was developed by CornerWays, LLC, a company comprised of individuals with years of online community building experience from moderating within notable communities, launching community sites, and managing community.
Resource Link: http://communityanswers.com
CommunityZero
CommunityZero is an interactive website that allows a group of people to communicate and exchange information over the Internet in their own private and secure area. Within each area, called an online community, participants are provided access to a suite of powerful tools that enable a group to effectively get organized, share knowledge and communicate.
Resource Link: http://www.communityzero.com
Comparative Deliberation Practices: A Study of Mediated Citizen Communication Processes
Democracy Design Workshop.
True citizen participation in the decision-making processes of governmental bodies remains an elusive goal. Citizen consultation traditionally has been burdensome for the government official and unsatisfactory for the citizen. These processes have suffered from the problems of misinformation, parochialism, interest group politics, partisanship, inefficiency and under-inclusion. Limited by an incomplete understanding of communications processes in these contexts and a lack of knowledge of how technology affects dialogue, it is difficult, if not impossible, to design improved mechanisms that exploit the potential of new, interactive technologies to increase citizen participation and feedback. This interdisciplinary research project on the building-blocks of citizen deliberation will study how citizens deliberate and make decisions via different technological media and across cultures.
Resource Link: http://www.nyls.edu/pdfs/citizen_part_desc.pdf
Comparative Risk Assessment: Where Does the Public Fit In?
Ralph Perhac. Science, Technology, & Human Values, 23 (2), 221-241, 1998.
Comparative risk assessment (CRA) is playing an ever-increasing role in environmental policy priority setting, as manifested in national and numerous sub national comparative risk projects. It is widely accepted that public values, interests, and concerns should play an important role in CRA. However, the philosophical basis for public involvement in CRA has not been adequately explored, nor have comparative risk projects always made explicit their rationales for public involvement.
Resource Link: http://online.sagepub.com/
Comparing Environmental Policy Approaches
Clive L. Spash.
Compassionate Listening Method
Compassionate Listening is a process of "listening our way to wholeness." We believe that peace comes through the hard work of meeting one's enemy - the human being behind the stereotype, and acknowledging one another's suffering. Compassionate Listening as a tool for reconciliation is based on a simple yet profound formula for the resolution of conflict: adversaries giving the gift of listening. To help reconcile conflicting parties, we must have the ability to understand the suffering of both sides.
Compassionate Listening Project
The Compassionate Listening Project is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering individuals to heal polarization and build bridges between people, communities, and nations in conflict. The Compassionate Listening Project teaches powerful skills for peacemaking in families, communities, on the job, and in social change work locally and globally. Their curriculum grew out of our many years of reconciliation work on the ground in Israel and Palestine. They adapted their trainings and began to teach in the U.S. in 1999, and now offer trainings and workshops worldwide for everyday peace-building.
Resource Link: http://www.compassionatelistening.org
Compendium
Compendium provides a methodological framework and an evolving suite of tools for collective sense-making and group memory. It is the result of over 15 years' continual research, deployment and development of a tool to support the real time mapping of discussions in meetings, collaborative modeling, and the longer term management of this information as organizational memory.
Resource Link: http://www.compendiuminstitute.org/tools/compendium.htm
Competitiveness and Cohesion: The New Urban Governance and Citizen Participation
Iain Docherty, Robina Goodlad and Ronan Paddison.
This paper explores variations based principally on the analysis of a questionnaire survey investigating attitudes towards local government and democracy conducted in 'paired neighbourhoods' in the two major cities of central Scotland, Edinburgh and Glasgow. The questions formed part of a larger household questionnaire conducted for the ICS study of central Scotland. The results presented here build on those given in an earlier paper, but remain tentative in that the study of neighbourhood participation is ongoing. In each of the cities neighbourhoods were chosen to represent a deprived area (peripheral housing schemes) and areas which were more mixed in character, as represented, for example by their housing tenure and socio-economic composition.
Complexity, Politics, Policy and People
Mary Pat MacKinnon. Canadian Policy Research Networks (CPRN), 2007.
This PowerPoint presentation offers insights on how a process of deliberative dialogue was used in Canada by the Advisory Panel on Fiscal Imbalance (Council of the Federation) as part of its consultative process on how to better share funds between governments. The presentation describes the dialogue process and the resulting roadmap citizens provided to decision-makers in working through how to address this politicized issue of sharing funds. It shows how engagement can be effective in identifying citizen solutions that reflect an understanding and appreciation of the policy challenges. MacKinnon?’s presentation was made to a session, "Using Citizen Deliberation to Tackle Health Care Reform and Fiscal Imbalance," at the 2007 Canadian Conference on Dialogue and Deliberation.
Resource Link: http://www.cprn.org/doc.cfm?doc=1797&l=e
Comprehensive Dialogue Among Civilizations
CDAC was founded in 2003 by Dr. Vladimir F. Petrovsky, former UN Under Secretary-General and Director-General of the UN Office in Geneva (1992 -2002) as a follow up to the United Nations International Year for the Dialogue of Civilizations in 2001. The current world situation more than ever demands the development and strengthening of dialogue. CDAC aims to develop, cultivate and promote the spirit and culture of dialogue with the ultimate goal of creating tools and instruments to address the current global issues and challenges in a constructive, evolutionary and democratic way.
Resource Link: http://www.comprehensivedialogue.org
Conbrio
Conbrio provides process, tools and practices to build companies, organizations and communities. Conbrio's services include graphic recording, facilitation, goal setting, strategic action planning, strategic visioning, team building, and more. We team with senior private sector executives and board members, elected and appointed government officials and not-for-profit leaders to set goals, implement programs, integrate acquisitions, improve employee participation, better communication and gather qualitative market feedback. In working with teams, we are servant leaders, designing, then guiding teams in conversations to brainstorm ideas, elicit views, analyze options, forge directions.
Resource Link: http://www.conbrioamericas.com
Concepts of Citizenship: A Review
Emma Jones and John Gaventa. Development Research Centre on Citizenship, Participation and Accountability (DRC), IDS, 2002.
The review essay in this Development Bibliography provides a broad map to contemporary thinking around citizenship, in order to provide a theoretical frame of reference for empirical work on the contextual relations between citizenship, participation and accountability. The attached section of annotated references provides brief summaries of recent texts that we have found to be particularly helpful. Other papers in this series explore participation, accountability and inclusion as they relate to citizenship, and thus both complement and give greater depth to the summaries provided in this Development Bibliography.
Resource Link: http://www.drc-citizenship.org/
Conceptual Dimensions and Boundaries of Participation in Organizations: A Critical Evaluation
H. Peter Dachler and Bernhard Wilpert. Administrative Science Quarterly, 23 (1), 1-39, 1978.
This paper outlines a broad conceptual framework for participation in organizations, which provides an over-view of four defining dimensions of participatory social arrangements in organizations and their often complex interdependencies. The dimensions of participation discussed in this paper include the social theories underlying participatory social systems and the values and goals each of them implies for participation, the major properties of participatory systems, the outcomes of participation in organizations, and the contextual characteristics of participatory systems which limit or enhance their potential.
Resource Link: http://links.jstor.org/
Conciliation Resources
Conciliation Resources (CR) provides practical and sustained support to people and groups in areas of armed conflict or potential violence. We specifically work with those working at community or national levels to prevent violence or transform conflict into opportunities for development. We work mainly in the Caucasus, Fiji, Uganda and West Africa in partnership with local and international civil society organizations and governments, and publish Accord: an international review of peace initiatives. We are funded through grants from governments, independent trusts and foundations.
Resource Link: http://www.c-r.org
Conditions for Change: Georgians Talk About How to Improve Public Schools and Education
Prepared by The Harwood Group for the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, 1994.
Conversations with Georgia residents reveals that improving public education is a top priority for Georgians across the state. Our experience suggests that to tap this desire and move ahead effectively, Georgians - and citizens everywhere who, like those in Georgia, want to improve their public schools - need to focus on seven key principles for building sustainable changes in education.
Resource Link: http://www.theharwoodinstitute.org/resources/
Conditions for Deliberation
Jane Macoubrie.
This essay presents a group decision theorist's view of democratic deliberation that relates political theorists' concerns about whether democratic deliberation is possible, with evidence from group decision-making research suggesting conditions for democratic deliberation. Democratic deliberation is more likely, in this view, depending on conditions that can be designed into group processes. The paper also explains a method of measuring levels of democratic deliberation within group interaction, and presents pilot test results for the method, related to a specific group of citizens deliberating policy on genetically modified foods. The test illustrates the connection theorized in the paper: when particular features of structured group process designs are present, such processes can affect the level of democratic deliberation present in citizens' dialogue.
Conducting Your Community Dialogue Manual
The American Assembly - The National Dialogue, 2002.
The manual provides the essential tools you will need to conduct a Uniting America community dialogue: ways for defining 'your community,' for choosing a format and for creating discussion questions. In addition, the series report, Building a More United America, will give your dialogue a national context as well as provide a convenient reference for well-considered policy options. The American Assembly's unique process builds a constructive consensus for action, and collectively, the dialogues will deepen the engagement of individuals in their communities and strengthen the quality of public opinion nationwide.
Resource Link: http://www.americanassembly.org/unitingamerica.org/dialogue/ndorg.htm
Conference
A conference is usually organised by a like-minded group or association to share information, present the latest innovations, and/or to make decisions about or on behalf of the organisation. Conferences can vary from 'shoestring' budget gatherings to large-scale, week-long events that may justify hiring a professional conference organiser.
Conference Model
Dick Axelrod's Conference Model Redesign is a method that uses a series of four fast, participatory 3-day conferences - vision, customer, technology, and design - held a month apart, resulting in an organizational design, followed by implementation steps.
Confidence in Institutions Before, During, and After "Indecision 2000"
Vincent Price, Anca Romantan. The Journal of Politics, 66, 2004.
The disputed outcome of the 2000 presidential election provides an opportunity to examine changes in public confidence in various political institutions at a time when these were under unusual stress. The present research draws upon three-wave panel data. Measures of confidence were asked in August, December, and February. Particular institutions show distinct patterns, in line with their salient roles in the crisis. Confidence in the Supreme Court polarized considerably along partisan lines as a direct function of opinions about the Court's decision. Confidence in the Presidency, already polarized in August, shows weakening polarization and reverses direction upon Bush's inauguration. Confidence in Congress increased significantly, with no growth in polarization. Findings confirm that confidence in various institutions hasdynamic components related to both "diffuse" and "specific" support.
Resource Link: http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1468-2508.2004.00284.x
Conflict in Iraq: Confronting Policy Alternatives
Choices Program at Brown University?’s Watson Institute for International Studies.
The continuing debate about U.S. policy in Iraq is currently focused on the question of the U.S. presence in Iraq. What is our purpose? Who should be involved in solutions? Are U.S. troop levels right? How long should U.S. troops stay? What does this mean for the larger question of America's role in the world today? This resource presents three policy alternatives for U.S. policy in Iraq today. Resources to facilitate deliberation on this issue are included. Links to additional materials are also available. The materials are produced for use in high school classrooms, and are easily adapted to public discussion.
Resource Link: http://www.choices.edu/resources/twtn_iraq.php
Conflict Resolution Academy, LLC
Conflict Resolution Academy, LLC (CRA) is comprised of a highly qualified team of trainers serving as a resource in the areas of Conflict Management Training, Mediation Skills Training, Management Training, Leadership Training, Team Building, Work-Life Balance, Personal Development, and Human Resource Training.
Resource Link: http://www.conflictresolutionacademy.com
Conflict Resolution Consortium of the University of Colorado
This is a gateway to the Consortium's various websites, including CRInfo (The Conflict Resolution Information Source), the Intractable Conflict Knowledge Base Project, the original Conflict Resolution Consortium website, and several other great resources.
Resource Link: http://conflict.colorado.edu/
Conflict Resolution in the High School
Carol Miller Lieber. Educators for Social Responsibility, 1998.
This comprehensive, sequenced curriculum helps secondary educators address conflict resolution and problem solving, diversity and intergroup relations, and social and emotional development. It also helps educators build community and create a Peaceable Classroom. Includes sections on implementation, assessment, and infusion of conflict resolution throughout a standard curriculum.
Resource Link: http://esrnational.org/Merchant2/merchant.mvc
Conflict Resolution in the Middle School
William J. Kreidler. Educators for Social Responsibility, 1997.
Highly acclaimed, this guide features 28 skill-building sections to help students address the conflicts that come with adolescence. Recent additions to the guide include seven implementation models; sections on creating a classroom for teaching conflict resolution, developing staff and parent support, and assessing student learning; an infusion section which includes math and science; and a section on adolescent development exploring gender and race.
Resource Link: http://esrnational.org/Merchant2/merchant.mvc
Conflict Resolution Quarterly
Association for Conflict Resolution.
Conflict Resolution Quarterly (formerly Mediation Quarterly) is a publication of the Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR), a professional organization dedicated to enhancing the practice and public understanding of conflict resolution. The journal publishes quality scholarship on relationships between theory, research, and practice of third parties in the conflict management and dispute resolution field to promote more effective professional applications.
Resource Link: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jhome/97519532
Conflict Resolution Services Center
Run by Bill Warters, Ph.D., of Wayne State University, this site is dedicated to supporting the development of mediation and conflict resolution services at colleges and universities. Includes searchable web links to more than 150 campus mediation projects, an extensive bibliography, program development resources, links to sample policies, and more.
Resource Link: http://www.campus-adr.org/CR_Services_Cntr/crservices.html
Conflict Trends Magazine
The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD).
In October 1998, ACCORD launched the long-awaited Conflict Trends magazine. As its name suggests the publication focuses on reporting on and analysing trends in current and emerging conflicts on the continent of Africa. Dozens of issues have been produced, some of them in partnership with UN agencies, all of them on an extremely limited budget, and by ACCORD staff with a range of other demands competing for limited time.
Resource Link: http://www.accord.org.za/ct/intro.htm
Conflicts in the News: an On-Going Dialogue
This site provides an access to an online on-going dialogue on conflicts in the news. The dialogue will be conducted by PERC's officials and invited guests with expertise in the field of conflict resolution. Viewers can participate by e-mailing comments or questions with their name, identification and a brief explanation of their interest in conflict resolution. Relevant comments and questions will be posted on the web site.
Resource Link: http://www.conflictresolution.org
Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century
Henry Jenkins, Director of the Comparative Media Studies Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; with Katie Clinton, Ravi Purushotma, Alice J. Robinson and Margaret Weigel. MacArthur Foundation, 2006.
This occasional paper on digital media and learning talks about how over half of all teens have created media content, and roughly one-third of teens who use the Internet have shared content they produced. In many cases, these teens are actively involved in what we are calling participatory cultures. A participatory culture is a culture with relatively low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement, strong support for creating and sharing one?’s creations, and some type of informal mentorship whereby what is known by the most experienced is passed along to novices. A participatory culture is also one in which members believe their contributions matter, and feel some degree of social connection with one another.
Resource Link: http://www.digitallearning.macfound.org
Congress.org
Congress.org, a free public service of Capitol Advantage (a non-partisan company that specializes in facilitating civic participation), is a 'one-stop-shop' where people can identify their Congressional representatives; research Congressional voting records; learn about the issues of the day; and send email directly to Congress. Constituents can even opt to have their email message hand-delivered to their Representative or Senator's office on Capitol Hill--all without ever leaving their computer. During election time, Congress.org provides constituents tools for learning about candidates and makes registering to vote a snap.
Resource Link: http://www.congress.org
ConjunctionArts
ConjunctionArts supports compelling, socially progressive art within the public sphere. We are committed to developing new forms of artistic agency, critical discourse and public outreach by acting as a venue for fiscal sponsorship and international, cross-cultural exchange.
Resource Link: http://conjunctionarts.org
Connor Development Services, Ltd. - Internet Tutorial on Public Participation
Desmond Connor, Ph.D. offers an Internet Tutorial on Public Participation. This one-on-one tutorial, which takes 2-4 weeks, provides you with a systematic approach to preventing and resolving public controversy by applying the concept of Constructive Citizen Participation. Participants receive a copy of Connor's Public Participation Manual and review a 25-minute instructional video. Connor also provides consulting services for public consultation programs and social impact assessment studies.
Resource Link: http://www.connor.bc.ca/connor/internet.html
Consensual Rulemaking and the Time it Takes to Develop Rules
Steven J. Balla and John R. Wright.
Advocates contend that consensus based approaches to rulemaking, such as advisory committees and negotiated rulemaking, reduce the amount of time it takes to develop rules. The authors assess this hypothesis by examining the number of days that elapsed between publication of the proposed rule and promulgation of the final rule for 170 major rules issued by federal agencies between March of 1996 and June of 1999. The authors find, contrary to expectation, that advisory committees are associated with lengthy proceedings and that negotiated rulemaking has no discernible effect on the duration of this period. Of the two interpretations the author gives for these results, both imply that there is a gap between the theory and practice of consensual rulemaking.
Resource Link: http://psweb.sbs.ohio-state.edu/faculty/jwright/time1.pdf
Consensus Building Institute, Inc.
CBI is a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based organization committed to refining the art and science of consensus building. Consensus building involves informal, face-to-face interaction among representatives of stakeholding groups. It aims for 'mutual gain' solutions, rather than win-lose or lowest common denominator outcomes.
Resource Link: http://www.cbuilding.org
Consensus Cards
Created by Larry Dressler, author of Consensus Through Conversation, Consensus Cards bring clarity, creativity and closure to group decision-making. Group members simply raise a card to signal support for a proposal, raise concerns or offer alternatives.
Resource Link: http://consensustools.com
Consensus Conference
Consensus Conferences, developed in Denmark, are used in a variety of settings and typically involve a group of citizens with varied backgrounds who meet to discuss issues of a scientific or technical nature. The conference has two stages: the first involves small group meetings with experts to discuss the issues and work towards consensus. The second stage assembles experts, media and the public where the conferences main observations and conclusions are presented.
Consensus Conferences as Deliberative Democracy: A Communications Perspective
Edna Eisendel and Deborah Eastlick. Science Communication, 21 (4), 323-343, 2000.
Consensus conferences involve a small group of citizens who go through a learning process on a given technological issue, engage experts, and develop an assessment of the key issues they identify as critical. These models of technology assessment, intended to make the process more democratic, have increasingly been used in Europe. This study examines the first application in Canada on the issue of food biotechnology. It examines the consensus conference as a model of public deliberation with specific attention to communication processes.
Resource Link: http://www.sagepub.com/
Consensus Forum
Consensus Forums involve large numbers of community, industry and government representatives in a 1-3 day Forum, with the goal of reaching common ground on broad and complex issues. The Consensus Forum provides a way for lay people to deliberate on technologically complex issues, with the support of those who are ?‘expert?’ in the area. It is a way of exploring the issues using the best available knowledge, the widest possible views, and a focus on understanding different viewpoints. Where consensus (common ground) is achieved, these views become integral to the decision making process. The goal of the Consensus Forum is strategic partnership between the community, industry and government, in order to jointly make decisions and then implement the key recommendations.
Consensus Statement and Survey for Wise Democracy Victoria II
The statements in this survey were formulated by local residents who agreed to meet as a Wisdom Council for Victoria on June 22-23, 2007. Wisdom Councils create consensus statements which are presented to the public or an institution in a public meeting. The public meeting starts a discussion that engages the broader community. In order to gauge the public's level of agreement with the Wisdom Council's statements, an online Opinionnaire® (a tool being demonstrated for this event by the Forum Foundation) is being used to reveal degrees of consensus for those who participate. We are posting the contents of the survey as a great example of two dialogue and deliberation organizations combining their assets to help promote, evaluate, and further a D&D program.
Resource Link: http://opn.forumfoundation.org/index.php?pid=30
Consensus Through Conversation: How to Achieve High-Commitment Decisions
Larry Dressler. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., 2006.
At a time when organizational hierarchies are flattening, workforces are becoming more geographically dispersed, and workers are demanding a say in what they do, consensus is more needed than ever. Consensus Through Conversation guides leaders and facilitators toward the proper use of consensus and away from applications that create the 'illusion of inclusion' and false agreement. It is a handy, vital reference readers can turn to in their efforts build enthusiasm and commitment on high-stakes issues.
Resource Link: http://www.consensustools.com
Conservatives and D&D
National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation, 2003.
Back in 2003, there was a great conversation on the main NCDD Discussion list sparked by the question "What should we do when our most visible collaborator is perceived as liberal, yet our goals are to involve people with all ideologies?" That conversation evolved to address the all-important question "Are conservatives less interested in citizen engagement than liberals?" Here is a summary of that meaty conversation...
Considering the Concept of Procedural Justice for Public Policy and Decision-Making in Science and Technology
Simon Joss and Arthur Brownlea. Science and Public Policy 26(5): 321-330, 1999.
Procedural justice is considered as a mechanism for improved fairness and effectiveness in science and technology decision-making processes. The authors suggest procedural justice could be used as a design tool for developing and implementing new public participation procedures.
Resource Link: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Constitutional Rights Foundation seeks to instill in our nation's youth a deeper understanding of citizenship through values expressed in our Constitution and its Bill of Rights and to educate young people to become active and responsible participants in our society.
Resource Link: http://www.crf-usa.org
Constrained Democracy: Evaluating Community-based Conservation Using Environmental Outcomes
Cassandra Moseley.
Scholars and practitioners have pursued numerous avenues to understanding community-based, collaborative conservation. Webber (2003), for example, focuses attention on the issue of accountability because collaborations are often outside more formal democratic processes such as elections. Others, however, would like to evaluate the success or failure of community-based collaboration based on a wide variety of criteria including environmental outcomes (Conley and Moote 2003; Innes and Booher 1999; Kenny 1999). Here, the author addresses the problem of evaluating collaborative natural resource management. The author argues that evaluating the success of collaboration based on predetermined environmental outcomes is problematic.
Resource Link: http://www.cbcrc.org/2003speakerpapers/Moseley-constraineddemo.pdf
Constructive Conversations for Challenging Times: A Guide for Home and Community Dialogue
Watertown, MA: Public Conversations Project, 2001.
A 38-page guide to convening and facilitating constructive conversations about the events of September 11 and all that has happened since. The guide draws on over a decade of experience conducting dialogues about divisive public issues such as abortion, homosexuality, and how to use natural resources. It contains instructions for a two-hour structured dialogue and suggestions for briefer or less formal conversations that have the spirit of dialogue. For step-by-step support in hosting your own dialogue in person or online, download a free copy of PCP's Guide for Home and Community Dialogue.
Resource Link: http://www.publicconversations.org
Consultation Manager
Consultation Manager is a sophisticated yet user-friendly web-based stakeholder management system that assists professionals to stay on top of their consultation projects. Designed independent of any single consultation technique or process, it easily achieves rapid adoption even though organizations' consultation processes may change.
Resource Link: http://www.ConsultationManager.com
ConsultPlace.com
ConsultPlace is the result of an agreement between the Queensland (Australia) Government Department of Communities and Alfresco Design Pty Ltd. It is an online tool aimed at facilitating web-based consultations between organisations and their stakeholders. Organisation administrators list the issues they want to consult about online and stakeholders then post feedback from their own computers.
Resource Link: http://www.alfresco.com.au/products-consultplace-online-community-engagement-software.html
Contested Values: Tug-Of-War In The School Yard
National Issues Forums, 1994.
America's public schools, which have been the principal means of transmitting common values from one generation to the next, have become battlefields. At issue are fundamental differences about moral authority, family life, sexual expression, and how to live together despite our differences. This nonpartisan issue guide is used for citizen deliberations in National Issues Forums.
Resource Link: http://www.nifi.org/discussion_guides/guides.aspx?catID=10
Conversate
Conversate gives you your own online discussion space for any topic, with anyone you want to invite. It's totally free and ideal for talking about articles or websites and for organizing projects and events. Once you initiate a conversation and invite people to join the conversation, you are free to invite more people at any time. You can also set conversations to be totally private, totally public, or somewhere in between.
Resource Link: http://www.conversate.org
Conversation as a Co-Evolutionary Force (the World Cafe blog)
The World Cafe's blog provides a space for people to speak to each other in their authentic voices. Across the diversity of language, culture and geography, this is a place where we can ask the questions that truly matter to us and listen for the patterns that emerge in response.
Resource Link: http://conversationsthatmatter.typepad.com/theworldcafe/
Conversation Caf?
Vicki Robin, a pioneer in the voluntary simplicity movement, came up with the idea of using the 'conversation caf?' model in attempts to take her ideas of simpler living to a higher level. Her organization has more than 60 trained caf? hosts and has spread internationally after a tremendous start in Seattle.
Resource Link: http://www.conversationcafe.org
Conversation Café Method
A Conversation Café is a 90-minute hosted conversation which is held in a public setting like a coffee shop or bookstore, where anyone is welcome to join. A simple format helps people feel at ease and gives everyone who wants to a chance to speak.
Conversation Dinners or Conversation Meetings
The concept of the "Conversation Dinner" seems to have come from Theodore Zeldin. For this simple process, people are split into pairs and given a "conversation menu" from which they can choose their conversation topics. The menu could have a subject area theme such as "intergroup dialogue" or it could be a generic menu listing personal questions designed to help people to get to know each other. Conversation Meetings may or may not happen over meals; sometimes partners are encouraged to take walks together. Whatever the situation, privacy is key.
Conversation Week 2007 Report
Conversation Cafe, 2007.
Conversation Week 2007, March 25-30, was a week-long, world-wide, face-to-face dialogue initiative. Through the conversations, participants engaged with the important questions of our times, learned crucial speaking and listening skills and together celebrated the power of conversation to change the world. Conversation Week proposed this experiment: ?“What if everyone in the world asked the same question at the same time and shared what they learned??” The goal was to empower people worldwide to convene a meaningful, respectful discussion in their community.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/cw_report_2007.doc
Cooperative Argumentation: A Model for Deliberative Community
Josina M. Makau and Debian L. Marty. Waveland Press, 2001.
As the globe shrinks, it is more important than ever to discuss ways for diverse groups to coexist peacefully. This practical text offers a fresh approach to argumentation - one that combines reason and refutation with community building, mutual respect, and a recognition of interdependence. The authors provide a wide variety of examples to illustrate concrete proposals for cultivating moral abilities, cognitive skills, and communicative virtues. The ability to engage in cooperative argumentation across differences permits individuals to resolve conflicts peacefully, effectively, and responsibly.
Resource Link: http://www.cooperativeargumentation.com
Cooperative Communication Skills e-Journal
Perspectives, new developments, and teaching materials related to evolving communication skills at home and at work. The Journal is a free, e-mail, all-volunteer publication that offers essays about various aspects of interpersonal communication and news about new features and resources on the website of the Cooperative Communication Skills Extended Learning Community.
Resource Link: http://www.newconversations.net/ccejournal.htm
Cooperative Inquiry
"In traditional research on people, the roles of researcher and subject are mutually exclusive. The researcher only contributes the thinking that goes into the project, and the subjects only contribute the action to be studied. In co-operative inquiry these exclusive roles are replaced by a co-operative relationship of bilateral initiative and control, so that all those involved work together as co-researchers and as co-subjects. They both design, manage and draw conclusions from the inquiry, and they undergo the experience and action that is being explored. This is not research on people, but research with people."
Cooperative Inquiry
Cooperative inquiry is a research method that provides a framework for participants to use their own experience to generate insights around an issue that is of mutual concern. Participants form a group, usually of about 7-8 people, define a pressing question and agree to meet on several occasions over a period of time. During meetings, members reflect together on their work as it relates to the question. Between meetings, members inquire into their own practice, observe their experiences and implement new actions that might help them learn something new about the question.
Coordinating Interdependence: Governance and Social Policy Redesign in Britain, the European Union and Canada
Denis Saint-Martin.
This research report documents and compares recent changes in the institutions and practices of governance and social policy in the European Union, Britain and Canada. To do so, the analysis uses a framework that focuses on two dimensions: whether management of social policy is based on tightly versus loosely coupled systems, and the level of coercion built into governance instruments. Based on this distinction, the European Union's open method of coordination (OMC) is categorized as a case of communicative governance intended to foster a common social policy vision. New Labour's modernization agenda in Britain is characterized as a case of holistic governance designed to promote an integrated approach to social policy development and delivery. Canada's Social Union Framework Agreement (SUFA) constitutes an instance of collaborative governance, focused on joint planning and working.
Resource Link: http://www.reurba.org/downloads/Governance%20in%20UK,%20EU%20&%20Canada.doc
Core Issues in Comprehensive Community-Building Initiatives: Exploring Power and Race
Rebecca Stone and Benjamin Butler. Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago, 2000.
Power and race are rarely acknowledged but undeniable influences in community change initiatives. This volume, which follows on 1996's "Core Issues in Comprehensive Community-Building Initiatives," explores the role and influence of power and race in the planning, practice, and evaluation of comprehensive community-building initiatives (CCIs). It is composed of essays by Stone and Butler and responses to those essays by key participants in the field of community building. The lead essays are based on extensive interviews and focus group discussions with stakeholders in CCIs nationwide, including community residents, technical assistance providers, CCI managers and site directors, funders, and researchers.
Resource Link: http://www.chapinhall.org/article_abstract.aspx?ar=1302&L2=63&L3=108
Core Principles of Dialogue and "The Dialogic Approach"
This workshop at the 2006 NCDD conference was presented by Bettye Pruitt and Philip Thomas - co-authors of "Democratic Dialogue: A Handbook for Practitioners." They presented two concepts central to the Handbook: a definition of dialogue based on five core principles (inclusiveness, empowerment, learning, humanity, long-term perspective); and "the dialogic approach," an operational "code of conduct" for practitioners derived from those principles.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/DemoDialogueHbkExcerpt.pdf
Cornerstone Theatre Company
Cornerstone Theater Company is a multi-ethnic, ensemble-based theater company. We commission and produce new plays, both original works and contemporary adaptations of classics, which combine the artistry of professional and community collaborators. By making theater with and for people of many ages, cultures and levels of theatrical experience, Cornerstone builds bridges between and within diverse communities in our home city of Los Angeles and nationwide.
Resource Link: http://cornerstonetheater.org
Corporation for Positive Change
The Corporation for Positive Change (CPC) is dedicated to the design and development of appreciative organizations - those capable of sustaining innovation, financial well-being and market leadership by inspiring the best in human beings. Our workshops are led by CPC principals and offered through the Taos Institute. CPC offers workshops in Appreciative Inquiry foundations, Appreciative Inquiry leadership, and Appreciative Inquiry in Action.
Resource Link: http://www.positivechange.org
Corporatism, Pluralism, and Democracy: Toward a Deliberative Theory of Bureaucratic Accountability
Christian Hunold. Governance: An International Journal of Policy and Administration, 14, 151-167, 2001.
This essay proposes a deliberative model of bureaucratic accountability and assesses its feasibility. Conventional wisdom suggests that a deliberative theory of bureaucratic accountability has little utility outside corporatist contexts. The author rejects this view because recent changes in patterns of interest representation have transformed both corporatist and pluralist bureaucracies into more hospitable environments for public deliberation. Corporatism clearly has no monopoly on democratic deliberation, the author contends.
Resource Link: http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/0952-1895.00156
Cottonwood Foundation
Cottonwood Foundation provides small grants to grassroots nonprofit organizations in the U.S. and worldwide that are working for a sustainable future by combining all of the following: protecting the environment, promoting cultural diversity, empowering people to meet their basic needs, and relying on volunteer efforts.
Resource Link: http://www.cottonwoodfdn.org
Councillors' Attitudes Towards Citizen Participation, Protest, and Pressure: The Civic Culture and the Modernising Agenda
Colin Copus.
The research that led to this paper is based on the view that the attitudes of those holding power, are more accurately reflective of the efficacy of participation, than the attitudes of those attempting to influence power holders. Studies of participation should start with the attitudes and approaches towards public participation of the representatives rather than the represented. The paper explores councillors' attitudes towards citizen participation in the process of local political decision-making and the mechanisms by which participatory pressure may be brought to bear. Finally, the paper sets out the consequences of councillors' attitudes towards aspects of citizen participation for the modernising aims of re-engaging citizen and council.
CounterPULSE & Shaping San Francisco
CounterPULSE provides support and low cost resources for emerging artists, serving as an incubator space to create socially relevant, diverse, community-based art in San Francisco. CounterPULSE works towards a world that celebrates a diversity of race, class, ability, gender identity & sexual orientation.
Resource Link: http://www.counterpulse.org
Counting on the Internet
John B. Horrigan, Lee Rainie. Minnesota Department of Trade and Economic Development, Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, Minnesota Department of Children, Families and Learning, 2002.
With over 60% of Americans now having Internet access and 40% of Americans having been online for more than three years, the Internet has become a mainstream information tool. Its popularity and dependability have raised all Americans' expectations about the information and services available online. When they are thinking about health care information, services from government agencies, news, and commerce, about two-thirds of all Americans say that they expect to be able to find such information on the Web. Internet users are more likely than non-users to have high expectations of what will be available online, and yet even 40% of people who are not Internet users say they expect the Web to have information and services in these essential online arenas.
Resource Link: http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Expectations.pdf
CoVision and Council
CoVision supports process consultants and executives with methods, tools and capacity to affect change through increased collaboration. Over 14 years and 3,000 meetings, CoVision has provided large groups (and small) with a simple and effective 'fast-feedback' capability.
Resource Link: http://www.covision.com
Creating a Culture of Collaboration: The International Association of Facilitators Handbook
Sandy Schuman. Jossey-Bass, 2006.
Collaboration is often viewed as a one-time or project-oriented activity. An increasing challenge is to help organizations incorporate collaborative values and practices in their everyday ways of working. In Creating a Culture of Collaboration, an international group of practitioners and researchers ?– from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Chile, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, and the United States ?– provide proven approaches to creating a culture of collaboration within and among groups, organizations, communities, and societies.
Resource Link: http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0787981168.html
Creating a Formula for Success in Low-Performing Schools
Public Agenda.
This Citizen ChoiceWork guide (and video) from Public Agenda was developed for community conversations, classrooms, study groups, and individuals. Too many schools have students who are just getting by, or failing to learn much at all. We look at four hypothetical school communities and their different approaches to boosting student achievement: set high expectations and hold schools accountable; increase resources for classroom essentials; increase parent and community involvement; and ensure effective leadership. Spanish language version available.
Resource Link: http://www.publicagenda.org/pubengage/pe_toolkit.cfm
Creating a World that Works for All
Sharif Abdullah, Commonway Institute. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publication, 1999.
Exclusivity - the desire to stay separate from other people - is at the root of most of the world's problems, according to Abdullah, who then presents a unique blueprint for social justice. Demonstrates how we can change our world by changing our consciousness. Reveals how to turn from a mentality that disconnects us to one that embraces the goals of restoring balance to the Earth and building community with all others.
Resource Link: http://www.commonway.org
Creating Citizens Through Public Deliberation
Scott London.
Paper detailing how civic organizations in ten countries use deliberative dialogue to build and strengthen democracy.
Resource Link: http://www.kettering.org/stream_document.aspx?rID=1826&catID=24&itemID=1824&typeID=8
Creating Community Anywhere: Finding Support and Connection in a Fragmented World
Carolyn R. Shaffer, Kristin Anundsen, M. Scott Peck and Patricia Backlar. New York, NY: Putnam Publishing Group, 1993.
Creating Communities Anywhere looks at the current structures that connect people (or don't) and proposes ones better adapted to the framework of contemporary society. These chapters are the tools for creating community within the many spaces we occupy. An insightful how-to manual, this book is as much about communication and interpersonal dynamics as it is about community building, be it with family and friends, neighborhoods, workplaces or even electronic communities.
Creating Community From Chaos: A Guide to Community Involvement
Lance Decker. Institute for Community Involvement, 2007.
Involving the public in the decisions that affect them is not only the right thing to do, it is the law! Creating Community From Chaos offers public officials, urban planners, administrators, and community volunteers the hands-on skills and tools they need to build community capacity, solve community problems, and create community partnerships.
Resource Link: http://www.community-involvement.net/publications.php
Creating Conditions for Dialogue on the Abortion Issue: A Report from the Public Conversations Project
Sallyann Roth, Carol Becker, Margaret Herzig, Laura Chasin, Richard Chasin, Public Conversations Project. Published in Ki Notes, a publication of Aiki Works Inc., edited by Judith Warner, vol. 4, no. 4 (October 1992): 3-4.
This newsletter article briefly describes PCP's early work on developing a model for single-session introductory dialogues with small groups of people who self-described as prochoice or prolife on the abortion issue.
Resource Link: http://www.publicconversations.org/pcp/resources/resource_detail.asp?ref_id=90
Creating Connection Online: Behind the Scenes at the Diversity in action e-Conference
Nancy White, Vicki Wilde.
The Gender and Diversity Program (G&D) constantly looks for ways to help Centers use their rich diversity to increase research and management excellence. The goal is to find opportunities for dialogue and to share experiences so that staff members from all rungs of the organizational ladder and from different backgrounds and cultures can contribute their best. G&D also recognizes the importance of finding cost-effective ways to communicate and build together. It is both expensive and time consuming to bring representatives from 16 Centers together for meetings. That is why G&D decided to hold a meeting for Center directors general and their teams in cyberspace.
Resource Link: http://www.genderdiversity.cgiar.org/publications/genderdiversity_WP34.pdf
Creating Customer Value from Community Assets
NAMS Group. New Zealand, 2005.
Determine what customers value Develop Service level and cost tradeoffs Apply customer value principles to all community infrastructure groups.
Resource Link: http://www.nams.org.nz/Home
Creating Meaningful Dialogue at Arts Events: Getting beyond Q & A, testimonial, art critique, or soapbox oratory!
Excerpted from Civic Dialogue, Arts & Culture: Findings from Animating Democracy by Pam Korza, Barbara Schaffer Bacon, and Andrea Assaf. Washington, D.C.: Americans for the Arts, 2005.
This great 2-page handout was created for a workshop at NCDD's 2006 conference called "Inquiring Minds Want to Know: What Do the Arts Have to Do With Dialogue?" Presenters Leah Lamb, Ellen Schneider, and Pam Korza list challenges, offer strategies for effectively engaging audiences in civic dialogue at arts events, provide examples of how dialogue professionals can learn to incorporate art to support their dialogue goals, and more.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/DialogueAtArtsEvents.doc
Creating Social Capital Through the Deliberative Discussion: A Case Study of Community Dialogue
David Stein, Susan Imel, and Thyrone Henderson. Presented at the Midwest Research-to-Practice Conference in Adult, Continuing, and Community Education, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, October 6-8, 2004.
When citizens come together to inquire about issues that matter to the community, learning may occur in these temporary learning communities. Active engagement with issues of social and political importance may increase the adult's sense of commitment to action and further the development of a community's social capital. Using a social capital development framework, this case describes one community's attempt to promote and encourage citizens to engage in deliberative discussion. The case also highlights one citizen's struggle to link discourse with community action.
Resource Link: http://www.iupui.edu/~adulted/mwr2p/program/Proceedings/SteinImelHenderson.pdf
Creating Space for Sustainable Food Systems: Lessons from the Field
Gail Feenstra. Agriculture and Human Values, 19 (2), 99 ?– 106, 2002.
In response to growing trends in the current food system toward global integration, economic consolidation, and environmental degradation, communities have initiated alternative, more sustainable food and agricultural systems. Lessons may now be learned about the development and maintenance of local, sustainable food systems projects - those that attempt to integrate the environmental, economic, and social health of their food systems in particular places.
Resource Link: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/
Creating the Commonwealth: Public Politics and the Philosophy of Public Work
Harry C. Boyte, Nancy N. Kari, Jim Lewis, Nan Skelton and Jennifer O'Donoghue. The Kettering Foundation, 1999.
Overall, the general culture has increasingly come to devalue and diminish the capacities, talents, and intelligence of everyday citizens. Authors of the three case histories in this book describe new strategies and ideas for renewing public cultures, especially in educational institutions.
Resource Link: http://www.kettering.org
Creative America
Creative America, a new project developed to encourage creative workers to contribute to transforming American civic life, launched its new site in January 2004. The project invites creative workers to access the site and upload their personal vision for what a Creative America looks like. As a result, Creative America will present the major presidential candidates, with a collective statement about what a Creative America looks like and needs for every citizen to express their creative potential.
Resource Link: http://www.creativeamerica.us
Creative Community Builder's Handbook: How to Transform Communities Using Local Assets, Arts and Culture
Tom Borrup.
The Creative Community Builder's Handbook is chock full of successful strategies, best practices, and "how-to" guidance to turn cultural gems into effective community change. This 260-page book delves into key principles of community development and presents 20 case studies from across the U.S. In addition, it lays out five steps to assessing, planning, and implementing creative community building projects.
Resource Link: http://ww2.americansforthearts.org/vango/core/orders/product.aspx?catid=1&prodid=614
Creative Conflict Resolution
William J. Kreidler. Educators for Social Responsibility, 1984.
This widely used and highly recommended book is a definitive manual that provides elementary school teachers with thoughtful, effective ideas for responding to everyday classroom conflicts. Teachers learn to turn conflict into productive opportunity, helping students deal nonviolently and constructively with anger, fear, aggression, and prejudice. Included are over 200 classroom-tested activities and games and over 20 different techniques with examples.
Resource Link: http://esrnational.org/Merchant2/merchant.mvc
Crime Issue Guide
Public Agenda.
America has long had the dubious distinction of being the world's most violent industrial nation. Violent crime skyrocketed in the U.S. starting in the late 1960s, a trend that continued into the early 1990s. It's no wonder that crime has consistently been one of the public's major concerns over the past three decades. Public Agenda Issue Guides or ?“Citizen Choicework Guides?” contain background information on the topic and present three different approaches to the issue for people to deliberate.
Resource Link: http://www.publicagenda.org/issues/frontdoor.cfm?issue_type=crime
CRInfo
The Conflict Resolution Information Source (CRInfo) is a cooperative effort to strengthen the conflict field's information infrastructure. The site has catalogued over 8,000 web, hard copy, audio and video resources.
Resource Link: http://www.crinfo.org
Critical Perspectives: Writings on Art and Civic Dialogue
Americans for the Arts' Animating Democracy Initiative, 2005.
This 176-page collection of essays explores art, civic dialogue, and reflective critical writing. Twelve essays focus on three compelling projects that employed the unique capacities of theater, visual art, and historic preservation to stimulate people to talk about issues that matter in their communities: Dell?’Arte theater?’s Dentalium Project, about the impact of a Native American casino on the small town of Blue Lake, California; MACLA?’s Ties That Bind, about intermarriage between Asian and Latino Americans in the Silicon Valley; and The Slave Galleries Restoration Project, a project of St. Augustine?’s Episcopal Church in collaboration with the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, about issues of marginalization on the Lower East Side.
Resource Link: http://americans4thearts.stores.yahoo.net/critperwrito.html
Critical Reflections on Community-Campus Partnerships: Promise and Performance
Dana Natale, Kenneth Brook, and Todd Kelshaw. Partnership Perspectives, Community-Campus Partnerships for Health (CCPH). Volume IV, Issue I. Winter, 2007.
This article assesses a three-year Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funded Community Outreach Partnership Center (COPC) at Montclair State University (MSU) in Montclair, NJ. With the support of systematic qualitative analysis, it shifts attention from the execution of community-campus partnering to practitioners?’ capacities for reflection. Grounded in Sharon Welch?’s (2000) conception of ?“risk?” as a preferable alternative to ?“control,?” this essay explores the MSU COPC project using a framework that provides an innovative means for creating, sustaining, and, fundamentally, understanding community-campus partnerships.
Resource Link: http://depts.washington.edu/ccph/PP.html
Cross Cultural Conflict Resolution
Birgitt Williams.
The Genuine Contact program's "Cross Cultural Conflict Resolution" meeting format was designed to create the conditions for the people involved in a conflict to really solve the conflict. In developing this approach to conflict resolution, they followed the philosophy that deep within all persons are some things that are universally the same - although the individuals involved are usually fixed in one perspective and rarely ask each other genuine questions. They also tend to lose contact with their whole selves, rendering a part of themselves voiceless. From this position, they are unable to participate fully and effectively in efforts to resolve the conflict....
Cross-Scale Institutional Linkages: Perspectives from the Bottom Up
Fikret Berkes. IASCP 2000 Conference, Indiana University, IN, USA, 2000.
How do national and international - level institutions affect the capabilities of local users to govern and manage local reserves? The question reflects the practical reality that local commons institutions are embedded in and affected by regional, national and global influences. There seem to be two broad categories of influences.
Resource Link: http://dlc.dlib.indiana.edu/archive/00000217/00/berkesf041200.pdf
Crosspoint Anti Racism
The Crosspoint links to an enormous number of Human Rights, Anti-Racism, Refugee, Women's rights, and other organizations. Links are searchable by region or issue. The Crosspoint was built and is being maintained by the Magenta foundation in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Resource Link: http://www.magenta.nl/crosspoint/
CRS Programs For Managing School Multicultural Conflict
A multicultural learning environment has become the norm in many school districts and communities throughout the United States. The diversity found in these settings offers many opportunities for people to learn more about one another. Yet too often schools are ill prepared to adjust to this diversity positively. To address this reality, the Community Relations Service of the U.S. Department of Justice has developed several racial/ethnic conflict prevention and management programs for schools or school districts.
Resource Link: http://www.usdoj.gov/crs/pubs/pubflyercrsschoolprograms92003.htm
CRTNet Listserv
The National Communication Association hosts a daily email listserv called the Communication, Research and Theory Network (CRTNET). Anyone is welcome to subscribe to the listserv. Readers are encouraged to contribute abstracts, calls, articles, announcements, of interest, grant opportunities, comments, questions, and discussion on all topics relating to the general area of human communication. Those looking for jobs in the communication field in academia should subscribe themselves to this listserv.
Resource Link: http://lists1.cac.psu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=CRTNET
Cultural Perspectives in Civic Dialogue
Americans for the Arts' Animating Democracy Initiative, 2005.
This 106-page book illuminates how cultural norms mediate public space and how choices regarding art forms can support or discourage civic participation of various cultural groups.
Resource Link: http://ww2.americansforthearts.org/vango/core/orders/product.aspx?catid=2&prodid=206
CultureOfPeace.org
Throughout history, there have been many social movements for change - for democracy, for the abolition of slavery, women's rights, for peace, for the environment. Many advancements have been made, but each of these causes is just part of a larger wish for a more peaceful, just and sustainable world. These diverse movements for thousands of different causes are beginning to converge and a more holistic movement --what UNESCO has described as a 'global movement for a culture of peace' -- is beginning to emerge. The Culture of Peace Movement is helping to unite the strengths of existing organizations and individuals so that creating a culture of peace really is now possible.
Resource Link: http://www.CultureOfPeace.org
Curbstone Press
Curbstone Press is a nonprofit publishing house dedicated to publishing literature that reflects a commitment to social change. The Other Side of Heaven anthology and national book tour was an effort to use literature in the reconciliation process of the Vietnam War. The anthology featured stories about the aftermath of the Vietnam War as told by 37 American, North Vietnamese, and South Vietnamese writers. The month-long book tour was hosted by colleges and universities, as well as public libraries, high schools, and bookstores and consisted of readings, signings, and discussions about the issues raised in the book.
Resource Link: http://www.curbstone.org
D&D Principle and Design Do?’s & Don?’ts: Insights from the Front Line
Myriam Laberge, Miriam Wyman and Jan Elliott. Summary from the Saturday morning plenary at the C2D2 Ottawa Conference, 2005.
What are the keys to enhancing the effectiveness, outcomes and impact of our Dialogue and Deliberation practice, no matter what the methodology, scale and approach adopted? This question was the focus of a plenary session at the first Canadian Conference on Dialogue and Deliberation in October 2005. Outlined in this 6-page document is a summary of the wealth of information and experience that C2D2 participant provided during this plenary. The authors feel that some principles emerged that are inviolate ?– things that must characterize any dialogue or deliberation process; these underpin our work and guide us in design, implementation and follow-up. These include things like transparency about purpose, accountability, inclusivity, commitment to feedback - what Dr. Peter A. Singer has called ?“procedural values.?”
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/C2D2_2005_report.pdf
D&D Success Stories
Compiled by the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation (NCDD), 2005.
Below are dozens of links to dialogue and deliberation success stories and case studies that are available online. Approaches covered include Deliberative Polling, Citizens Juries, Future Search, National Issues Forums, Jewish-Palestinian Dialogue, AmericaSpeaks, Study Circles, the Public Conversations Project, and Wisdom Councils. NCDD has been compiling these resources for the D&D community for several years, but we could really use your help keeping this page updated. Email us at [email protected] with your additions and changes.
Dalar International Consultancy
Dalar International Consultancy, Inc. offers a holistic approach to leadership development and organizational development that achieves results that some call miraculous. We offer consulting, coaching/mentoring, and meeting facilitation services to those who wish to work with us, always customized to the unique needs of the client, and yet always within a holistic perspective that works with four levels of consciousness: mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical consciousness.
Resource Link: http://www.dalarinternational.com
Dance Umbrella
Dance Umbrella believes that dance helps describe, define, and deepen our experience of living. For us, dance is a kinetic form of communication, which includes all forms of movement and physical expression. Dance Umbrella's mission is to promote the knowledge, appreciation, practice and performance of dance. With the goal of expanding audiences and support for dance, Dance Umbrella works to encourage innovative and meaningful communication between artists and the entire community.
Resource Link: http://www.danceumbrella.com
Danish Participatory Models--Scenario Workshops and Consensus Conferences: Towards More Democratic Decision-Making
Ida-Elisabeth Andersen and Birgit Jaeger. Science and Public Policy, 26(5), 331-340, 1999.
Consensus conferences and scenario workshops have been developed in Denmark within a democratic perspective that assumes it is both possible and necessary to establish a dialogue with citizens about technology politics. In consensus conferences, the citizens have the role of a citizen panel, which will set the agenda for the conference. In scenario workshops, a group of citizens interacts with other actors to exchange knowledge and experience, develop common visions and produce a plan of action. The focus of both methods is to create a framework for dialogue among policy-makers, experts and ordinary citizens. Both methods are also characterised by their ability to create new knowledge.
Resource Link: http://www.pantaneto.co.uk/issue6/andersenjaeger.htm
Dannemiller Tyson Associates
DTA was founded in the early 1980?’s by Kathleen D. Dannemiller and the late Charles Tyson to help organizations achieve fast, long-lasting change. The earliest work was with the Ford Motor Company as it sought to move its culture from "command and control" to a more participative style. Over the years, DTA has worked with literally hundreds of clients in the profit, non-profit and governmental sectors around the world. DTA consultants are all seasoned senior practitioners skilled in helping organizations chart and travel their own change journeys.
Resource Link: http://www.dannemillertyson.com
Darzin Software
Two things make Darzin stand out from other public participation software tools: (1) Quality of analysis ?– Darzin combines qualitative, quantitative and spatial analysis in a highly user-friendly interface and (2) Integration ?– Darzin intergates data from all sources, including surveys and meetings, so you build better understanding of your stakeholders and their interests. Darzin also seamlessly integrates with your exisitng software making work easier/less complex.
Resource Link: http://www.Darzin.com
David Bohm Resources
This site provides a plethora of links to articles, books and information about and by David Bohm, a well-respected contemporary physicist whose contributions to science and philosophy include a kind of free-form, sustained dialogue.
Resource Link: http://laetusinpraesens.org/links/webdial.php
David Hasbury and Associates
David Hasbury is a graphic facilitator who guides groups through a process of discovery. He incorporates methods that grow out of the popular education movement of Latin America, influenced and shaped by the work of Paolo Friere.
Resource Link: http://www.cocreation.ca
Day of Dialogue: A community conversation about alcohol
Greek Summit - Sponsor: NASPA's Fraternity/Sorority Knowledge Community.
This dialogue guide introduces a model for discussing issues related to alcohol and alcohol-free housing.
Dealing with Cynical Citizens
Evan Berman. Public Administration Review, 57 (2), 105-112, 1998.
A study presents a theory of citizen cynicism concerning government and, based on a national survey of city managers and chief administration officers, examines perceptions of citizen trust in local government.
Resource Link: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/
Debatepedia
Debatepedia is the new free wiki encyclopedia of arguments and debates. As a "wiki," it enables anyone to easily present and organize the unique arguments made by third-party sources (ie. by scholars, experts, leaders,...) on both sides of a debate. By providing an innovative "logic tree" debate methodology, it enables you to organize debates in the most understandable way. Debatepedia is quickly becoming an indispensable resource for uncovering all the unique arguments in important public debates and for developing a complete and rational position.
Resource Link: http://debatepedia.com
Decentralization and Participatory Urban Management in Montevideo
Daniel Chavez.
The purpose of this paper is to provide some elements for the study of the characteristics and significance of sub-municipal decentralization and popular participation in the context of a left-oriented program of local development. The analysis is empirically grounded in data on the process of participatory urban management of Montevideo, the capital city of Uruguay, between February 1990 and July 1998.
Resource Link: http://www.ucm.es/info/femp/red/articulos/montevideo.doc
Decentralization or Privatization of Environmental Governance? Forest Conflict and Bioregional assessment in Australia
Marcus Lane. Journal of Rural Studies, 19 (3), 283 ?– 294, 2005.
This paper is concerned with the democratic governance of public environmental resources. The paper examines the use of bioregional assessment in Australia as a means of resolving long-term, multilateral, and acrimonious conflict over native forest use and management.
Resource Link: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/homepage.cws_home
Decision Aiding, Not Dispute Resolution: Creating Insights Through Structured Environmental Decisions
Robin Gregory, Tim McDaniels and Daryl Fields. Journal of Policy Analysis And Management, 20 (3), 415, 2001.
Public participation in environmental decisions has become commonplace. A favored model for public input is to use the tools of dispute resolution to seek consensus among members of a multi-party stakeholder group. The authors believe that a focus on dispute resolution and consensus building can pose impediments to the creation of insights for decision makers and lead to the adoption of inferior policy choices.
Resource Link: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/home
Decision Making and Action at the Neighborhood Level: An Exploration of Mechanisms and Processes
Robert Chaskin and Clark Peters. Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago, 2000.
Neighborhood-based governing bodies have assumed increasing importance with the shift of social policy toward local community responsibility. Research in Baltimore, Boston, and Portland shows that these organizations help increase local resident engagement in community planning and implementation efforts, but that turf battles, resource limitations, and incomplete representation limit their ability to act as proxies for their constituencies.
Resource Link: http://www.chapinhall.org/article_abstract.aspx?ar=1293&L2=63&L3=108
Decision Science
Decision science is a process of reaching consensus or formulating alternatives. It narrows the focus of discussion to the distinguishing characteristics of various options. A group begins by agreeing on elements that are not in dispute. The group agrees on as many points as possible; for example, "We all agree that we should minimize the impact on the agricultural properties," or "We think improved access to that abandoned factory will encourage economic development." Eventually the group reaches points on which they do not agree.
Deep Democracy
Myrna Wajsman and Greg Lewis. CAmagazine, January/February.
Using the lessons of "deep democracy," South African workers learned how to manage their company through a non-hierarchical system of self-directed teams. Deep democracy is a concept introduced by Arnold Mindell, a physicist and Jungian analyst. Differing from majority democracy, wherein a majority of votes wins, deep democracy emphasizes not only the importance of respecting the majority vote but also the need to hear the minority voice. This is essential because, if the minority voice is not heard, it will become part of the unconscious "terrorist" processes that will prevent the group from implementing its agreements.
Deep Democracy: The Inner Practice of Civic Engagement
Patricia A. Wilson.
What happens when you take the tools of dialogue, systems thinking, learning communities, presencing, and profound change, and apply them to civic engagement? The result is deep democracyan organizing principle based on the transformation of separation to interconnectedness in the civic arena. Deep democracy is not what elected representatives do, nor experts, nor large public institutions, nor voters. At its essence, deep democracy is the inner experience of interconnectedness.
Resource Link: http://www.shambhalainstitute.org/Fieldnotes/Issue3/Deep_Democracy.pdf
Deepening Democracy: Institutional Innovations in Empowered Participatory Governance
Archon Fung and Erik Olin Wright. Verso Press, 2003.
This book presents case studies which demonstrate how people are inventing new political forms that realize the deeper democratic ideal of government of, by and for the people. The four contemporary cases explore the participatory budgeting process in Porto Alegre; decentralized school councils and community policing groups in Chicago; stakeholder planning in environmental protection and habitat management; and new participatory governance structures in Kerala, India.
Resource Link: http://www.archonfung.net
Defining Community Capacity: A Framework and Implications from a Comprehensive Community Initiative
Robert Chaskin. Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago, 1999.
Comprehensive community building efforts in Hartford and Milwaukee illustrate the ambiguities of defining the elements of community capacity and how they operate on the ground to create positive community change.
Resource Link: http://www.chapinhall.org/article_abstract.aspx?ar=1291&L2=63&L3=108
Defining the Public in a Public Healthcare System
Damien Contandriopoulos, Jean-Louis Denis, and Ann Langley. Human Relations, 57 (12), 1573 ?– 1596, 2004.
Using data from a larger study on public participation in the Quebec healthcare system, we draw on the sociological theory of Bourdieu to analyze speakers' in-use definition of 'the public' in some 100 interview and observation notes. We found that the definition of 'the public' is the subject of a vigorous struggle at the symbolic level. Many actors share a common, but often conflicting, interest in the elaboration and objectification of a given definition of 'the public' because their legitimacy is strongly related to their ability to be perceived either as representing the 'public' will or as acting in the 'public's' interest.
Resource Link: http://www.sagepub.com/
Deliberate Discussion List
The deliberate discussion list was established to connect librarians interested in using deliberative forums in their community with each other. Discussion list participants are library school educators and students; academic, school and public librarians; ALA staff; state library association staff; and members of the National Issues Forums network interested in making connections with the library community.
Resource Link: http://www.cren.net/listproc/docs/usercard.html
Deliberating About Deliberative Democracy Conference video archive
University of Texas at Austin.
Deliberating About Deliberative Democracy took place at University of Texas at Austin February 4-6, 2000. 17 of the conference sessions are viewable online with RealPlayer. Sessions cover topics such as 'Deliberation Day' and 'Deliberative Democracy and the Doctrinal Paradox,' and Jim Fishman, Amy Gutman, William Galston, Jane Mansbridge, Cynthia Farrar, John Dryzek and Cass Sunstein are among the presenters.
Resource Link: http://www.la.utexas.edu/conf2000/videos_pres_ord.html
Deliberating Online: Constructing a New Method for Examining the Democratic Value of Online Deliberation
Todd S. Graham.
One aim of this research project is to contribute to the development of a new method to evaluate online forums in light of the ideal notion of the public sphere and to conduct a comparative case study with multiple-case applications, which will utilize this method. Given the difficulty of such an endeavor, the task will be limited to a specific part of the public sphere, namely the process of deliberation. Within that area, the scope of analysis will be limited further to specific normative conditions of deliberation; those being the quality of the debate in terms of communicative rationality, reciprocity, reflexivity, empathy, trust building, and autonomy with regard to the process and participants of online forums. Included in a PowerPoint Presentation, is a comparative case study that aims at providing a better understanding of what is taking place online in terms of the process of deliberation with the hope of offering insight into possible obstacles/benefits online deliberation faces and/or offers with regard to the public sphere.
Resource Link: http://users.fmg.uva.nl/tgraham/Documents/Deliberating%20Online3.ppt#1
Deliberation and Your Community: How to Convene and Moderate Local Public Forums Using Deliberative Decision-Making (training manual)
Sandra S. Hodge, Ph.D.. University Outreach and Extension, University of Missouri.
This 86-page NIF training manual is designed for use in Missouri, but it is a compliation of materials used by a number of people throughout the National Issues Forums network to train others in deliberative decision-making and NIF moderation. It addresses deliberation as another way to decide and is based on how to use local public forums, especially National Issues Forums, as a venue for deliberation. The author encourages you to adapt the manual to meet your own group's training needs.
Resource Link: http://extension.missouri.edu/cd/pubdelib/trainmaterials/deliberationmanual2.pdf
Deliberation Between Institutions
Jeffrey K. Tulis.
Although literature in the field of deliberative democracy has concentrated on either institutional structures or groups within society, the author argues that there is yet another form of deliberation, one that occurs between the two. In the American context, this form of deliberation is characteristic of separation of powers, and indeed may be regarded as part of the very meaning of separation of powers. The author thinks this idea, and this phenomenon, may have been overlooked because deliberation between institutions need not (though it sometimes does) involve a face to face encounter of persons.
Resource Link: http://www.svet.lu.se/links/Demokratiresurser/papers_deliberativ_demokrati/DeliberationBetInstit.pdf
Deliberation Day
Bruce Ackerman and James Fishkin. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, USA, 2004.
Two leading political thinkers offer an audacious proposal to energize the electoral process. Bruce Ackerman and James Fishkin argue that Americans can revitalize their democracy and break the cycle of cynical media manipulation that is crippling public life. They propose a new national holiday--Deliberation Day--for each presidential election year. On this day people throughout the country will meet in public spaces and engage in structured debates about issues that divide the candidates in the upcoming presidential election.
Resource Link: http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp?isbn=0300109644
Deliberation for Community Planning and Economic Development
Carolyn Lukensmeyer and Lars Hasselblad Torres, AmericaSpeaks.
This paper provides a general introduction to the growing field of deliberative democratic practice. The first section provides an overview of the thought and practice that currently constitutes the 'field' of deliberation. The second section explores how deliberation can be used to enhance planning activities and shares a practical example of its application to land-use planning and economic development in Lower Manhattan.
Resource Link: http://www.americaspeaks.org/library/charette_paper_9_03.pdf
Deliberation in Movement: Why and How to Study Deliberative Democracy and Social Movements
Donatella della Porta.
This paper explores the potential and actual relations between deliberative democracy and social movements. In the first part of the paper, the author focuses on why deliberative democracy is (normatively) important for social movements, and especially for the global movements of today, and, vice versa, why movements are important actors for deliberative processes.
Resource Link: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/ap/journal/v40/n3/pdf/5500116a.pdf
Deliberation in the Balance: A Cautionary Note on the Promise of Deliberative Democracy
Michael Briand. National Civic Review, Winter 2005, 2005.
Though the case for deliberation is compelling, in both theory and practice it faces substantial impediments. The success of the campaign to afford deliberation a larger role in public discussion of policy issues is by no means guaranteed. In this 7-page essay, Briand argues that the fate of deliberative democracy is hanging in the balance.
Resource Link: http://www.ncl.org/publications/ncr/94-4/Briand.pdf
Deliberation on the Internet: Talkboard discussions on the UK Parliamentarian Elections 2001
Roman Winkler.
This article attempts to analyse the civic and discursive potential of a "new" space for civic deliberation: the Internet. Concretely, the author focuses on the "Elections 2001" talkboard at the Guardian homepage. The research question the author seems interested in is "How far was the Guardian "Elections 2001" talkboard a public space for civic deliberation?" This question guides the whole research process.
Resource Link: http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.demokratiezentrum.org/de/startseite/wissen/artikel.html%3Findex%3D1005&prev=/search%3Fq%3DDeliberation%2Bon%2Bthe%2BInternet:%2BTalkboard%2Bdiscussions%2Bon%2Bthe%2BUK%2BParliamentarian%2BElections%2
Deliberation Research Listserv
The members of this group are involved or interested in research on deliberation, especially in the analysis of the process of deliberation both face-to-face and online. Subject for discussion are theoretical issues as well as methodological issues such as data retrieval, case selection, and assessing reliability.
Resource Link: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/deliberation_research/
Deliberation Thermometers
Jim Knauer. Democracy Lab.
This document is used by student monitors (not moderators) to rate the performance of groups involved in online Democracy Lab Forums. The document represents an effort to identify some of the at least partially independent dimensions of effective dialogue. Democracy Lab provides online National Issues Forums-style forums for use in high school and college classes.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/Deliberation_Thermometers.doc
Deliberation, Democracy, and Bioethics: How to Democratise the Politics of Biomedicine
Kathrin Braun.
Representative democracy is hardly prepared to cope with the sort of dissent that arises with bioethical issues; within political parties, disagreements can be so strong that they are unable to function as mediators between citizens and the state. Additionally, the principle of majority rule is highly problematic in this context. Where basic moral convictions are concerned people will presumably not accept a mere majority decision so that laws and regulations founded on it will not succeed in putting an end to conflict.
Deliberations about Deliberative Methods: Issues in the Design and Evaluation of Public Participation Processes
Julia Abelson, Pierre-Gerlier Forest, John Eyles, Patricia Smith, Elisabeth Martin and Francois-Pierre Gauvin. Social Science and Medicine, 57, 239-251, 2003.
This article addresses the questions "What are deliberative methods and why have they become so popular?" and "What are their potential contributions to the health sector?" This critical review of the literature is used as the basis for developing general principles that can be used to guide the design and evaluation of public involvement processes for the health-care sector in particular.
Resource Link: http://www.chepa.org/research/01-04.pdf
Deliberative Approaches to Governance in Latin America
Andrew Selee. Woodrow Wilson Center, 2003.
Throughout Latin America, municipal governments have been experimenting with participatory approaches to democratic governance that have significant deliberative components. Once thought of as an exercise reserved for small groups with shared interests or small towns with a degree of social cohesion, deliberative democracy is being applied albeit unevenly to formal government structures in towns and cities of different sizes throughout the region in new and innovative ways.
Resource Link: http://www.deliberative-democracy.net/resources/contrib/selee_20030801.shtml
Deliberative Citizens' Forums and Interest Groups: Roles, Tensions and Incentives
Carolyn Hendriks. Social and Political Theory Program Research School of Social Sciences, The Australian National University, 2002.
Citizens are being called to play a greater role in policy making and tensions are arising between pluralist and deliberative democratic models of public participation. On the one hand, pluralists and neo-corporatists maintain that interest groups provide a focal point for defining public interest and that the role of the state is to coordinate between competing groups. On the other hand, those advocating for innovative deliberative democratic processes such as citizens juries and consensus conferences seek to include a broad cross-section of lay citizens.
Resource Link: http://www.deliberative-democracy.net/resources/contrib/hendriks_20021215.shtml
Deliberative Citizens' Forums and Interest Groups: Roles, Tensions, and Incentives
Carolyn M. Hendriks. Australian Journal of Public Administration, 61(1), 64-75, 2002.
This paper explores the tensions between traditional, more pluralist forms of public participation and new deliberative democratic processes, such as citizens' juries. These innovative participatory processes, known collectively as citizens' forums, challenge existing roles and power relationships between interest groups and the state. Instead of having key access to the policy stage, citizen forums' require interest groups to be 'bystanders', 'information providers', and ultimately 'process legitimisers'. Drawing on an Australian example, the paper argues that citizen forums' can radically shift roles and power structures within policy networks. These processes appear to threaten certain interest groups because they introduce new players, assign new roles and provide new conditions for deliberation. Several suggestions are provided on how interest groups might be more productively involved in deliberative forms of public participation.
Deliberative Democracy and Authority
Mark Warren. The American Political Science Review, 90 (1), 46 ?– 61, 1996.
Warren argues for an inherently democratic conception of authority by examining and rejecting the view that authority provides a surrender of judgment by those subject to authority. Authority involves a limited suspension of judgment enabled by a context of democratic challenge and public accountability.
Resource Link: http://www.apsanet.org/
Deliberative Democracy and Beyond: Liberals, Critics, Contestations
John S. Dryzek. Oxford, 2002.
Dryzek begins this complex and interesting book by noting that the "final decade of the second millennium saw the theory of democracy take a strong deliberative turn" (p. 1). In this book, he argues for a particular interpretation of deliberative democracy, defends this theory of deliberative democracy against two types of criticism, and applies it to a number of important questions. As Dryzek points out, historically there has been an abiding tension between liberal and democratic theory.
Deliberative Democracy and Group Representation
Pablo de Greiff. Social Theory and Practice, 26 (3), 397 ?– 415, 2000.
De Greiff discusses the relationship between a particular conception of deliberative democracy and guarantees for political representation of ethnic groups. De Grieff focuses on the justificatory aspect of the issue and the usefulness of deliberative conceptions of democracy for grounding a defense of guaranteed group representation.
Resource Link: http://www.questia.com/Index.jsp
Deliberative Democracy and International Labor Standards
Archon Fung. Governance: An International Journal of Policy, Administration, and Institutions, 16, 51-71, 2003.
Political theorists have argued that the methods of deliberative democracy can help to meet challenges such as legitimacy, effective governance, and citizen education in local and national contexts. These basic insights can also be applied to problems of international governance such as the formulation, implementation, and monitoring of labor standards. A participatory and deliberative democratic approach to labor standards would push the labor-standards debate into the global public sphere. This discussion could potentially improve the quality of labor standards, their implementation, and the education and understanding of citizens.
Resource Link: http://www.archonfung.net/papers/Fung.Governance03.pdf
Deliberative Democracy and Opinion Formation
Kasper M. Hansen.
This book presents an ambitious and systematic approach to deliberative democracy and provides arguments on how to review the theory of deliberative democracy.
Resource Link: http://www.universitypress.dk/DK/detail.php?token=10112&R=8778389542&N=ja
Deliberative Democracy and Participatory Biodiversity
Tim O'Riordan.
The purpose of this chapter is to examine the drift towards a more inclusionary and deliberative politics in the modern age, to assess how far attempts to incorporate such approaches have worked in biodiversity management, and to take a cool, hard look at its prospects in an emerging world where enduring biodiversity may well have to be participatory.
Resource Link: http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~deltongo/osi-biodiversity/downloads/CUP_5.pdf
Deliberative Democracy and the Deliberative Poll on the Euro
Kasper M. Hansen and Vibeke Normann Andersen. Scandinavian Political Studies, 27 (3), 261 ?– 286, 2004.
Throughout the 1990s several innovative democratic experiments focusing on citizens' involvement and deliberation have flourished. The Deliberative Poll in focus here is perhaps the most ambitious one. This paper presents the first results from the Danish national Deliberative Poll on the single currency.
Deliberative Democracy and the Poor
Colleen M. Grogan, Michael K. Gusmano.
At its core, democracy in any form implies decision making (or rule) by "the people," but this has never meant rule by popular will. Deliberation has always played a prominent role in democracy because it appeals to reason rather than will. There are some significant potential benefits from deliberation. First, deliberation may not change individual preferences, but may create a greater understanding, and with this, more tolerance for opposing views. Second, through the process of discussion, deliberation can encourage a public-spirited way of thinking about social problems.
Deliberative Democracy and the Problem of Voting
David Emmanuel Gray.
Social choice theory demonstrates that standard practices of voting have substantial flaws. Formal work in the field not only suggests that there is no fair and rational method to aggregate individual preferences into a societal decision but also reveals how vulnerable voting processes are to manipulation. While deliberative democrats attempt to replace voting with a more deliberative process, virtually all concede that whenever unanimous agreement cannot be reached on an issue some voting mechanism must be invoked. This inevitably forces deliberative democracy to consider the results of social choice theory. In response, some deliberative democrats contend that features endogenous to deliberation protect democratic processes from the "impossibility voting theorems" of social choice theory. A more effective defender of deliberative democracy might argue that the rationality of the individual is more symmetric to the rationality of society than canonical social choice theory claims. Such an approach provides a viable avenue for democratic deliberation to undermine the impossibility results.
Deliberative Democracy Beyond Process
Amy Gutmann and Dennis Thompson.
The authors defend the inclusion of substantive principles in a theory of deliberative democracy. A critical claim in the defense is that the principles are to be treated as morally and politically provisional. They are to be understood as systematically open to revision in an ongoing process of both moral and political deliberation. The authors argue that the provisional status of all its principles constitutes a distinctive strength of deliberative democratic theory, and also offers deliberative democrats an effective response to those who would exclude substantive principles from democratic theory.
Resource Link: http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1467-9760.00147
Deliberative Democracy Consortium
Founded in 2002, the Deliberative Democracy Consortium (DDC) is a network of practitioners and researchers, representing over 30 organizations and universities, working together to strengthen the field of deliberative democracy. The DDC seeks to support research activities and to advance practice at all levels of government, in North America and around the world. The DDC is a project of AmericaSpeaks.
Resource Link: http://www.deliberative-democracy.net
Deliberative Democracy eBulletin
This monthly eBulletin from the Deliberative Democracy Consortium features updates from the deliberative democracy community.
Resource Link: http://www.deliberative-democracy.net
Deliberative Democracy Evaluation Checklist
Ernest R. House and Kenneth R. Howe.
The purpose of this checklist is to guide evaluations from a deliberative democratic perspective. Such evaluation incorporates democratic processes within the evaluation to secure better conclusions. The aspiration is to construct valid conclusions where there are conflicting views. The approach extends impartiality by including relevant interests, values, and views so that conclusions can be unbiased in value as well as factual aspects.
Resource Link: http://www.wmich.edu/evalctr/checklists/dd_checklist.htm
Deliberative Democracy for Bioethics: Could the Web Help?
Leonard Fleck. The Hastings Centre Report, 31 (4), 7, 2001.
Fleck discusses Geneforum.org, a nonprofit organization whose primary aim is "to create an informed and engaged citizenry that can work together with scientists, industry leaders, and policymakers to steer genetic research in socially and ethically responsible directions." The group's strategy is to encourage diffuse grassroots public education in a wide variety of forums and to create a centralized place to bring those perspectives together.
Resource Link: http://www.questia.com/
Deliberative Democracy in America
Ethan Leib. Pennsylvania State University Press, 2004.
This book offers a blueprint for a fourth branch of government as a way of giving the people a voice of their own. While drawing on the rich theoretical literature about deliberative democracy, Leib concentrates on designing an institutional scheme for embedding deliberation in the practice of American democratic government.
Deliberative Democracy in Australia: The Changing Place of Parliament
John Uhr. Cambridge University Press, New York, 1998.
Parliament is central to the democratic claims of Australia's system of governance. This book evaluates the role and performance of parliament. It explores the institutional design of the parliament, and its principles and practices, presenting a compelling case for reform. Uhr discusses parliament's representative and legislative roles, and the issue of accountability. He looks at the place of representative assemblies in liberal political theory and assesses current institutional performance. He argues that republicanism can be seen as a form of deliberative democracy, examining ways in which such democracy might be made more effective and meaningful in Australia.
Resource Link: http://www.cambridge.org/uk/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=0521624584
Deliberative Democracy Meets Dispute Resolution (DVD): Reflections and Insights from the 2005 Workshop on Deliberative Democracy and Dispute Resolution
Carri Hulet (producer), under the supervision of Lawrence Susskind. Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, 2006.
The Workshop on Deliberative Democracy and Dispute Resolution was a two-day conference held in June 2005 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The event brought together 30 individuals who share a common interest in civic engagement, but represent two distinct fields that approach the project very differently. One group included public dispute resolution professionals; the other, political theorists and innovative practitioners of deliberative democracy. This 2.5-hour DVD attempts to capture the most interesting moments of dialogue from this workshop in order to illustrate the overlaps and divisions of opinion both between and within the respective fields.
Resource Link: http://www.pon.org/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=394
Deliberative Democracy or Agonistic Pluralism
Chantal Mouffe.
This article examines the current debate about the nature of democracy and discusses the main theses of the approach called 'deliberative democracy' in its two main versions, the one put forward by John Rawls, and the other one put forward by Jürgen Habermas. While agreeing with them as regards to the need to develop a more of democracy than the one offered by the 'aggregative' model, the author submits that they do not provide an adequate understanding of the main task of democracy. The author suggests that their vision is also a rationalist one which leaves aside the crucial role played by 'passions' and collective forms of identifications in the field of politics.
Resource Link: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=97807962
Deliberative Democracy Without Statehood?
Jans Henrik Haahr.
The debate between Professor Weiler and Judge Mancini is framed as a debate for or against statehood in the European Union - for or against the European Union as a state with the minimum characteristics of internal and external sovereignty, for or against federalism (Weiler 1998; Mancini 1998). Important as this debate is, the framing has - as Weiler also concludes - the unfortunate effect of somewhat removing the attention from questions of democracy and legitimacy in the existing European polity. The author goes on to comment further about the debate.
Resource Link: http://www.jens-henrik-haahr.dk/pdf/statehood.pdf
Deliberative Democracy's Attempt to Turn Politics into Law
Christopher H. Schroeder.
Drawing on an example of President Bush's decision as to whether or not to fund stem cell research, the author explores what it takes to make a possible constituency-altering decision for politicians. A multitude of factors go into the mix for the decision, including who is involved in the public in the debate and how those people turnout to vote in the election. The author goes on to look at the feelings of Americans in times of crisis and the leaders' actions in response.
Resource Link: http://eprints.law.duke.edu/archive/00001087/01/65_L&CP_95_(Summer_2002).pdf
Deliberative Democracy: Re-Creating Citizen Politics
The College of New Jersey Leadership in Public Affairs program.
A 20-minute video that explains the nature of deliberative democracy, contrasts it to more typical forms of citizen participation in politics, and illustrates these points with case studies of two deliberative forums held by the Leadership in Public Affairs program at the College of New Jersey in 2001-2002. The first forum was a workshop preparing students to ask questions of the candidates during a televised debate for the 2001 New Jersey gubernatorial race. The second forum focused on the inter-linked issues of suburban sprawl and urban redevelopment and involved community members from around Mercer County, New Jersey. The video features running commentary by Harris Sokoloff, a deliberation scholar at the University of Pennsylvania.
Resource Link: http://publicleaders.tcnj.edu/delib_tape.htm
Deliberative Democratic Evaluation Checklist
Ernest R. House and Kenneth R. Howe.
The purpose of this checklist is to guide evaluations from a deliberative democratic perspective. Such evaluation incorporates democratic processes within the evaluation to secure better conclusions. The aspiration is to construct valid conclusions where there are conflicting views. The approach extends impartiality by including relevant interests, values, and views so that conclusions can be unbiased in value as well as factual aspects. Relevant value positions are included, but are subject to criticism the way other findings are. Not all value claims are equally defensible. The evaluator is still responsible for unbiased data collection, analysis, and arriving at sound conclusions. The guiding principles are inclusion, dialogue, and deliberation, which work in tandem with the professional canons of research validity.
Resource Link: http://www.wmich.edu/evalctr/checklists/dd_checklist.htm
Deliberative Dialogue to Expand Civic Engagement: What Kind of Talk Does Democracy Need?
Martha McCoy and Pat Scully, Study Circles Resource Center. National Civic Review, vol. 91, no. 2, pp. 117-135, 2002.
Martha McCoy and Pat Scully of the Study Circles Resource Center wrote this excellent article that distinguishes deliberation from dialogue and discusses the merits of ?“the marriage of deliberation and dialogue.?” Although the article focuses on the Study Circles process, it is a great introduction to public engagement processes and their principles. This is a very readable 19-page article that we highly recommend you take the time to read.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/DD_Expand.pdf
Deliberative Economy and Discursive Legitimacy
John S. Dryzek.
The author briefly surveys and criticizes the available solutions to this problem, and proposes an alternative way to think about securing legitimacy while respecting the basic constraint of deliberative economy. This proposal will require close attention to, and perhaps some re-thinking about, what we actually mean by core concepts of deliberation, public opinion, legitimacy and so by democracy.
Deliberative Monetary Valuation
Clive L. Spash.
This paper explores how theoretical, practical and political issues are addressed differently by cost-benefit analysis and deliberative-participatory approaches to environmental policy. Theoretically rigorous approaches may prove to be too narrowly defined and so unsuitable because they neglect the requirements of practical implementation. Yet pragmatism which flaunts theoretical understanding lacks analytical power and can mislead policy. A comparison of economic methods, such as contingent valuation, and the new hybrid approach called deliberative monetary valuation is made here which draws out the difficulties of developing practical policy tools which are theoretically grounded and avoid political manipulation.
Deliberative Municipal Governance in Latin America: Causes and Consequences
Andrew Seele.
This paper tries first to explain the reasons for the emergence of deliberative municipal governance in Latin America. Second it evaluates these experiences in the light of the criteria developed by Fung and Wright (2001) to try to discern how much they represent a significantly new approach to governance than can be considered both more deliberative and democratic than previous experiences. The data in this study are quite preliminary and should not be taken as "the final word" on the subject. But the hope is that even a cursory look at a few of these processes in Latin America can shed some light on an emerging trend in municipal governance and point us in fruitful directions in the debate on the potential and limitations of deliberative democracy in formal government processes.
Deliberative Opinion Poll
Deliberative Opinion Polls (DOPs) measure informed opinion on an issue. They differ from ordinary opinion polls in that participants are informed via briefing notes and access to experts (these may include politicians) and have time to consider the issue in detail, whereas participants in ordinary opinion polls do not have the opportunity to learn about the issue (and so may know little about it), and have no opportunity to deliberate on it, alone or with others.
Deliberative Organization Development: Multicultural Organization Competence Through Deliberative Dialogue
Dr. Deborah A. Wilcox & Jacquelyn McCray, M.P.A., AICP, Confluency Consultants & Associates.
Organizations and institutional life are conflicted with hostility, discrimination, discord and tension resulting from the inability to be inclusive and respectful of human differences. The critical question is why is it so hard for different types of people to work together and to be productive? The nature of the problem is couched in society?’s rampant power differential, the stereotypes and the isms of racism, sexism, heterosexism, ageism, and ableism and other identified elements that dominant organization structures. Deliberative Organization Development purports the use of ?“deliberative dialogue?” groups within organizations.
Resource Link: http://launch.vermontlaw.edu/epp/resources/DeliberativeODArticle.pdf
Deliberative Polling
Deliberative Polling® is an attempt to use television and public opinion research in a new and constructive way. A random, representative sample is first polled on the issues. After this baseline poll, members of the sample are invited to gather at a single place to discuss the issues. Carefully balanced briefing materials are sent to the participants and are also made publicly available.
Dell'Arte International School of Physical Theatre
Dell'Arte International is the United States center for the development, exploration, training, creation, and performance of the physical theatre traditions and their contemporary applications. We are a true 'regional' arts center for our geographically diverse community.
Resource Link: http://www.dellarte.com
Delphi
Delphi (also known as policy delphi) reaches consensus by asking a small group of experts to give advice. The results can generate further discussion at committee or public meetings. The delphi process begins when an agency distributes questionnaires to a panel of experts, whose responses are then tabulated. Results are sent back to the panelists, who reflect on their colleagues' opinions and either alter their stances or provide reasons for holding to their own positions. This process is continued until basic concepts and elements of a project or plan are identified by a majority.
Delphi Study
The Delphi group approach is a technique for gathering data that is similar to focus groups. Its value is that unlike focus groups, Delphi groups do not have to physically meet. The Delphi technique is a method of generating ideas and facilitating consensus among individuals who have special knowledge to share, but who are not always in contact with each other. Delphi study carefully selects individuals who have knowledge necessary to analyze a specific problem.
DEMO-net
The overarching objective of DEMO-net is to strengthen scientific, technological and social research excellence in eParticipation by integrating the research capacities of individuals and organisations spread across Europe. The intention is to advance the way research is carried out in Europe with respect to quality, efficiency, innovation and impact to overcome the currently fragmented approach to eParticipation in this important European research area. With this overall objective, the network will provide a major contribution to the strategic goals set by the European Council.
Resource Link: http://www.demo-net.org
Democracy and Citizen Participation in the U.S.: The Role of Local Government
Marilyn Gittell.
The experience of self-government in the U.S. is centered in two institutions, local government and civil society. The strong tradition of local government is directly related to the fear of a potentially tyrannical central state. Jefferson idealized the access to local government and the participation of the educated citizen in it as intrinsic to democracy (Jefferson 1943c). Participation in elections in a larger representative political system, the Republic, was only one aspect of citizenship. Local governments were the source of community identification, and more responsive to felt public needs and therefore a more direct vehicle for citizen engagement.
Resource Link: http://www.aspeninstitute.org/atf/cf/%7BDEB6F227-659B-4EC8-8F84-8DF23CA704F5%7D/4Gittell.pdf
Democracy and Deliberation: New Directions for Democratic Reform
James S. Fishkin, Center for Deliberative Democracy. Yale University Press, 1997.
Fishkin makes an important proposal to reform the U.S. presidential nomination process. He supports the proposal with a concise, intelligent discussion of democratic theory, emphasizing the importance of genuine deliberation versus transient, media-generated public opinion. The book centers on the idea of a National Issues Convention - a televised caucus in which a representative sample of voters meet face-to-face with presidential contenders in order to reflect and vote on the issues and the candidates.
Resource Link: http://cdd.stanford.edu/
Democracy and Governance: A Conceptual Framework
US Agency for International Development.
The United States Government works to encourage democracy in developing nations throughout the world on the basis of the ideals of liberty, personal and civic freedom, and government of, for, and by the people values on which the United States was founded and which gird the social and political life of our nation. Expanding the global community of democracies is a key objective of U.S. foreign policy.
Resource Link: http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/democracy_and_governance/publications/pdfs/pnacd395.pdf
Democracy and Government On-Line Services: Contributions from Public Administrations Around the World
G8 Government On-Line Democracy Team, 1999.
This GOL and Democracy publication is a "release 2" of a report called G7 Government Online and Democracy White Paper. It represents a one year effort to solicit and present important Government Online and Democracy experiences and ideas from a governmental perspective. These chapters and the important bibliography add to the wide discourse on the broad area often referred to as "electronic democracy."
Resource Link: http://siyaset.bilkent.edu.tr/gol-democracy/
Democracy as Discussion: Civic Education and the American Forum Movement
William M. Keith, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Lexington Books, 2007.
As Americans worry ever more about the effects of media on the quality of public deliberation, they have developed a renewed interest in public discussion, especially face-to-face public discussion. Over a century ago, public forums - organized and widespread - provided a place where citizens could discuss the political issues of the day, and they became a means of adult civic education. In this 378-page book, Keith documents the college course developed by the new field of Speech to teach the skills of discussion, as well as the forum movement, which culminated in the Federal Forum Project.
Democracy at the Local Level: The International IDEA Handbook on Participation, Representation, Conflict Management and Governance
International IDEA, 2001.
More than ever, cities need innovative tools for democratic governance to manage the challenges and respond to the opportunities of today's urban environment. Democracy at the Local Level responds to this need by providing a practical review of key concepts and essential tools to enhance local democracy. It presents ideas, options, resources, and methods for practising local democracy in an accessible and easy-to-use format.
Resource Link: http://www.idea.int/publications/dll/index.cfm
Democracy Beyond the State? The European Dilemma and the Emerging Global Order
Louis W. Pauly. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2000.
The author of this paper introduces a project upon which his research will be founded. The participants in the project are scholars steeped in the history of actual democracies, in the theory behind them, and in the study of modern economies. At the center of the project lies a deepening dilemma for the citizens of advanced industrial democracies and for their leaders.
Resource Link: http://www.rowmanlittlefield.com/Catalog/SingleBook.shtml?command=Search&db=%5EDB/CATALOG.db&eqSKUdata=0847699005
Democracy Campaign and Democracy in America Conferences
Republican politician turned "transpartisan" pioneer Joseph McCormick founded the Democracy in America Project (DIAP) in 2003 with community builder Pat Spino. In their quest to find or create "We the People"--a unified whole that includes, respects, and values all American points of view--Joseph and Pat decided to work toward a three-day national civic dialogue event called a We the People National Convention.
Resource Link: http://www.democracycampaign.org
Democracy Collaborative and Community-Wealth.org
Since 2000, the Democracy Collaborative at the University of Maryland has undertaken integrated activities aimed at leveraging the resources of higher education institutions in support of democratic renewal, civic participation, and community building. The Collaborative's website now leads to Community-Wealth.org, its main project, which provides information about community wealth building activities.
Resource Link: http://www.democracycollaborative.org
Democracy Design Workshop and DoTank
The Democracy Design Workshop is a laboratory dedicated to fostering innovation in support of participatory and deliberative democratic practice. The Workshop aims to be a meetinghouse for thinkers and practitioners who, through research, dialogue and design, explore how to use technology to strengthen democracy online and off.
Resource Link: http://www.dotank.nyls.edu
Democracy Dispatches (email newsletter)
Democracy Dispatches is Demos' bi-weekly issue briefing that tracks and analyzes legislative and political developments on democracy issues in the states. Demos is a non-partisan, non-profit public policy research and advocacy organization which seeks to bring everyone into the life of American democracy and to achieve a broadly shared prosperity characterized by greater opportunity and less disparity.
Resource Link: http://www.demos-usa.org/page60.cfm
Democracy Growing Up
Laura Janara. State of New York Press, Albany, NY, USA, 2002.
The first sustained feminist interpretation of Tocqueville?’s classic, Democracy in America. Tocqueville?’s Democracy in America continues to be widely read, but for all this familiarity, the vivid imagery with which he conveys his ideas has been overlooked, left to act with unexamined force upon readers?’ imaginations. In this first sustained feminist reading of Democracy in America Laura Janara assesses the dramatic feminine, masculine, and infantile metaphorical figures that represent the historical political drama that is Tocqueville?’s primary topic.
Resource Link: http://www.sunypress.edu/index.asp?site=True
Democracy in Cyberspace Initiative
The Democracy in Cyberspace Initiative of the Information Society Project (ISP) at Yale Law School seeks to promote democracy by developing best practices technologies and models to strengthen democracy both online and off. In particular, they want to catalyze the development of technologies and processes that move beyond the thin 'patron-client' model of government where government is a procurer of goods and purveyor of services, to focus on participatory and deliberative forms of strong democratic life. They are interested in realizing technology's potential to improve civic life and help citizens take an active and informed role in their own governance.
Resource Link: http://islandia.law.yale.edu/isp/strongdem/overview.html
Democracy in Practice: Public Participation in Environmental Decisions
Thomas C. Beierle and Jerry Cayford. Resources for the Future Press, Washington, 2003.
A study of 239 case studies to identify key approaches to public participation. Context is also considered and the authors find that participation method is more critical than context. They identify 5 social goals that make for successful public participation events: (1) incorporating public values into decisions; (2) improving the substantive quality of decisions; (3) resolving conflict among competing interests; (4) building trust in institutions; and (5) educating and informing the public.
Resource Link: http://www.rff.org/rff_press/bookdetail.cfm?bookdetail=othertopic&outputid=2882
Democracy in Small Groups: Participation, Decision Making and Communication
John Gastil. New Society Publishers, 1993.
Drawing from years of research and experience, John Gastil offers a variety of solutions to the problems commonly faced by small, democratic groups. He thoroughly explores the dynamics of practicing democracy, including the relationship between speaking rights and listening responsibilities; the important of full access to information and agenda setting: and ways to practice democracy in personal, family and neighborhood life.
Resource Link: http://faculty.washington.edu/jgastil/
Democracy is a Discussion: Civic Engagement in Old and New Democracies
Sondra Myers, ed.. Connecticut College, 1996.
With short excerpts from national and international experts on democracy and civic engagement, including Benjamin Barber, Vaclav Havel, Jean Bethke Elshtain, William Galston, and Mary Ann Glendon, this handbook is ideal for starting discussions about building stronger and more just communities.
Democracy Lab
Democracy Lab provides online forums for use in high school and college classes. National Issues Forums-style forums run for 10 weeks, fall and spring. Students from around the country dialogue in small groups and are guided from dialogue to inquiry and to action. Instructors adopt Democracy Lab and students purchase online access for $25.
Resource Link: http://www.teachingdemocracy.org
Democracy On Line: An Evaluation on the National Dialogue on Public Involvement in EPA Decisions
Thomas Beierle. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2002.
This is a case study of electronic public participation - dynamics of process, participants' attitudes about process, quality of communication and results of process.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/Democracy_On_Line.pdf
Democracy On-Line: An Evaluation of the National Dialogue on Public Involvement in EPA Decisions
Thomas C. Beierle.
This report evaluates the National Dialogue on Public Involvement in EPA Decisions as a case study of electronic public participation. It examines the dynamics of the participation process and how participants felt about it. It describes the quality of communication when public participation moves from the meeting room to the computer screen. Finally, it looks at what participants and EPA got out of the process.
Resource Link: http://www.rff.org/Documents/RFF-RPT-demonline.pdf
Democracy Theory and Practice: An Online Refworks Database
Institute for Civic Discourse and Democracy.
ICDD collects references to theoretical and applied literature on democracy from many disciplines, countries, and perspectives. We classify the documentation in ways that we hope will expose its many interpretations and manifestations. Currently we are conducting research on trends in scholarly publishing on democracy from 1980 to 2006, and in the process we are developing a novel means of highlighting components of the research that are of particular interest to different users. For example, those who facilitate dialogue for citizen deliberations or those who are interested in democracy's relationship to pluralism, race relations, or identity. A Refworks database has been established for sharing these references with anyone interested in the study and practice of democracy.
Resource Link: http://www.k-state.edu/icdd/Resources/Resources.htm
Democracy's Challenge: Reclaiming the Public's Role
National Issues Forums Institute, 2006.
Fed up with politics and a widening partisan divide, many Americans are turning away from public life. We are, most of us, spectators rather than participants in a political process that seems to have little to do with citizens. What has gone wrong, and what should we do about it? The National Issues Forums Institute is encouraging citizens to consider this important question by fostering deliberative forums across the country about Democracy's Challenge using this issue book.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/DemoChallenge_IssueBook.pdf
Democracy's Edge: Choosing to Save Our Country by Bringing Democracy to Life
Frances Moore Lappé. Jossey-Bass, 2006.
In Democracy's Edge, Lappé challenges citizens to nourish democracy itself by rejecting the "thin democracy" of private interests and concentrated power in favor of "living democracy" fueled by engaged communities pursuing social justice in the public interest. Lappé emphasizes the power of motivated individuals to effect meaningful change, and provides strategies for getting out of the house and taking control of one's latent political power. Readers ready to get their feet wet will also find the appended material useful, particularly the regionally organized directory of advocacy groups.
Resource Link: http://www.democracysedge.org
Democracy's New Challenge: Globalization, Governance, and the Future of American Federalism
Mark C. Gordon. Demos: A Network for Ideas and Action, 2001.
This report seeks to provide a better understanding of the new challenges and opportunities that globalization presents to American democracy. It was conceived as part of Demos' ongoing work to strengthen U.S. democratic institutions and processes. The majority of Demos' research has focused on factors internal to States.
Resource Link: http://www.demos.org/pubs/Democrays_New_Challenge.pdf
Democracy, Real and Ideal: Discourse Ethics and Radical Politics
Ricardo Blaug. State University of New York Press, Albany, NY, USA, 1999.
By focusing the various difficulties encountered in applying theory to practical concerns, this book explores the reasons for the absence of a radical politics in Habermas's work. In doing so, it shows that certain political implications of the theory remain unexplored.
Resource Link: http://www.sunypress.edu/index.asp?site=True
DemocracySpace.org
Launched in September 2007, The Study Circles Resource Center's blog is a place where community organizers and public officials can connect online to share news, views, and ideas. Those who have used Study Circles can use DemocracySpace as a place to post reports of your work, and everyone can use the blog to learn more about how people are using community engagement to create positive change? Stop here for news nuggets from across North America and around the world.
Resource Link: http://www.democracyspace.org
Democratic Deliberation Within
Robert E. Goodin.
On the one hand, deliberation has an 'internal-reflective' aspect. Insofar as deliberation is a matter of 'weighing and judging reasons for and against any given course of action', all that can take place within the head of a single individual. On the other hand, deliberation has an 'external-collective' aspect. The sort of give-and-take involved in 'weighing reasons for and against' makes deliberation an essentially argumentative, and hence discursive, notion. Even where it proceeds entirely within a single person's head, such an internal discourse is inevitably modeled upon, and in that way parasitic upon, a person's experiences of interpersonal discussions and debates with one another.
Resource Link: http://www.svet.lu.se/links/Demokratiresurser/papers_deliberativ_demokrati/DemDeliberationWithin.pdf
Democratic Dialogue: A Handbook for Practitioners
Bettye Pruitt and Philip Thomas. The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), the Organization of American States (OAS), the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), 2007.
This 242-page handbook is a joint effort of CIDA, International IDEA, OAS and UNDP, receiving valuable input from a wider network of organizations (including NCDD). This handbook is the result of a joint initiative to provide decision-makers and practitioners with a practical guide on how to design, facilitate and implement dialogue processes. It combines conceptual and practical knowledge, while providing an overview of relevant tools and experiences. NCDD highly recommends this handbook.
Resource Link: http://www.democraticdialoguenetwork.org/documents/view.pl?s=13;ss=;t=;f_id=789
Democratic Dilemmas: Joint Work, Education Politics, and Community
Julie A. Marsh. SUNY Press (SUNY series, School Districts: Research, Policy, and Reform), 2007.
This 228-page book written by policy researcher Julie Marsh explores ways to engage citizens in the process of educational improvement. The book highlights the inherent tensions of deliberative democracy, competing notions of representation, limitations of current conceptions of educational accountability, and the foundational importance of trust to democracy and education reform. It further provides a framework for improving community-educator collaboration and lessons for policy and practice.
Resource Link: http://www.sunypress.edu/details.asp?id=61456
Democratic Education in an Age of Difference: Redefining Citizenship in Higher Education
Richard Guarasci and Grant Cornwell. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1997.
This book addresses the need for colleges and universities to design educational experiences that promote the objectives of a free society while recognizing and embracing difference. The authors detail some of the experiments taking place across American campuses and reveal how each approach fosters the development of democratic sensibility, citizenship skills and multicultural appreciation.
Democratic Governance: The Art of Civic Engagement
National League of Cities.
This 31-slide Powerpoint Presentation was developed for local officials to use in spreading the word about democratic governance at state and local conferences and meetings.
Resource Link: http://nlc.org/ASSETS/99638D5BBD284737955A91CE019C5D06/Democratic%20Governance%20-%20Powerpoint.ppt
Democratic Hopes in the Polycentric City
Loren A. King. The Journal of Politics, 66 (1), 2004.
The polycentric model of municipal governance suggests that multiple jurisdictions may approximate an efficient market for local public services: citizens move to jurisdictions offering services they value at tax rates they are willing and able to pay. The model is appealing to political theorists for its emphasis on free association and responsive governance, but problematic insofar as institutions prescribed by the model permit exclusionary practices and objectionable inequalities. I argue for a revised conception of polycentricity: efficient spatial patterns of boundaries and services are acceptable only if they are consistent with (inter alia) fair opportunities for both mobility and loyalty to place. This suggests a vision of the polycentric city in which fairness and contestation are as important as freedom and efficiency.
Resource Link: http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/full/10.1046/j.1468-2508.2004.00148.x
Democratic Spaces--The Role of the Public Voice
IPPR Public Involvement Programme.
This project will aim examine the appropriate role for the public voice in central government decision making. While public involvement is now well established within some policy arenas, for example local government, it often lacks coherence and direction at the centre. Some departments are making positive moves to address this, notably, the Cabinet Office through Service First and the DETR's New Horizons programme. However, the broader picture is much less encouraging with other departments carrying on with 'business as usual' with limited and often tokenistic engagement with the public.
Resource Link: http://www.london.gov.uk/assembly/past_ctees/reachmtgs/2001/reachdec4/minutes/reachdec4minsapp2.rtf
Democratic Technologies? Final report of the Nanotechnology Engagement Group (NEG)
Karin Gavelin and Richard Wilson, with Robert Doubleday. Nanotechnologies Engagement Group and Involve, 2007.
In laboratories across the world, new scientific territory is being uncovered everyday; territory that offers groundbreaking opportunities for society, as well as new risks and unexpected challenges. The power of technology is clear, but its governance is not. Who or what makes these world-shaping decisions? And in whose interests are they made? These are the questions posed by a growing number of researchers, NGOs, citizens, politicians and scientists who seek to challenge the way that science and technology is governed and invent new ways to democratise the development of new technologies. This 172-page report documents the progress of six projects that have sought to do just that ?– by engaging the public in discussions about the governance and development of nanotechnologies. Includes an Appendix listing 17 international public engagement projects (including their findings).
Resource Link: http://www.involve.org.uk/negreport
Democratic Theory and Political Science: A Pragmatic Method of Constructive Engagement
Archon Fung. American Political Science Review Vol. 101, No. 3: 443-58. August, 2007.
This article develops two conceptual tools to synthesize democratic theory and the empirical study of institutions. The first is a standard to assess conceptions of democracy called pragmatic equilibrium. A conception of democracy is in pragmatic equilibrium just in case the consequences of its institutional prescriptions realize its values well and better than any other feasible institutional arrangements across a wide range of problems and contexts. Pragmatic equilibrium is a kind of Rawlsian reflective equilibrium....
Resource Link: http://www.archonfung.net/docs/articles/2007/FungAPSA0708.pdf
Democratisation of Scientific Advice
Roland Bal, Wiebe Bijker, and Ruud Hendriks. British Medical Journal, 329 (7478), 1339, 2004.
Scientific advisory councils in Western countries have become increasingly confronted with demands that are usually reserved for the political arena. Two such demands stand out: transparency and public participation. Although these seem legitimate demands, and have been taken up by governments in most democratic countries, it is unclear how they can be enacted or what their effects will be on the advisory process.
Resource Link: http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/329/7478/1339
Democratising Development: Deepening Social Accountability through PRSPs
World Vision, World Bank, 2002.
The recent Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) Review undertaken by the World Bank and IMF found that one of the successes of the PRSPs to date has been to expand the scope of dialogue on development . Participatory processes may not have been perfect but nevertheless dialogue between governments and stakeholders has taken place to a greater extent than previously. The broadening of the development conversation has not only occurred at local and national levels but also within global civil society, and between international civil society and development institutions.
Resource Link: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTPRS1/Resources/Thematic-Workshops/092502.pdf
Democratising Power: Civic Engagement in the Decision Making Process
Carolyn Lukensmeyer, Thami Ngwenya, Kerryn McKune.
This report on democratising power profiles three different approaches to engaging the public in power-oriented decision-making. AmericaSpeaks' model of town meetings engages the ordinary citizen in the decision-making that affects him. The Center for Public Participation aims at empowering civic society to engage in government decisions by providing an enabling legal environment. The Non-Profit Partnership champions for a more sustainable non-profit sector.
Democratization and Participation: Comparing Spain, Brazil, and Korea
Peter McDonough, Doh C. Shin and Jose Alvaro Moises. The Journal of Politics, 60 (4), 1998.
This paper tests a model of cross-national variation in participation, using survey data from Spain, Brazil, and Korea. We posit a continuum ranging from neighborhood ties through membership in voluntary associations to political participation. The gap between Spain and peer countries grows as the continuum shifts from prepolitical to political spheres. Our model highlights three factors-labor market participation, gender, and religiosity-as determinants of cross-national differences in civic engagement. The impact of employment and gender is consistent with previous studies of their role in conditioning participation.
Resource Link: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com
Democratizing the Institutions of Policy-Making: Democratic Consultation and Participatory Administration
Steve Patten. Journal of Canadian Studies, 35 (4), 221 ?– 240, 2001.
Guided by the egalitarian principles of "participatory deliberative democracy," Patten argues that working through the crux of the democratic challenge requires strong political leadership that is committed to opening up and democratizing policy formation within the executive branch of government. Our focus should be on democratizing those aspects of public administration that facilitate societal input into public policy-making, including, in particular, a renewed (and transformed) commitment to processes of democratic public consultation.
Resource Link: http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3683/is_200101/ai_n8937438
Democs
Democs (deliberative meeting of citizens) is part card game, part policy-making tool that enables small groups of people to engage with complex public policy issues. It helps people find out about a topic, express their views, seek common ground with the other participants, and state their preferred policy position from a given choice of four. Participants can also add their own policy positions.
Resource Link: http://www.neweconomics.org/gen/democs.aspx
Demos
Demos was founded in 1999 as a national research and advocacy organization to help create a new long-term vision for American society. Demos works on two of the most urgent challenges facing the U.S. today: strengthening our democracy and creating more broadly shared prosperity. Demos conducts original research and builds networks of civic and economic reformers to help turn ideas into action.
Resource Link: http://www.demos-usa.org
DEMOS [Delphi Mediation Online System]
DEMOS (Delphi Online Mediation System) is a complex application available on Wornex's WorldDirector platform that provides an environment that assists the management of discussions and decision making through the web, especially when involving a large population (e.g., a community using the web to debate about city issues) or small groups of experts.
Resource Link: http://www.wornex.com/content/view/16/83/
Deregulation and Participation: An International Survey of Participation in Electricity Regulation
Anil Hira, David Huxtable, and Alexandre Leger. Governance, 18 (1), 53, 2005.
Amidst the wave of privatization and "deregulation" across the globe, a new set of regulatory structures is being created. The fact that deregulation actually involves "re-regulation" has been acknowledged in the recent literature, but the tension between regulation and public participation has been understudied in these new structures. While some private markets need effective regulation to reduce transactions costs and ensure stable market rules, consumers need regulation that is responsive to, and protective of, their interests.
Resource Link: http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/
Design Charrette
A charrette is an intensive, multi-disciplinary design workshop designed to facilitate open discussion between major stakeholders of a development project. A team of design experts meets with community groups, developers and neighbors over a period from three or four days to two weeks long, gathering information on the issues a community is facing.
Design for Community: The Art of Connecting Real People in Virtual Places
Derek M. Powazek.
A text showing how to design a website, keeping in mind the idea of creating and encouraging virtual community. Features interviews with leaders in the industry, explaining their solutions for fostering positive Web communities.
Designing for Civil Society
David Wilcox's blog on technology, engagement, and governance was started at a workshop on Designing for Civil Society in September 2003.
Resource Link: http://partnerships.typepad.com/civic/
Designing for Deliberative Democracy: Theory and Practice
Robert Cavalier.
The author of this presentation shows deliberative polling and a small sample of online deliberation as possible designs for deliberative democracy. For deliberative polling, the author reviews Fishkin's model as well as displays a New Haven Regional Deliberative Poll as an example. The online deliberation models under review are e-thePeople, Web Lab, and Unchat, among others.
Designing for Results: Integrating Monitoring and Evaluation in Conflict Transformation Programs
Cheyanne Church and Mark Rogers. Search for Common Ground, in partnership with the United States Institute for Peace and the Alliance for Peacebuilding, 2006.
This manual is the first of its kind to focus on the particular needs of the conflict transformation field. It addresses the many challenges faced by conflict transformation practitioners in their attempts to measure and increase the effectiveness of their work. Includes practical tips and examples from around the world.
Resource Link: http://www.sfcg.org/programmes/ilr/ilt_manualpage.html
Designs on Democracy: Reinventing the Town Hall
IPPR.
Municipal government is going through a renaissance. The authors mention seeing a range of initiatives aimed at rejuvenating local democracy, including the introduction of local mayors and the inclusion of citizenship education in the national curriculum. Local authorities themselves are experimenting with one-stop shops, neighbourhood forums, citizens' councils, e-democracy and other innovations. What the paper explores is the decline in the use of the town hall, something that the authors want to reinvent and reinstall in local democracy.
Resource Link: http://www.designsondemocracy.org.uk/
Desktop Guide to Alternative Dispute Resolution
This online guide provides clear and concise definitions for the most common dispute resolution terms and procedures.
Resource Link: http://www.firstmediation.com/desktopguide
Despair and Empowerment Work
"Despair and empowerment work" provides a means to deal with fear and negative expectations related to nuclear war, environmental or infrastruture collapse, technologies gone wild, economic meltdown, etc. This work enables people to break through their denial and despair to uncover a new vitality and determination to do something about the problems that concern them.
Developing a Community-Proofing Tool: A Consultation Paper
Vicki Nash.
At the moment, little attention is devoted to the impact of policy on social relations. Although in regeneration policy there is a clear recognition that social investment is as necessary as economic or physical investment in order to generate renewal, other policy areas take little account of the contribution that social investment can make. Some policies, such as those supporting certain sorts of public space might have 'building community' as their sole aim, although many policies help in a more indirect manner. The Communities Initiative is concerned to identify and promote both sorts of community-building policy, but this paper focuses specifically on policies which whilst aiming at improving say, education, healthcare or housing could also indirectly support the development of good community relations. The aim of the paper is to ensure that this indirect effect is recognised and taken into account in policy design.
Developing an Online Learning Pedagogy for Conflict Resolution Training
Laina K. Reynolds and Lambrecht Wessels. University of Bradford, Department of Peace Studies (Centre for Conflict Resolution Working Paper series), 2001.
Innovations in education and computing are currently converging around the use of communications technology to enhance teaching and learning. This development has significant implications for the field of conflict resolution because of the importance of education and training in the discipline. In response to these changes, the Centre for Conflict Resolution and the European Network University (University of Amsterdam) collaborated in the creation of an online course entitled ?‘Transforming Civil Conflict,?’ an introduction to the concepts and tools of non-violent conflict resolution....
Resource Link: http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/confres/assets/CCR8.pdf
Developing and Sustaining Community-Based Participatory Research Partnerships: A Skill-Building Curriculum
The Examining Community-Institutional Partnerships for Prevention Research Group, 2006.
This evidence-based curriculum is intended as a tool for community-institutional partnerships that are using or planning to use a CBPR (Community-Based Participatory Research) approach to improving health. Each of the 7 units in the curriculum includes: learning objectives, in-depth content information about the topic(s) being presented, examples & interactive exercises designed to trigger discussion and help better understand the concepts being presented, and citations and suggested resources.
Resource Link: http://www.cbprcurriculum.info
Developing Competency to Manage Diversity
Taylor Cox and Ruby Beale. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 1997.
Building on Taylor Cox's acclaimed book, Cultural Diversity in Organizations, this companion volume provides managers with the tools they need to successfully manage a diverse workforce.
Developing Cross-Cultural Competence: A Guide for Working with Children and Their Families, 3rd ed.
Eleanor W. Lynch and Marci J. Hanson. Paul Brookes Publishing Company, 2004.
This popular resource offers practical advice for working with children of diverse heritage. With insight from their own racial, cultural and linguistic backgrounds, the chapter authors contribute wisdom about the influence of different cultures and people's beliefs, values and behaviors. Their knowledge helps professionals learn how to embrace diversity in intervention services, and foster respectful and effective interactions with people of many cultures.
Resource Link: http://www.brookespublishing.com/store/books/lynch-7446/index.htm
Development of a Tool to Facilitate Participation of Maori in the Management of Stream and River Health
Collin Townsend, Gail Tipa, Laurel Teirney, and Dev Niyogi. Ecohealth, 2, 184 ?– 195, 2004.
A cultural health index (CHI) for streams was developed in a program of collaborative research involving members of Ngai Tahu (an iwi [tribe] within the South Island of New Zealand) and ecologists at Otago University. The aim was to provide a tool for effective participation of Maori in resource management decisions.
Resource Link: http://www.springerlink.com/content/r3c8b3xau0xrl1an/
Developments in Electronic Governance
The British Council, 1999.
This digest is about the harnessing of new technologies and new media to the governance agenda and to 'electronic governance'. It attempts to give just a flavour of the many and various ways citizens together with local and central governments, are experimenting with information and communications technologies (ICTs) in order to build and sustain democratic and accountable civil societies. Examples are drawn from many parts of the world with a focus on the Commonwealth and Europe (but not excluding other countries).
Diagnosing Situations and Making Distinctions: Deciding What Dialogue, Deliberation or Collaborative Action Process Is Most Appropriate
Jan Elliott, Barnett Pearce and Harold Saunders. Fielding Graduate University, 2005.
There are many different approaches and technologies available for engagement. While there are some commonalities in these approaches, there are differences and they serve different purposes, again depending on the context. And there are new approaches and variations on existing approaches developing each year. Some have described what is happening in this field as a new social movement. In this environment of experimentation and exploration, how do we decide what approach is best suited for our purposes and the context? This short document explores this question from the perspective of different approaches and practitioners.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/Elliott_Diagnostic_Questions.doc
Dialogos - Dialogue Introduction: AoTT
Dialogue Introduction: AoTT (The Art of Thinking Together) is a two and a half-day, integrated introduction to multiple levels of dialogue, group structures and individual effectiveness. As a participant, you will learn new communication, action, and awareness skills, and see what dialogue feels like through actual practice. You will walk away with new ways of seeing familiar group patterns and structures, as well as new tools for understanding and impacting the larger systems in which you work and live.
Resource Link: http://www.dialogos-inc.com
Dialogos - Graduate Clinics
The Dialogos Graduate Clinics are a three-part, case-based reflection program that provide a unique opportunity to make practical and deepen their learning from the Leadership for Collective Intelligence (LCI) program. The clinics provide participants with an off-line container that gives the professional-level reflection, support, and guidance that are essential to a practitioner's ongoing growth and development. The clinics also serve as an incubator for highly conscious and effective action.
Resource Link: http://www.dialogos-inc.com
Dialogos - Leadership for Collective Intelligence (LCI)
Leadership for Collective Intelligence (LCI) is an intensive 10-month learning and professional development experience. It draws on, and has been built by, pioneers in organizational learning, dialogue, family system therapy, systems thinking and the improvisational arts. The dominant focus of the LCI is the art and practice of dialogue, which we see as a means of enabling deep change within individuals, groups, and larger collective settings such as organizations, communities and, ultimately, society itself.
Resource Link: http://www.dialogos-inc.com
Dialogos - Master Class
True leadership that promotes wholeness, transformation, and generativity in social systems requires three things: an understanding of the "Physics" of social systems; quality of character; and an understanding of Living Process, generative change, based on an understanding of the nature of design of wholeness in living systems. The Master Class is the next step for graduates of the Leadership for Collective Intelligence program who are looking to deepen their capacity in all three of these territories and bring their development as a leader and practitioner to another level.
Resource Link: http://www.dialogos-inc.com
Dialogos, Inc.
Founded by William Isaacs, Dialogos promotes the spirit and practice of dialogue for strategic use at all levels of leadership within and across organizations. They work with client organizations to meet their business objectives by transforming taken-for-granted limits in ways of thinking and acting.
Resource Link: http://www.dialogos-inc.com
Dialogue & Deliberation Quotes
National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation (NCDD).
Need great quotes for a publication, article or report you're writing? This NCDD resource lists dozens of quotes organized by topic: dialogue; deliberation; listening; communication; truth, knowledge & exploration; conflict and transforming conflict; inclusion; democracy; action & change; and a miscellaneous category for other great quotes that are relevant to this work.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/index.php/?page_id=550
Dialogue and Action between the People of Iran and America
The DAPIA program serves as a catalyst for connecting U.S. and Iranian civil society and NGO leaders and provides a structure for guiding the process, facilitating productive people-to-people dialogue and collaboration and achieving specific and desirable objectives along the way.
Resource Link: http://www.futurealliances.com/dapia/
Dialogue and Change: A Study of the Use of Community-Wide Study Circles Programs to Foster Action and Change
Joe Goldman.
Over the past decade, the Study Circles Resource Center has been helping communities across the country to engage their citizens in dialogue about the most important issues impacting their futures, ranging from race relations to growth management. As SCRC's Community-Wide Study Circles model has evolved, the organization has become increasingly concerned with ensuring that communities are able to translate their dialogue into meaningful action and change through such pathways as personal transformations, collective action, andinput to elected officials. The purpose of this study is to consider how successful SCRC has been at promoting community action and change in communities, and to offer recommendations as to how they can provide stronger assistance to communities in the future.
Dialogue and Deliberation as Informal Ways to Enhance Legitimacy of the EU?
Jeannette Mak.
This paper explores whether the Commission uses 'Dialogue' and 'Deliberation' as a way to combine informal networks with the dissemination of information and communication in order to enhance legitimacy of the EU as a whole and increase direct support for itself. Although reference has been made to the importance of the combination of the use of networks and information, extended research has not taken place. Special attention will be paid to recent developments in the Commission's information policy in general and its information and communication activities on the single currency in particular.
Dialogue and Deliberation Spectrum
Tom Atlee.
In this piece, begun on the NCDD wiki, Tom Atlee explores what a spectrum of public dialogue and deliberation might look like, from D&D that is unconnected to governance to "Citizen dialogue and deliberation with a coherent outcome that plugs into policy-making and decision-making where the citizens are selected to reflect the diversity of the community and the whole process is officially institutionalized and empowered such that it drives policy-making."
Dialogue and Systems Thinking: Building a bridge for the practitioner
John G. Bell, Antioch University Seattle and Robin R. Fenske, The Evergreen State College. This paper was submitted to and presented at NCDD's 2004 conference in Denver, Colorado..
Systems thinking is a way of mapping diverse opinions and exploring that territory. The tools of systemic thinking provide the breadcrumb trail that mark the dialogical practitioner's journey. This journey is a process that happens within a complex self-organizing system that enables people's multi-modal engagement, in multiple ways on multiple levels.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/DialogueAndSystems.doc
Dialogue and the Art of Thinking Together
William N. Isaacs, Dialogos. New York, NY: Currency, 1999.
Isaacs is a colleague of organizational learning guru Peter Senge (who wrote the introduction) and one of the founders of MIT's Organizational Learning Center. He also directed MIT's Dialogue Project, on which this book is based. Isaacs argues that organizational learning cannot take place without successful dialogue.
Resource Link: http://www.dialogos.com
Dialogue as a Tool for Peaceful Conflict Transformation
Bettye H. Pruitt and Katrin Kaeufer. Reflections: The SoL Journal 3:4 (2002), 2002.
In this article, Pruitt and Kaufer offer their insights into the dynamic of civic dialogue and its role in the process of large-scale societal change gleaned from their experience with three dialogue project forums. Pruitt and Kaufer ask "Why do some processes alter people's thinking so thoroughly that their behavior changes and they become committed to acting differently?"
Resource Link: http://www.solonline.org/reflections/
Dialogue as Pedagogy: Deliberative Learning with Democracy Lab in High School and College Classes
James T Knauer, PhD and Paul Alexander, PhD.
This 10-page document was distributed during Jim Knauer and Paul Alexander's workshop of the same name at the 2006 NCDD Conference in San Francisco. Deliberative dialogue can be used across the curriculum to integrate civic education without sacrificing disciplinary content or traditional learning objectives. The document not only outlines Democracy Lab (an online deliberation program for college students) and where it is headed, it also outlines existing research on dialogic pedagogy, describes William Perry's Scheme of Intellectual and Ethical Development, and explores the relationship between deliberative dialogue and learning.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/Dialogic_Pedagogy_Handout.doc
Dialogue at Washington High
Jewish-Palestinian Living Room Dialogue Group, San Mateo, California, 2007.
This 43-minute DVD shows a Jew and a Palestinian modeling how to connect with the "other" beginning with personal Story. Tenth grade high school students then engage each other in dyads with a new quality of listening, and the diverse youth speak about their new way of communicating. Len and Libby Traubman are distributing DVDs of their films ?“Dialogue at Washington High?” and ?“PEACEMAKERS: Palestinians & Jews Together at Camp?” at no charge to whoever will use them.
Resource Link: http://traubman.igc.org/vidschool.htm
Dialogue by Design Ltd
Dialogue by Design is a UK-based specialist company established in 1999 to manage dialogue and consultation over the Internet. Their unique technology enables them to receive, process, analyze and report on hundreds or even thousands of detailed responses within days.
Resource Link: http://www.dialoguebydesign.com
Dialogue Circles
Dialogue Circles provides clients with the flexibility to hold online or traditional consultation and dialogue. According to Dialogue Circles, many of the most successful consultation and dialogue endeavors now involve a mix of online tools and traditional face-to-face approaches that complement one another. They call this mixed approach "intermodal consultation and dialogue."
Resource Link: http://www.dialoguecircles.com
Dialogue for Affinity Groups
Study Circles Resource Center (SCRC), 2006.
A supplemental discussion guide intended to give people with similar racial or ethnic backgrounds an opportunity to talk with each other about issues of racism in sessions preceding and following the regular diverse dialogue sessions of a community-wide study circle program. These optional discussions are designed to be used with Facing Racism in a Diverse Nation.
Resource Link: http://www.studycircles.org/en/DiscussionGuides.aspx
Dialogue Guide and Workbook for "Afraid of the Dark"
Gwendolyn Grant and Jim Myers.
Gwendolyn Grant of the Urban League of Greater Kansas City created this dialogue guide and workbook to accompany Jim Myers' groundbreaking book "Afraid of the Dark: What Whites and Blacks Need to Know About Each Other." According to Grant, "Afraid of the Dark defines with such clarity and simplicity so many of the issues that have created this gulf between blacks and whites. It brings to the forefront the stuff that we talk about within our black and white circles, but seldom, if ever across the color line." Grant distributed this 12-page resource during her well-received workshop at the 2006 NCDD conference in San Francisco.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/Grant-AfraidOfDark.doc
Dialogue Mapping and the Cognexus Institute
Dialogue Mapping is a new approach to problem solving that centers on collective sense making. Dialogue Mapping is about creating the highest possible level of shared understanding and ownership about the issues, decisions, and agreements involved in a project. Unlike traditional problem solving approaches, Dialogue Mapping creates coherence in situations of high social diversity and complexity. The structure of the maps raises the intellectual integrity of the collective problem solving or decision making process. Dr. Jeffrey Conklin, director of the Cognexus Institute, developed the Dialogue Mapping facilitation technique.
Resource Link: http://www.cognexus.org
Dialogue Mapping Workshop
The Dialogue Mapping Workshop is a two-day course for managers, project leaders, facilitators, and consultants who work with groups on ill-structured (or "wicked") problems, such as the issues involved in complex high-tech projects. The Dialogue Mapping Workshop introduces participants to a new approach to problem solving that centers on collective sense making. Dialogue Mapping is about creating the highest possible level of shared understanding and ownership about the issues, decisions, and agreements involved in a project.
Resource Link: http://cognexus.org
Dialogue Mapping: Building Shared Understanding of Wicked Problems
Jeff Conklin, Ph.D..
When an organization is confronting a wicked problem the familiar approaches don't work. For one thing, with a wicked problem there isn't even agreement about what the problem is, much less how to solve it. To make progress one must focus on creating maximum shared understanding and shared commitment among the stakeholders. Dialogue mapping is a proven technique that utilizes technology for building that shared understanding and commitment, as efficiently and effectively as possible. Dialogue Mapping presents an indispensable new approach to meetings and collaboration, in which collective intelligence is achieved through framing powerful questions and conducting a comprehensive and creative exploration of their possible answers.
Resource Link: http://cognexus.org/dm_book.htm
Dialogue, Conflict Resolution, and Change: Arab-Jewish Encounters in Israel
Mohammed Abu-Nimer. Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 1999.
Through a critical examination of Arab and Jewish encounter programs in Israel, the book reviews conflict resolution and intergroup theories and processes which are utilized in dealing with ethnic conflicts and offers a detailed presentation of intervention models applied by various encounter programs to promote dialogue, education for peace, and democracy between Arabs and Jews in Israel.
Dialogue: A Proposal
David Bohm, Donald Factor and Peter Garrett.
This paper discusses the process of Bohm dialogue and what it offers those who choose to engage in it as a way of gaining an understanding of the human thought process. The authors outline their conception of dialogue, why they believe dialogue is valuable, and provide some practical advice on initiating this type of dialogue.
Resource Link: http://www.dialogos.com/publications/proposal.html
Dialogue: Rediscover the Transforming Power of Conversation
Linda Ellinor and Glenna Gerard. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1998.
Ellinor and Gerard draw upon their combined 50 years of experience in organizations to show how dialogue can change the way we work by widening information arteries so that employees at every level begin to think along 'leadership' lines and take responsibility for how their actions affect the whole organization. Leading companies including Levi Strauss, Shell, Hewlett-Packard, Motorola and AT&T are unleashing the wellspring of power that flows naturally from the trust, mutual respect and spirit of inquiry that are at dialogue's core.
Dialogue: Turning Controversy into Community
Jeffrey Benson and Rachel Poliner, Educators for Social Responsibility.
Through ten skill-focused chapters, this unique curriculum paints a portrait of nonadversarial dialogue through the story of Centerville, a fictional town caught in a controversy over whether or not to mandate school uniforms. Teachers learn techniques and structures for helping students build skills such as listening, managing anger, communicating, researching issues, uncovering bias, understanding and appreciating different perspectives, and creating solutions. Especially suited for social studies or English teachers, as well as student government and debate team advisors.
Resource Link: http://www.esrnational.org
Differences Between Farmers and Scientists in the Perception of Soil Erosion: A South African Case Study
Serge Cartier van Dissel and Jan de Graaff. Indigenous Knowledge and Development Network, Netherlands, 1998.
Placing women's knowledge of biodiversity and genetic resource management in an international policy context. In the past few years research institutions and development organizations have 'discovered' the relevance of men farmers' indigenous knowledge of genetic resource management and, after some delay, that of women farmers as well. At the same time, attention has been drawn to the global need to conserve biological diversity. This article argues that interest in women's knowledge and in biodiversity should be seen in the wider context of international economic and agricultural policies.
Resource Link: http://www.nuffic.nl/ciran/ikdm/6-3/cartier.html
Different Kind of Politics Benefits Community
Martín Carcasson. Fort Collins Coloradoan, January 20, 2007.
Although Martin Carcasson calls this article his first foray into editorial writing, it is a great example of a short, easily-understood article that introduces the concept and importance of deliberation while announcing the formation of a new program. Carcasson recently established the Center for Public Deliberation at Colorado State University and used this article to publicize a kick-off event.
Digital Dialogues Interim Report
This important report outlines the Hansard Society's independent investigation into the use of online technologies to promote dialogue between central government in the U.K. and the public. Digital Dialogues presents overviews, data and guidance built around case studies. It has been written principally for government but it is also worthwhile reading for academics, journalists, practitioners and, of course, citizens. This is the interim report from the Digital Dialogues initiative. In March 2007 we will begin our end of initiative report and will make our recommendations the following May.
Resource Link: http://www.digitaldialogues.org.uk
Direct and Deliberative Democracy
Michael Saward.
Democracy has formal and informal elements; its basic principles feed through to practices and institutions of both sorts. Renewed emphasis on networks, civil society and associations tends to stress the importance of informality to the mix of processes and institutions that adds up to a fuller conception of democracy. Future democracy will be a mix of institutions tailored to circumstance, and 'The crux lies in identifying the appropriate mix' (Bellamy and Jones 2000). However, the importance of the formal 'spine' of democratic institutions in entrenching transparency and decentralisation is easily set aside. This paper stresses the importance of formal mechanisms of direct democracy to 'democracy from below'. As such it offers selected criticisms of conventional theories of the democratic process and the (in some circles, dominant) deliberative model of democracy.
Resource Link: http://www.svet.lu.se/links/Demokratiresurser/papers_deliberativ_demokrati/DeliberateDemocracy.pdf
Directly-Deliberative Polyarchy
Joshua Cohen and Charles Sabel.
In this essay we defend a form of democracy that we will call "directly-deliberative polyarchy." We argue that it is an attractive kind of radical, participatory democracy with problem-solving capacities useful under current conditions and unavailable to representative systems. In directly deliberative polyarchy, collective decisions are made through public deliberation in arenas open to citizens who use public services, or who are otherwise regulated by public decisions. But in deciding, those citizens must examine their own choices in the light of the relevant deliberations and experiences of others facing similar problems in comparable jurisdictions or subdivisions of government. Ideally, then, directly deliberative polyarchy combines the advantages of local learning and self-government with the advantages (and discipline) of wider social learning and heightened political accountability that result when the outcomes of many concurrent experiments are pooled to permit public scrutiny of theeffectiveness of strategies and leaders.
Resource Link: http://www2.law.columbia.edu/sabel/papers/DDP.html
Directory of College and University Peace Studies Programs
This web page, maintained by Robin Crews, includes links to online course lists and syllabi.
Resource Link: http://csf.colorado.edu/peace/academic.html
Dirksen Congressional Center
The Dirksen Congressional Center is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization in Pekin, Illinois, that seeks to improve civic engagement by promoting a better understanding of Congress and its leaders through archival, research, and educational programs. The Dirksen Congressional Center conducts programming in four areas: historical collections, research, education, and community service.
Resource Link: http://www.dirksencenter.org
Discourse Categories in Encounters Between Palestinians and Israelis
Shoshana Steinberg. International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society. Volume 17, Number 3. March 1, 2004.
The discourse in encounter groups between Jewish and Palestinian Israeli citizens was analyzed to investigate factors that promoted or hindered understanding between conflict groups. A typology of seven categories, ordered on a scale from monologues that do not meet to affective and cognitive understanding, was used. A histogram presented percents of speech categories per encounter. Qualitative and quantitative methods exposed factors influencing group processes. Changes in speech categories were chaotic, as opposed to linear. Analysis showed an interaction between the pressure of the conflict reality outside and the internal group process. This article addresses the theoretical question of the goal of intergroup encounters.
Resource Link: http://www.springerlink.com/content/m13m047642345842/
Discourse Support Systems for Deliberative Democracy
Thomas F. Gordon, Gernot Richter.
The idea of deliberative democracy is to facilitate broad and deep public participation in systematic, constructive discourses about legislation and policy issues, so as to enhance the legitimacy, efficiency, quality, acceptability and accountability of the political process. By discourse support systems the authors mean groupware designed to support structured, goal-directed discourses. The paper discusses the importance of discourse support systems for deliberative democracy, provides a brief overview of the Open Source Zeno system and mentions several e-democracy pilot applications of Zeno, including the DEMOS project of the European Union.
Resource Link: http://www.tfgordon.de/publications/Gordon2002a.pdf
Discovering Common Ground: How Future Search Conferences Bring People Together to Achieve Breakthrough Innovation, Empowerment, Shared Vision, and Collaborative Action
Marvin Weisbord and 35 international co-authors, Future Search. Berrett-Koehler, 1992.
Case studies showing theory in action from around the world. A definitive book on the underlying theory, research, and practical applications providing general guidelines for successful conferences. 444 pages.
Resource Link: http://www.futuresearch.net/method/whatis/books_videos.cfm
Discovering Common Ground: Missouri Communities Deliberate
Sandra Hodge at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri directs this program, which promotes deliberation in Missouri primarily through National Issues Forums. Downloadable from Discovering Common Ground's website are three PowerPoint presentations about moderating, convening and recording deliberative public forums, and an 83-page manual titled Deliberation and Your Community: How to Convene and Moderate Local Public Forums Using Deliberative Decision-Making.
Resource Link: http://extension.missouri.edu/cd/pubdelib/
Discovering Community: A Future Search as a Springboard for Action in Santa Cruz County
Blue Sky Productions.
A 30-minute video documenting a Future Search around affordable housing conducted by Sandra Janoff and Marvin Weisbord in Santa Cruz, California. Includes 18-month follow-up.
Resource Link: http://www.futuresearch.net/method/whatis/books_videos.cfm
Discursive Democracy: Politics, Policy and Political Science
John S. Dryzek. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England, 1990.
In this book, John Dryzek criticizes the dominance of instrumental rationality and objectivism in political institutions and public policy and in the practice of political science. He argues that the reliance on these kinds of politics and to technocracies of expert cultures that are not only repressive, but surprisingly ill-equipped for dealing with complex social problems.
Discussing the Rules: Electronic Rulemaking and Democratic Deliberation
Thomas C. Beierle.
Of all recent efforts to transform the federal bureaucracy through the use of information technology, electronic rulemaking holds the most potential for enhancing the role of the public in policymaking. In its more expansive formulation, electronic rulemaking would allow citizens to learn about proposed regulations on the Web, comment on them electronically, read comments by others, and even discuss relevant issues with fellow citizens and agency staff. This paper outlines what we should expect from public involvement in electronic rulemaking, concluding that its promise lies in embedding democratic deliberation into administrative decisionmaking. The current move to put rulemaking dockets online, while important, is likely to fall short of electronic rulemaking's potential. For important rules, electronic dockets should be supplemented with electronic dialogues, which support and encourage iterative discussions.
Resource Link: http://www.rff.org/Documents/RFF-DP-03-2.pdf
Discussion as a Way of Teaching: Tools and Techniques for Democratic Classrooms
S. D. Brookfield and S. Preskill. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1999.
Includes a variety of practical ideas, tools and techniques for creating democratic classrooms. The authors suggest exercises to get discussion started, strategies for maintaining its momentum, ways to elicit a diversity of views and voices, ideas for creative groupings and formats, and processes to encourage student participation. In exploring the role of the teacher in discussion, they address the tensions and possibilities arising from ethnic, cultural, social class and gender differences.
Discussion Guide - The Energy Problem: Which Way Forward
The National Issues Forums Institute (NIFI) and the Kettering Foundation, 2006.
America's way of life seems threatened by unstable sources of energy, while many see growing evidence of environmental damage. As demands for energy escalate, both in this country and in rapidly developing nations, we may soon reach a point of no return. It is time to face the difficult choices that must be made to ensure a sustainable future.
Resource Link: http://www.nifi.org/discussion_guides/detail.aspx?catID=6&itemID=7743
Discussion-Starter Notes About Evaluation For Course Called Consultation: Community, Business, Government GOVT2703
Lyn Carson, School of Economics and Political Science, The University of Sydney.
This document includes the notes used by Lyn Carson to stimulate a discussion, among classmates, about evaluation.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/ideas_for_stimulating_thinking.doc
Display or Exhibit
Displays and exhibits provide project information and raise awareness about particular issues. Displays can be interactive, and can be used as part of a forum, workshop, exhibition, conference or other event.
DISPUTE-RES listserv
The Center for Information Technology and Dispute Resolution sponsors and manages the Dispute-res listserv, an Internet discussion list of approximately 900 dispute resolution professionals. This very active listserv provides information/communication about dispute resolution, teaching of dispute resolution, and experiences of people involved in dispute resolution.
Resource Link: http://www.ombuds.org/center/projects.html#list
Diversity & Democracy
Association of American Colleges & Universities (AAC&U).
It is more imperative than ever that those in higher education explicitly link diversity of all kinds - both in our pedagogical content and our educational environments - with the values of a democratic society. It is for this reason that AAC&U renamed their 10-year-old Diversity Digest in 2007 to "Diversity & Democracy." The web-based newsletter was created to play an important role in creating and sustaining a community of leaders and learners who shared the view that diversity is inextricably linked to claims of excellence in higher education.
Resource Link: http://www.diversityweb.org/DiversityDemocracy/index.cfm
Diversity in Action
Sharon Chappelle and Lisa Bigman, with Francesca Hillyer. Project Adventure, 1999.
Provides over 100 adventure activities adapted toward issues of diversity - ranging from gender to race to class - as well as facilitation tips. Organized into thirteen diversity topics, this book will help you develop a safe atmosphere where all youth feel respected, valued, and listened to.
Resource Link: http://esrnational.org/Merchant2/merchant.mvc
Diversity in Higher Education
Arthur Coleman. The College Board.
?“Diversity in Higher Education?” is a manual for administrators and policy makers who believe in the importance of diversity in education and are committed to equity and excellence. The manual is designed to help university administrators overcome the challenges they face in their quest to ensure a stimulating intellectual, cultural, and pluralistic campus.
Diversity Mosaic: The Complete Resource for Establishing a Successful Diversity Initiative
Tina Rasmussen. Jossey-Bass, 2006.
If you're really serious about creating diversity in the workplace, Diversity Mosaic is the groundbreaking, comprehensive resource for developing and implementing a systemic, lasting, and measurable diversity initiative in any organization. The resource includes proven, step-by-step guidance, worksheets, manager, and employee training workbooks; organizational assessments, 360-degree feedback observer forms, and scoring sheets; and copies of Managing Diversity and Diversity Mosaic Participant Workbooks.
Resource Link: http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0787981729.html
Diversity Web
AAC&U's DiversityWeb is the most comprehensive compendium of campus practices and resources about diversity in higher education that you can find anywhere. This site is designed to serve campus practitioners seeking to place diversity at the center of the academy's educational and societal mission.
Resource Link: http://www.diversityweb.org
Do Tank and the Democracy Design Workshop
The Do Tank strives to strengthen the ability of groups to solve problems, make decisions, resolve conflict and govern themselves by designing software and legal code to promote collaboration. Tools alone cannot create a culture of strong groups. Hence Do Tank projects address the role of legal and political institutions, social and business practices and the visual and graphical technologies -- what we term the "social code" -- that may allow groups, not only to foster community, but to take action.
Resource Link: http://dotank.nyls.edu/
Do-Consult (Democracies Online - Online Consultations and Civic Events) Listserv
The Democracies Online family of peer forums.
DO-Consult is a peer-to-peer forum for those involved with government, parliamentary and civic online consultations and events. This forum is facilitated by Alexandra W. Samuel, a Vancouver-based researcher specializing in online citizen engagement. It is part of the Democracies Online family of peer forums organized by Steven Clift.
Resource Link: http://dowire.org
DO-WIRE (email announcement list)
DO-WIRE is a source for what's important and happening with the convergence of democracy and the Internet around the world. DO-WIRE is a free, low volume, moderated blog and e-mail announcement list. Launched in January 1998, DoWire connects thousands of experts, practitioners, journalists, and citizens across nearly 100 countries. Democracy Online covers politics online, new media, e-governance, online advocacy and activism, citizen e-participation and related topics.
Resource Link: http://www.e-democracy.org/do
Does Deliberation Work? A Summary of the Usefulness of Deliberation in Professional and Civic Organizations
Jeffrey D. Greene, University of Montana Department of Political Science. Kettering Foundation, 2003.
This 12-page report provides an overview of the findings revealed in two workshops conducted by the Kettering Foundation that involved professional and civic organizations. In short, the central question that this report addresses is: What do we know about the use of deliberation in these organizations with respect to the way they interact with the public?
Resource Link: http://www.nifi.org/stream_document.aspx?rID=5389&catID=19&itemID=5388&typeID=8
Does Deliberative Democracy Work in Practice? Methodological Considerations
Helene Pristed.
While old dichotomies of liberalism versus communitarianism within the field of minority rights more or less seem to have absolved themselves without providing much in the way of practical guidelines, the model of deliberative democracy might provide a more fruitful approach to judging democratic progress within the area of minority rights. So the great question is, 'Does deliberative democracy work in practice?' The author plans to use the sections of the Aboriginal and Maori populations in Australia and New Zealand who are trying to have their voices heard in local political debates to collect evidence to answer the question. Involved as well are many methodological considerations.
Resource Link: http://www.ihis.aau.dk/spirit/activities/calendar/abstracts/pristed_paper.pdf
Does Deliberative Democracy Work?
David M. Ryfe, School of Journalism, Middle Tennessee State University. Annual Review of Political Science, 8: 4971, 2005.
The growing literature on deliberative democratic practice finds that deliberation is a difficult and relatively rare form of communication. Each moment of a deliberative encounter raises significant obstacles in the path to stimulating greater intentional reflection on public issues. I explore these obstacles in the context of other empirical work in political and social psychology, small group communication, and public opinion. Taken together, these literatures explain why deliberation is difficult to achieve and sustain over time. They also suggest several rules that might assist practitioners in making deliberative democracy work better.
Resource Link: http://polisci.annualreviews.org
Does Democratic Deliberation Change Minds?
Gerry Mackie.
Discussion, as opposed to mere voting, is frequently observed in parliaments and in natural groups deciding on joint action, but it is just as frequently observed that debate on a pending item seldom seems to change anyone's mind. As speakers, we act as if argument were potent, but as audiences we act as if it were not. The resolution of this apparent paradox, I shall argue, has to do with the coherence of any given individual's attitudes, the webbed interdependence among her various beliefs, desires, and actions, which make it such that the effects of persuasion are typically latent, indirect, delayed, or disguised.
Resource Link: http://socpol.anu.edu.au/pdf-files/democracy_mackie.pdf
Doing Democracy: 10 Practical Arts
Frances Moore Lappé. Originally appeared in Frances Moore Lappe's book "The Quickening of America." Jossey-Bass, 1994.
To be effective in creating societies that reflect our values and work for all of us, it helps to approach democracy-making as a learned art. As in learning any art - from ballet to basketball - it helps to break the process down to its core elements. So we've chosen ten arts of democracy, a nice round number - not with any pretense of creating an exhaustive guide. Rather, these practices seem a great place to start. They contribute to enhanced decision-making, mutual regard, and to group learning and staying-power. This 40-page guide is a companion to Frances Moore Lappé's 2006 book "Democracy's Edge: Choosing to Save Our Country by Bringing Democracy to Life." It is designed for educators, group leaders, and any citizen who wants to become more powerful.
Resource Link: http://www.democracysedge.org/handbook.pdf
Doing Democracy: How Deliberative Polling Works
Nancy Averill. Canadian Government Executive, 1, 11-13, 2001.
Citizens are looking for a stronger voice in government decision making. They are becoming less willing to have decisions made for them by government, and are more inclined to trust their own judgment in political matters. This paper provides an overview of deliberative polling, detailing how it can give powerful insights into the public's true thoughts.
Resource Link: http://www.forumpp.ca/ow/ow_p_04_2001D.pdf
Doing Democracy: The MAP Model for Organizing Social Movements
Bill Moyer, JoAnn McAllister, Mary Lou Finley, and Steven Soifer. New Society Publishers, BC, Canada, 2001.
Citizen activism has achieved many positive results. But the road to success for social movements is often complex, usually lasting many years, with few guides for evaluating the precise stage of a movement?’s evolution to determine the best way forward. Doing Democracy provides both a theory and working model for understanding and analyzing social movements, ensuring that they are successful in the long term.
Resource Link: http://www.newsociety.com/bookid/3694
Don't Just Do Something, Stand There!: Ten Principles for Leading Meetings That Matter
Marvin Weisbord and Sandra Janoff. Berrett-Koehler, 2007.
Weisbord and Janoff - creators of the Future Search method - offer ten principles that will allow you to get more done in meetings by doing less. The key is knowing what you can and can?’t control. You can?’t control people?’s motives, behavior, or attitudes. But you can control the conditions under which people interact, and you can control your own reactions. Based on over 30 years of experience and research, the authors show exactly how to establish a meeting structure that will create conditions for success, efficiency, and productivity. Equally important, they offer advice for making sure your own emotions don't get in the way - for knowing when to "just stand there" rather than intervene inappropriately, unproductively, or futilely.
Resource Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1576754251/ref=nosim/?tag=futusearnetw-20
Dotmocracy
Dotmocracy is a method for collecting and prioritizing ideas among a large number of people. It is an equal opportunity and participatory group decision-making process. Participants write down ideas and apply dots next to each idea to show which ones they prefer. The final result is a graph-like visual representation of the group's collective preferences.
Resource Link: http://dotmocracy.ca/
Driving With the Top Down: Telling the stories of your life to awaken your creative spirit
Janice Kelley.
This journal presents nearly 200 questions, statements and activities (one per page) to engage dialog, launch conversations and engage the sharing of personal stories. Uses metaphor to engage creative thinking and present new perspectives. This resource creates a pathway to take risks, explore opportunities and find ourselves along the way. This is a good tool for coaches, career counselors, youth mentors and guides. There is also a version for 7-10 year olds with a teacher's guide to build literacy and creative thinking skills.
Resource Link: http://drivingwiththetopdown.biz
dropping knowledge
dropping knowledge is a global initiative to turn apathy into activity. By hosting an open conversation on the most pressing issues of our times, we will foster a worldwide exchange of viewpoints, ideas and people-powered solutions. However knowledge is defined, by dropping it freely to others, we all gain wisdom. An international project based in Germany and the USA, dropping knowledge arose from a need for new thinking on how to make positive change in the world, and from an understanding of how questions, values, new technology and visual communication can be powerful catalysts for that change.
Resource Link: http://www.droppingknowledge.org
Drupal
Drupal is an open source content management platform. Equipped with a powerful blend of features, Drupal can support a variety of websites ranging from personal weblogs to large community-driven websites. Drupal is a free software package that allows an individual or a community of users to easily publish, manage and organize a wide variety of content on a website. Tens of thousands of people and organizations have used Drupal to power scores of different web sites, including community web portals, discussion sites, corporate websites, intranet applications, personal websites or blogs, aficionado sites, e-commerce applications, resource directories and social networking sites. Drupal is ready to go from the moment you download it, and has an easy-to-use web installer.
Resource Link: http://drupal.org
Dvorak in America: In Search of the New World
In 2003 and 2004, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO) Winter Festival explored issues of American identity through music by Antonin Dvorak. Inspired by Antonin Dvorak's advice that composers should turn to indigenous sources (such as African American spirituals and Native American chant) for inclusion in classical composition, NJSO explored American music and identity through activities and performances.
Resource Link: http://www.americansforthearts.org/animatingdemocracy/labs/lab_098.asp
Dynamic Facilitation
Dynamic Facilitation is an energy-based way of facilitating where people address difficult issues creatively and collaboratively, achieving breakthrough results. It creates a process of talking and thinking that builds mutual respect, trust and the sense of community.
E-CIVICUS Online Newsletter
CIVICUS is an international alliance established in 1993 to nurture the foundation, growth and protection of citizen action throughout the world, particularly in areas where participatory democracy and citizen's freedom of association are threatened. Subscriptions to their newsletter, e-CIVICUS, are free.
Resource Link: http://www.civicus.org
e-Consultant.org
E-consultant is a web-based application that allows Internet users to post responses during a consultation, read related consultation documents, see who else has contributed and the nature of their response, and return to read feedback on the outcomes of the process.
Resource Link: http://www.e-consultant.org.uk
e-Consultation Research Project
In 2004, Queen's University Belfast, the University of Maynooth and Limerick IT was awarded a large research grant on e-consultation. E-consultation is the use of electronic computing and communication technologies in consultation and is complementary to existing consultation mechanisms. It is software used to support mediation, negotiation and decision-making processes. The project sought to turn e-consultation in Northern Ireland and the border counties from an experimental idea to a practical option for community, voluntary and public sector bodies. A final report and an Online e-Consultation guide are available on the project's website.
Resource Link: http://www.e-consultation.org
E-Democracy in Practice: Swedish Experiences of a New Political Tool
Tommy Rosen.
Discussions about e-democracy have to date concerned various projects. It is now time to use the experience gained in these projects in the everyday political life encountered by the public and their elected representatives. The aim of this paper is to place the various projects that have been conducted into a context that we recognise from the political debate to the decision-making process and political follow-up.
Resource Link: http://www.e-democracy.gov.uk/documents/retrieve.asp?pk_document=67&pagepath=http://www.e-democracy.gov.uk:80/knowledgepool/
E-Democracy--Changing Decision Making Processes
Leda Guidi.
The author describes the change in media and information technology to an environment of sharing of resources. This change, the author believes, will make it easier for women to become more involved in the new media sector because of more emphasis on flexibility and human resources and relations. The experience in Bologna also outlines some lessons for e-democracy for the reader.
E-Democracy.Org / Minnesota E-Democracy
Minnesota E-Democracy is a non-partisan citizen-based organization whose mission is to improve participation in democracy in Minnesota through the use of information networks and communication technologies. Minnesota E-Democracy was established in 1994 and created the world's first election-oriented website. They sponsor election-year online partnerships to promote citizen access to election information and interaction. Their year-round focus is on the use of the Internet to improve citizen participation and real world governance through online discussions and information and knowledge exchange.
Resource Link: http://www.e-democracy.org
e-Engagement: Guidelines for Community Engagement using Information and Communications Technology
The Office of e-Government and the Office of Citizens and Civics of the Government of Western Australia, 2005.
This document provides a framework for online consultations and should be used with reference to the Consulting Citizens series of guides . Information and communications technologies are constantly evolving, and this document has captured the current status of the ever-expanding ICT field.
Resource Link: http://www.citizenscape.wa.gov.au/documents/e_engagement.pdf
E-Gov's New Gear: Governors and Mayors Learn to Love the Give and Take of Governing Interactively
Christopher Swope.
Some flashy new tools from government simulation games to remote-control clickers can give state and local officials a quick, if not perfect, read on public opinion. They're also geared toward eliciting more focused thoughts from citizens input that can sometimes be more useful to decision makers. They can improve upon public hearings that, especially at the local level, too often dissolve into shouting matches among the handful of concerned citizens who bother to show up.
E-government--Connecting Efficient Administration and Responsive Democracy
Bertelsmann Foundation, 2001.
The prime objective of the present study is to examine the diverse activities towards digital administration and compare them on an international scale. The study examines economically viable applications of the new information and communication technologies that are accepted by citizens. Only in this way is it possible to identify the challenges that accompany the introduction of the Internet into the communication process that takes place between administration and citizens. Only thus is it possible to determine the means by which a greater degree of democratic participation can be achieved.
Resource Link: http://www.begix.de/en/studie/studie.pdf
E-Mail Threads, Genres & Networks in a Project Mailing List
Moses A. Boudourides, Manolis Mavrikakis, Eleftheria Vasileiadou.
We are studying here the use of e-mail by a group of individuals in a mailing list. This is a group of partners (from four European countries) working in a EU-funded RTD project, COMB (a pseudonym). The members of the COMB project have been communicating through the COMB-L mailing list. Originally this mailing list had started in August 2000 when the funding of the project was approved. Subsequently the discussions in the mailing list were concerning the negotiations with the EC for the formulation of the project contract. Eventually, the project started on May 1, 2001, and it is expected to end up by November 2003.
Resource Link: http://www.math.upatras.gr/%7Emboudour/articles/tgn.pdf
E-mint
E-mint is an independent organization of community professionals and anyone interested in the theory or practice of online communities. Headquartered in London, the young organization focuses on European issues. E-mint members include academic and commercial managers, policy makers, researchers and developers from small independent organisations to large corporate interests. E-mint provides an online space for discussion and holds monthly meetings in London.
Resource Link: http://www.e-mint.org.uk
E-Participation and the Future of Democracy
Andrew Acland.
Among the 'ills of our democracy', to use Smith's language from nearly a century ago, are frequently cited low voting figures at elections, a decreasing trust in authority, an increasing tendency to 'bowl alone', and a growing diversity of values leading towards a declining sense of common citizenship. All of these are compounded by the need to engage with a world of increasing complexity and uncertainty. The purpose of this paper is to examine the contribution that modern information and communications technology can make to address these ills. It is unapologetic in advocating the use of a technology that has the potential to transform the political world as dramatically as the invention of the printing press a thousand years ago; equally, it is realistic in recognising that technology will never be more than part of the answer.
Resource Link: http://www.interactweb.org.uk/papers/E-Participation%20and%20the%20Future%20of%20Democracy.pdf
e-thePeople
Beginning with the premise that democracy is a conversation, e-thePeople describes itself as 'the digital town hall for the nation.' In cooperation with over 1000 sites around the internet, e-thePeople promotes intelligent and diverse discussion and political action.
Resource Link: http://www.e-thepeople.org
E.D.E.N. (Electronic Democracy European Network)
The purpose of this tool is to improve communication between public administrations and citizens in decision-making processes, and reduce the cost of individual citizens' actions. The EDEN project combines several technical approaches using urban planning as the pilot application target. The EDEN toolkit will assist citizens to understand the decision-making process and foster their expression of opinions.
Resource Link: http://www.edentool.org
Early Childhood Adventures in Peacemaking, 2nd Edition
William J. Kreidler and Sandy Tsubokawa Whittall. Educators for Social Responsibility.
Recently revised, this unique guide uses games, music, art, drama, and storytelling to teach young children effective, nonviolent ways to resolve conflicts. It also provides caregivers with tools for helping young children develop key conflict resolution skills. This new edition contains sections on developmentally appropriate practice; tips on classroom set-up; instructions for incorporating social and emotional skills into daily routines; suggestions for when things don't go as planned; and materials and activities for parents to help reinforce the themes, skills, and concepts of a Peaceable Program at home.
Resource Link: http://esrnational.org/Merchant2/merchant.mvc
Earth Intelligence Network
The purpose of the Earth Intelligence Network (EIN) is to serve as the supporting foundation for a much larger public interest network. EIN will provide public intelligence support to: 1) Serious Games focusing on the Ten Threats, Twelve Policies, and Ten Players; 2) Policy summits, dialogues and think tanks, inclusive of the Transpartisan Policy Institute of Reuniting America; and 3) Budgets online and off, seeking to reconcile actual local, state, and national budgets with reality and our future needs.
Resource Link: http://www.earth-intelligence.net
Eastern Mennonite University - Center for Justice and Peacebuilding
EMU's Center for Justice and Peacebuilding (CJP) was founded to further the personal and professional development of individuals as peacebuilders and to strengthen the peacebuilding capacities of the institutions they serve. The program is committed to supporting conflict transformation and peacebuilding efforts at all levels of society in situations of complex, protracted, violent or potentially violent, social conflict in the United States and abroad. CJP runs a Graduate Program in Conflict Transformation, a Summer Peacebuilding Institute (SPI), The Practice Institute (previously the Institute for Justice and Peacebuilding), and a Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Reslience (STAR) training.
Resource Link: http://www.emu.edu/ctp/ctp.html
Ecological Enlightenment: Essays on the Politics of the Risk Society
Ulrich Beck and Mark Ritter. Atlantic Highlands, NJ, 1995.
The book posed a series of questions about the way in which people should view their society. This collection of twelve essays focuses and tries to make sense of an idea Beck terms "risk society."
Economic Democracy, Social Dialogue, and Ethical Analysis: Theory and Practice
Jorge Arturo Chaves.
The authors refer briefly to the type of problems of asymmetry in the area of international relations, just to acknowledge their importance. The authors' intention at this point is, however, to limit the scope of the paper to only to the proposed analytical approach in relation to the local dimension of economic democracy. As an example, they include a list of issues pending of an ethical and interdisciplinary analysis of economic policies at the international level.
Resource Link: http://www.jp.or.cr/catedra/biblioteca/articulos/JACH/economicdemocracy.pdf
Ecosystem Management and Public Participation: Lessons From the Field
Patrick Smith, Maureen McDonough, and Michael Mang. Journal of Forestry, 97 (10), 32- 39, 1999.
This study explores the public participation component of the Northern Lower Michigan Ecosystem Management Project. The study was conducted to determine the perceptions of natural resource professionals about public participation and document how those perceptions change over time as a result of a nontraditional, focus group-based model of public participation. The professionals' perceptions were then compared with public perceptions about public participation processes. The results suggest that the new approaches to public participation embodied in ecosystem management are more consistent with public desires than are traditional methods, but improvements are still possible.
Resource Link: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/
Education and Debate: Giving Citizens a Voice in Healthcare Policy in Canada
Judith Maxwell, Steven Rosell, Pierre-Gerlier Forest. BMJ, 326,1031-1033, 2003.
In many countries people are struggling to set up good ways of eliciting the views of patients. In England, the model of citizens' juries has been pursued. In Canada, dialogue sessions with members of the public have been used to reframe the healthcare contract.
Resource Link: http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/reprint/326/7397/1031.pdf
Education for Sustainable Development Toolkit
Rosalyn McKeown.
The Education for Sustainable Development Toolkit is based on the idea that communities and educational systems within communities need to dovetail their sustainability efforts. As communities develop sustainability goals, local educational systems can modify existing curriculums to reinforce those goals. As the authors developed the Toolkit, it became apparent that many communities had not developed sustainability goals or action plans on which to base educational change. As a result, the authors include some exercises to help communities develop such goals. The authors also include a few exercises to explain the concept of sustainable development.
Resource Link: http://www.esdtoolkit.org/esd_toolkit_v2.pdf
Education Issue Guide
Public Agenda.
It's hard to find any American who isn't touched in some way by the public schools as a student, parent, taxpayer, employer, or any combination of the above. And by almost any measure, the schools are one of the public's top concerns. Test scores indicate the problems are not as bad as two decades ago, but even so public confidence in public schools has declined dramatically over the past 25 years. Public Agenda Issue Guides or ?“Citizen Choicework Guides?” contain background information on the topic and present three different approaches to the issue for people to deliberate.
Resource Link: http://www.publicagenda.org/issues/frontdoor.cfm?issue_type=education
Education Policy: Issues Affecting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth
Jason Cianciotto and Sean Cahill. The Policy Institute of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (www.thetaskforce.org), 2003.
This report provides a comprehensive overview of the school experiences of LGBT youth, and existing policy interventions aimed at making schools safe and affirming environments for all students. It also examines recent federal policy changes that complicate these efforts, and offers a research agenda to fill these gaps in our understanding of the experiences of LGBT youth and children of LGBT parents.
Resource Link: http://www.thetaskforce.org/downloads/EducationPolicy.pdf
Education: How Can Schools and Communities Work Together to Meet the Challenge? A Guide for Involving Community Members in Public Dialogue and Problem Solving (3rd Edition)
Study Circles Resource Center (SCRC), 1997.
A multiple-session discussion guide examining the challenges schools face and the ways in which citizens and educators can improve education.
Resource Link: http://www.studycircles.org/en/DiscussionGuides.aspx
Education: How Do We Get The Results We Want?
National Issues Forums.
This booklet bypasses the familiar arguments about how to reform our schools, to focus on who can most effectively bring about the educational results we want. This nonpartisan guide is used for citizen deliberations in National Issues Forums.
Resource Link: http://www.nifi.org/discussion_guides/guides.aspx?catID=10
Educators for Social Responsibility
ESR's mission is to make teaching social responsibility a core practice in education so that young people develop the convictions and skills needed to shape a safe, sustainable, democratic, and just world. ESR's largest program, the Resolving Conflict Creatively Program (RCCP) is a comprehensive, K-12 school-based program in conflict resolution and intergroup relations that provides a model for preventing violence and creating caring learning communities.
Resource Link: http://www.esrnational.org
Effective Public Engagement
Steve Farkas. Public Agenda, 1993.
This 35-page report explores effective communication about proposals to set higher academic standards for students.
Resource Link: http://www.publicagenda.org
Effective Public Participation Under the National Environmental Policy Act
U.S. Department of Energy, Environment, Safety and Health Office of NEPA Policy and Assistance, 1998.
This paper provides guidance to Department of Energy (DOE) personnel for involving the public effectively and meaningfully in DOE processes conducted under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). It was prepared in furtherance of the Secretary of Energy's 1994 Public Participation Policy and Policy on the National Environmental Policy Act.
Resource Link: http://www.eh.doe.gov/nepa/tools/guidance/pubpart2.html
eGovernance and its Value for Public Administration
Thomas F. Gordon.
In the public context, governance is about how to steer or guide society so as to best serve public interests and achieve the common good. We present a cybernetic model of governance focusing on the role of legislation and regulations as primary instruments for guiding and directing society. Focusing on the implementation phase of the legislation life cycle, we discuss how legal knowledge-based systems can be used to improve the correctness, consistency, transparency and efficiency of deep transactions, i.e. those determinative processes of public administration requiring the application of complex legislation and regulations. Most efforts of public administration to bring transactions online have been restricted to simple transactions requiring little or no knowledge of the law, such as change of address notifications. Only when deep transactions are supported will the full potential of information and communications technology to improve the quality and efficiency of public administration be fully realized.
Resource Link: http://www.tfgordon.de/publications/Gordon2004a.pdf
Eighteen Propositions for Citizen Engagement
Daniel Yankelovich.
In this 1998 address to the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Devolution Initiative, Yankelovich describes why citizen engagement is a necessary part of devolution, why it is difficult to implement, and what skills are needed to do it well. The eighteen propositions create a framework for thinking about citizen engagement as an inherent part of devolution, with specific examples from a Public Agenda study of public attitudes toward welfare.
Resource Link: http://www.danyankelovich.com/18props.html
Elaboration Likelihood Model
The ELM is based on the idea that attitudes are important because attitudes guide decisions and other behaviors. While attitudes can result from a number of things, persuasion is a primary source. The model features two routes of persuasive influence: central and peripheral. The ELM accounts for the differences in persuasive impact produced by arguments that contain ample information and cogent reasons as compared to messages that rely on simplistic associations of negative and positive attributes to some object, action or situation.
Eldis Gateway to Development Information
Eldis is a huge web-based resource center which aims to share the best in development, policy, practice and research. Eldis includes over 18,000 online documents, 4,500 organizations, and 6,000 email messages. Eldis is one of a family of knowledge services from the Institute of Development Studies, Sussex.
Resource Link: http://www.eldis.org
Electronic Civic Consultation: A Guide to the Use of the Internet in Interactive Policy Making
Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, 1998.
This guide deals with electronic civic consultation, an instrument to get the citizen involved into the political process. The author is convinced that the electronic highway must and indeed will modify democracy into a shape that is quite different from that of the carrier pigeon era. The author does not elaborate on this, using the assumption that this guide will primarily be taken up by administrators and civil servants holding the same view. However, stating that technology will change democracy is one thing; predicting the nature of that change is quite another.
Electronic Consultation and Engagement: Lessons for Canada from International Experience
Alison Van Rooy.
This study explores the lessons emerging from new experiments in electronic consultation and engagement by and around governments throughout the world. Are there efforts outside of Canadian borders that may improve the policies now under deliberation at home? This short review of international experiments responds to ongoing political and policy currents in Canada: a proposed policy on public engagement, the Government On-Line initiative, and promises made in completed agreements such as the high-profile Social Union Framework. That background of policy debates at home will help in deciding what we hope to gain from looking abroad.
Electronic Learning Guidebook on Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM)
World Bank. The World Bank, 1998.
This web-based handbook was created to assist with Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) - the involvement of irrigation users in all aspects of irrigation management, and at all levels. This electronic learning guidebook is a self-paced learning tool for acquiring knowledge about PIM and how to implement and promote PIM at the country level. The intended users of this learning guidebook are task managers, staff of borrowing countries, irrigation managers, consultants, trainers, and NGO's. Users can directly access country cases, lessons learned, information about WBI's training program, and reference materials through the menu, or indirectly by browsing through the self-paced guidebook.
Resource Link: http://www.worldbank.org/wbi/pimelg/index.htm
Electronic Town Meetings: Case Studies
Elway Research, Inc..
As the titles states, this document presents a listing of various case studies for electronic town meetings. A brief description is included for each of the approximately twenty examples.
Elementary Perspectives: Teaching Concepts of Peace and Conflict
William J. Kreidler. Educators for Social Responsibility, 1990.
One of ESR's best selling books, this curriculum offers more than 80 activities that help teachers and students define peace, explore justice, and learn the value of conflict and its resolution. Students read, write, draw, role-play, sing, and discuss their way through a process that helps them acquire the concrete cooperative and conflict resolution skills needed to become caring and socially responsible citizens.
Resource Link: http://esrnational.org/Merchant2/merchant.mvc
Embedded Deliberation: Entrepreneurs, Organizations, and Public Action
Elena Fagotto and Archon Fung. Final Report for the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, submitted by the Taubman Center for State and Local Government and John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. April 14, 2006.
This very meaty 151-page final report to the Hewlett Foundation includes detailed case studies on West Virginia?’s National Issues Forums, Public Deliberation in South Dakota, Public Deliberation in Hawai?’i, and Connecticut?’s Community Conversations about Education. Elena Fagotto presented a workshop on her research at NCDD's 2006 conference called "Embedded Deliberation: Moving from Deliberation to Action." She decided to share the report with the NCDD community since many of her workshop participants requested it.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/FagottoFung-EmbedDelib.pdf
Embedding Dialogue on a University Campus
Many institutions of higher education use dialogue as a communication tool to engage and involve the campus community itself as well as surrounding communities. This workshop at NCDD's 2006 conference focused on how three institutions have begun to integrate and embed the process of dialogue into university life - and here is where you can find all six handouts from this well-received session.
Emergent Democracy
Joichi Ito.
Proponents of the Internet have committed to and sought for a more intelligent Internet where new democratic methods could be enabled to help rectify the imbalance and inequalities of the world. Instead, the Internet today is a noisy environment with a great deal of power consolidation instead of the level democratic Internet many envisioned.
Resource Link: http://joi.ito.com/static/emergentdemocracy.html
Emily Shepard, Graphic Recorder
Emily's goal is to help her clients get the most out of their meetings and strategy sessions. Partnering with a facilitator or consultant, Emily visually captures and synthesizes the high level thinking of a group, using words, imagery and metaphor. Working in real time, she creates a series of large format charts that dynamically reflect the discussion back to the participants, allowing them to see gaps, patterns and possibilities.
Emoderators.com
Provides resources for facilitators and moderators of online discussion. Includes an annotated list of articles and other materials to help you set up, maintain, and have a successful experience with online dialogue.
Resource Link: http://www.emoderators.com/moderators.shtml
Empowered Participation: Reinventing Urban Democracy
Archon Fung. Princeton University Press, 2004.
Every month in every neighborhood in Chicago, residents, teachers, school principals, and police officers gather to deliberate about how to improve their schools and make their streets safer. Residents of poor neighborhoods participate as much or more as those from wealthy ones. All voices are heard. Since the meetings began more than a dozen years ago, they have led not only to safer streets but also to surprising improvements in the city's schools. Chicago's police department and school system have become democratic urban institutions unlike any others in America. Empowered Participation is the compelling chronicle of this unprecedented transformation.
Resource Link: http://press.princeton.edu/titles/7762.html
Empowering Education: Critical Teaching for Social Change
Ira Shor. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1992.
Ira Shor is a pioneer in the field of critical education who for over twenty years has been experimenting with learning methods. His work creatively adapts the ideas of Brazilian educator Paulo Freire for North American classrooms. In Empowering Education Shor offers a comprehensive theory and practice for critical pedagogy.
Resource Link: http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/hfs.cgi/00/7893.ctl
Empowering Regions: Strategies and Tools for Community Decision Making
Alliance for Regional Stewardship, 2001.
Beyond the excitement that naturally comes from introducing a new technology, the real opportunity is in how regional stewards can use new tools to improve decision making in their communities. Information and civic engagement tools have the potential to change the way we govern ourselves. Regional stewards are leaders committed to the long-term well-being of their regions. As regions grapple with complex issues such as economic development, environmental quality, social equity, and governance reform, regional stewards must help their communities make thoughtful, informed choices about their collective future.
Resource Link: http://www.regionalstewardship.org/Documents/Monograph2.pdf
Empowerment, Marginalization, and Public Participation GIS
Will Craig, Trevor Harris and Daniel Weiner.
Resource Link: http://www.ncgia.ucsb.edu/varenius/ppgis/PPGIS98_rpt.html
Encounter Point
Just Vision, 2006.
Encounter Point is an 85-minute feature documentary film that follows a former Israeli settler, a Palestinian ex-prisoner, a bereaved Israeli mother and a wounded Palestinian bereaved brother who risk their lives and public standing to promote a nonviolent end to the conflict. Their journeys lead them to the unlikeliest places to confront hatred within their communities. The film explores what drives them and thousands of other like-minded civilians to overcome anger and grief to work for grassroots solutions. It is a film about the everyday leaders in our midst.
Resource Link: http://www.encounterpoint.com
Encouraging Sustainable Smallholder Agriculture in South Africa
Noel Oettle, Saliem Fakir, Wilfred Wentzel, Steven Giddings, and Martin Whiteside. Environment and Development Consultancy Ltd, 1998.
This paper concentrates on the black smallholder farming sector. Also, this paper makes recommendations for reorganisation of extension services, farmer involvement in research, land reform, incentives for soil/water conservation, NGO involvement, community participation, training, coordination.
Resource Link: http://www.eldis.org/fulltext/rsa.pdf
Engaged Institutions
American colleges and universities are major assets for cities and regions and hold enormous potential to help solve society?’s most pressing challenges. Over the past 20 years, there has been a great push for these institutions to be more responsive and engaged in what happens outside their institutional walls. This means being better neighbors by more thoroughly integrating civic engagement within their organizational structures and practices, and their research, teaching, and outreach activities. A key question for advocates for the ?“engaged institution?” is: how can we produce this sort of deep organizational transformation? Funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Engaged Institutions project seeks to provide answers to this question. PolicyLink, a national research and action institute based in Oakland, California, is the national evaluator of the project and maintains the website.
Resource Link: http://www.engagedinstitutions.org
Engaging Citizens in Achieving Results that Matter: A Model for Effective 21st Century Governance
Lyle D. Wray, Paul Epstein, Martha Marshall, Stuart Grifel.
This paper describes a research project based on 30 communities mainly in the U.S. at the forefront of performance measurement, citizen participation, or managing for results. The word 'community' refers to areas of very different size. While most of these communities are cities or counties, some are broader regions, or neighborhoods. The paper describes how citizen engagement, outcomes or performance management, and efforts to improve government planning and budgeting processes offer the promise of improved community governance for the 21 century. The paper outlines three core elements for community governance and four sets of links among these elements and six roles for citizens as partners in community improvement involving performance measurement.
Resource Link: http://www.seemotion.org/download/Engaging_Citizens_in_Achieving_Results_that_Matter.pdf
Engaging Citizens in Policy
Mary Pat MacKinnon, Canadian Policy Research Network (CPRN). 2006.
In this presentation to the Sustainable Calgary Municipal Policy Making Workshop, Mary Pat MacKinnon, Director of CPRN's Public Involvement Network, sketches a problematic context growing complexity in governance, declining public trust, urban concentration, social diversity, and an aging society. Such complexity calls for responses that employ citizen engagement as part of their arsenal.
Resource Link: http://www.cprn.org/en/doc.cfm?doc=1399
Engaging Citizens in Policy-making: Information, Consultation, and Public Participation
Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), 2001.
This 6-page Policy Brief describes a range of concrete measures and suggests ten guiding principles for strengthening government relations with citizens and civil society.
Resource Link: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/24/34/2384040.pdf
Engaging Citizens on the Tough Issues
AmericaSpeaks, 2006.
This 20-page report provides a snapshot of AmericaSpeaks' recent and ongoing efforts. From the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland to the community of Oakland Mills in Columbia, Maryland, AmericaSpeaks is bringing together diverse groups of citizens to deliberate on difficult issues, find common values, and reconcile conflicting viewpoints. "Our work helps build strong coalitions that hold decision-makers accountable for change."
Resource Link: http://www.americaspeaks.org
Engaging Citizens Online for Better Policy-making
This policy brief builds on the results of an initial survey of OECD Member countries published in Citizens as Partners (OECD, 2001) and a set of country case studies collected in 2002. It does not deal with online service delivery nor with ICT applicatio. Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), 2003.
Today, all OECD Member countries recognise new information and communication technologies (ICTs) to be powerful tools for enhancing citizen engagement in public policy-making. This 8-page Policy Brief highlights policy lessons from current experience in OECD member countries and suggests 10 guiding principles for successful online consultation.
Resource Link: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/62/23/2501856.pdf
Engaging Citizens: One Route to Health Care Accountability
Julia Abelson, Francois-Pierre Gauvin.
Public outcry for governments to increase their accountability to citizens has reached a feverish pitch in Canada and shows no sign of abating. Canadians' revised expectations of government were also plainly evident in recent debates about the future of health care. Governments are responding to these calls with a range of tools for improving accountability relationships between themselves and their citizens. Greater public involvement in health care decision-making is one of the tools being called upon to address accountability concerns.
Resource Link: http://www.cprn.com/documents/28095_en.pdf
Engaging Communication in Conflict: Systemic Practice
Stephen W. Littlejohn and Kathy Domenici. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA, USA, 2000.
Written from the authors' experience in conflict intervention in their private consulting practice, Engaging Communication in Conflict uses a communication perspective to address insights and methods in private mediation, small group facilitation, system design, large-scale interventions, and public-issue management. This book offers encouragement for a world sometimes overwhelmed by conflict and presents an expanded and pragmatic definition of peace.
Enhancing Public Input into Decision Making: Development of the Calgary Regional Health Authority Public Participation Framework
Bretta Maloff, David Bilan, and Wifreda Thurston. Family and Community Health, 23 (1), 66-79, 2000.
This article describes the development of a framework to Promote public and community participation in one urban health authority, including the components of the public participation framework of purpose, values, guiding principles, and expected outcomes. A list of participation activities within the authority was obtained by survey. These activities are presented in relation to the conceptual framework.
Resource Link: http://www.familyandcommunityhealth.com
Enhancing Public Participation in Participatory Public Policy Analysis Concerning Technology: A Report of Two Danish-Style Consensus Conferences
Patrick Hamlett.
This paper reviews a research project involving two versions of the Danish consensus conference conducted at North Carolina State University in 2001. One version was conducted in the usual, face-to-face mode, while the other version was conducted entirely on the Internetthe first consensus conference conducted via the Internet. The paper discusses the importance of public deliberations in making public policy about science & technology, the organization and implementation of the Citizens Technology Forum, and some lessons learned from the experience.
Resource Link: http://www.ifz.tugraz.at/index_en.php/article/articleview/426/1/30/
Enhancing Simulations, Models and Their Impact Using Interactive Game Design and Development Practices and Technology
Ben Sawyer.
Every day game developers reach an audience of millions of people using increasingly state of the art hardware and programming. Not only is the game development community at the forefront of PC-based visualization, it is also a leading developer of applied artificial intelligence, overall interface design, persistent worlds, network interaction, and other building blocks needed for next-generation models and simulations. The mission is simple - to create a better understanding of how commercial game and simulation developers, practices, and technology can be utilized by a wider field of organizations that build and apply models and simulations in the area of public policy.
Resource Link: http://wwics.si.edu/subsites/game/Serious2.pdf
Enhancing the System Architecture
Timo Kaukoranta.
This presentation explores changing network software architecture and the differences between client-server and peer-peer relationships within network structure. Another main topic of this presentation is cheating, which the author devotes substantial space to defining, categorizing, and explaining.
Enquiry-By-Design / Charrette
An Enquiry?–by?–Design is an intensive, interactive forum, over 2 to 4 days, that aims to produce non-binding urban design and planning visions for complex projects. Workshops involve a Technical Team and a Consultation Group, working in tandem. Participants work together using a consensus building approach to create both principles of development, designs and implementation strategies. A Charrette is a similar process, however where the Enquiry-by-Design usually involves the urban design of a limited number of sites, the Charrette involves more comprehensive visioning and urban design of an area?’s employment, transport, facilities and growth.
Ensuring Effective Public Participation in Decision-Making Relating to Genetically Modified Organisms
Willie Smith, Hayden Montgomery.
This report reviews the growing literature on public dialogue on science and technology. It explores our knowledge of public perception and understanding of genetically modified organisms both within New Zealand and overseas, and then examines international experience of public dialogue as applied to GMOs. Specific attention is directed to the different mechanisms used to manage ethical and other dimensions of the GMO debate. The role of New Zealand organisations involved in decision-making on GMOs is examined.
Resource Link: http://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/organisms/gm-public-participation-jun01.pdf
Ensuring School Safety Guide
Public Agenda.
Everyone wants schools that are safe, where students, teachers and support staff can concentrate on learning and not have to worry about crime and violence. In this community dialogue, you'll be asked to discuss your ideas on the best way to ensure that schools are safe places for children to learn and grow. Different approaches to school safety will have different benefits and different costs and challenges. To help you and your neighbors decide what is most important to you, Public Agenda presents in this Citizens ChoiceWork Guide three hypothetical school communities, each of which has approached the issue of school safety in a different way.
Resource Link: http://www.publicagenda.org/pubengage/pe_toolkit.cfm
Environmental Citizenship in the Making: the Participation of Volunteer Naturalists in UK Biological Recording and Biodiversity Policy
Rebecca Ellis and Claire Waterton. Science and Public Policy 31(2): 95-105, 2004.
This paper documents research taking place in the midst of a series of shifts in biodiversity policy in the UK. It examines recent attempts to enrol volunteer naturalists and lay citizens into biodiversity action planning, suggesting that such attempts can be seen as a nascent form of environmental citizenship, which is based on the exchange of knowledge of nature among the different communities involved (policy makers, volunteer naturalists and lay citizens).
Resource Link: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/
Environmental Enforcement Solutions: How Collaborative SEPs Enhance Community Benefits
National Policy Consensus Center (NPCC), 2007.
This report finds that combining model SEP (Supplemental Environmental Projects) practices that encourage community input and promote environmental justice with advanced collaborative problem solving techniques can produce larger and more satisfying outcomes from SEPs. The NPCC report concludes that SEPs are underutilized generally and that newly developed collaborative governance processes can lead to greater community benefits by leveraging SEPs with other investments, actions, and commitments. It recommends that the states and U.S. EPA consider undertaking pilot collaborative SEPs to determine violator and community interest, and that they should develop ?“best practices?” based on a collaborative governance process such as the Public Solutions System developed by NPCC.
Resource Link: http://www.policyconsensus.org/publications/reports/docs/seps_report.pdf
Environmental Equity and Public Participation
Greg Hampton. Policy Sciences, 32 (2), 163 ?– 174, 1999.
The principles and practice of public participation can serve to promote environmental equity for disadvantaged social groups. The effectiveness of such practice in preventing or reducing environmental inequality depends upon the use of participation methodology which caters to the cultural and social needs of such groups.
Resource Link: http://www.springerlink.com
Environmental Protection Agency: Draft Public Involvement Policy
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Federal Register, 65, 82335-82345, 2000.
The Environmental Protection Agency is revising its 1981 Public Participation Policy. The revised policy is being issued as the Draft 2000 Public Involvement Policy for 120-day public comment. The Draft Policy was updated to reflect changes over the past nineteen years such as additional Agency responsibilities, new regulations, expanded public involvement techniques, and the changed nature of public access due to the Internet. The Policy will provide guidance and direction to EPA officials on reasonable and effective means to involve the public in its regulatory and program decisions.
Environmental Quality: Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS) Program Policy
Department of the Army, 2004.
This regulation provides policy and guidance within U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) for the planning, programming, budgeting, execution, management, and reporting of all activities associated with Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS) properties and projects. FUDS are defined as real property that was under the jurisdiction of the Secretary and owned by, leased by, or otherwise possessed by the United States (including governmental entities that are the legal predecessors of Department of Defense [DoD] or the Components) and those real properties where accountability rested with DoD but where the activities at the property were conducted by contractors (i.e., government-owned, contractor-operated [GOCO] properties) that were transferred from DoD control prior to 17 October 1986.
Escalation or Modification: Responding to Negative Feedback in Sequential Decision Making
Charles F. Hermann, Robert S. Billings and Robert Litchfield.
Under what conditions is it likely that policy makers will escalate their commitment rather than change course? In the policy arena, politics may play a decisive role. In some circumstances, the requirements for either theory will not be fulfilled. When they are, the role of disagreement or dissent can be important. Such conflict can emerge either from political opposition outside the decision unit or in the form of dissent from minorities within the policy group. The effects of each form of disagreement are likely to push in different directions.
Escaping the Matrix: how We the People can change the world
Richard Moore.
Richard Moore has distilled decades of participatory thought and dialog into a delightfully readable volume by exploring a compelling metaphor: The Matrix is our present manufactured reality, carefully managed for the benefit of elite interests and rarely questioned by those who live within its structures. Escaping the Matrix catalogs the persistent historical patterns of 'civilized' hierarchy that keep wealthy elites in control of governments and economies.
Resource Link: http://EscapingTheMatrix.org
ESR Journal: Educating for Democracy
Educators for Social Responsibility, 1992.
Filled with thoughtful articles on education for democracy, this volume offers insights and strategies that highlight what works and why. Articles address issues of democratic participation, diversity, the dynamics of power and empowerment, and more. Article authors include: Paul Martin Du Bois, Laurie Olsen, Seth Kreisberg, and Deborah First.
Resource Link: http://esrnational.org/Merchant2/merchant.mvc
European Governance: A White Paper
Commission of the European Communities, 2001.
The White Paper proposes opening up the policy-making process to get more people and organisations involved in shaping and delivering EU policy. It promotes greater openness, accountability and responsibility for all those involved. The authors believe that this should help people to see how Member States, by acting together within the Union, are able to tackle their concerns more effectively.
Resource Link: http://europa.eu.int%00/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/en/com/2001/com2001_0428en01.pdf
European Participatory Technology Assessment: Participatory Methods in Technology Assessment and Technology Decision-Making
Lars Kluver, Michael Nentwich, Walter Peissl, Helge Torgersen, Fritz Gloede, Leonhard Hennen, Josee van Eijendhoven, Rinie van Est, Simon Joss, Sergio Belluci, and Danielle Butschi.
Since the eighties, participatory technology assessment (PTA) has been established with the aim of "finding solutions together" or "generating dialogue". There has been an increasing call for PTA worldwide. The stated aim of the project was to advance the understanding of the role of PTA by critically assessing the experiences to date of different European national participatory initiatives, to identify criteria for the practical implementation of participatory methods, and to contribute to the development of participatory methods and practices in technology assessment.
Resource Link: http://www.tekno.dk/subpage.php3?article=345&language=uk&category=11&toppic=kategori11
Europeans have a Say: Online Debates and Consultations in the EU
Roman Winkler.
This report provides an assessment of the European Union?’s online initiative "Your Voice in Europe."
Resource Link: http://www.node-research.at/dokumente/upload/0086/online_debates2.pdf
Evaluating Dispute Resolution as an Approach to Public Participation
Thomas C. Beierle, Jerry Cayford.
Public participation has become an integral part of environmental policymaking. Dispute resolutionwith its focus on deliberation, problem solving, and consensus seeking among a small group of peopleis one of the alternatives decision makers increasingly turn to for involving the public. This paper evaluates dispute resolution as a form of public participation by measuring its success against five "social goals": incorporating public values into decisions, increasing the substantive quality of decisions, resolving conflict, building trust, and educating the public.
Resource Link: http://www.rff.org/Documents/RFF-DP-01-40.pdf
Evaluating Environmental Public Participation: Methodological Considerations
Caron Chess. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 43 (6), 769 - 784, 2000.
Increasingly, environmental agencies are engaged in public participation activities. Unfortunately, the limited evaluation of public participation programs also makes improvement of such programs more difficult. To encourage further thinking about the evaluation of environmental public participation programs, this article discusses some of the basic issues raised by evaluators of social programs (e.g. unemployment and housing, etc.) that have served as methodological proving grounds for evaluation.
Resource Link: http://taylorandfrancis.metapress.com/(2lfyi5ydzyr1m245hfsx3u45)/app/home/main.asp
Evaluating Public Engagement: Deliberative Democracy and the Science Museum
Angie Boyce and Christine Reich. This paper was submitted to and presented at NCDD's 2004 conference in Denver, Colorado. Museum of Science, Boston, 2004.
This 7-page paper reviews evaluation tools and methodologies in the dialogue and deliberation field and reflects upon how these strategies can be applied to the museum context. Can the museum be an effective space for dialogue and deliberation?
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/Boyce-EvaluatingPE.doc
Evaluating Public Involvement
Canadian Policy Research Networks, 2003.
Public engagement initiatives can serve a multitude of purposes. They can be seen as a means of gathering intelligence in support of more effective policies and programs. They can be seen as a means of exerting influence on government, of taking part in the shaping of our common future. This document notifies the public of the report on a workshop, held in Ottawa in February 2003, which brought together a group of 20 representatives from the private sector, six federal government departments and four NGOs.
Resource Link: http://www.cprn.com/documents/23084_en.pdf
Evaluating Public Participation Programs - One evaluator's experience
Jane Cooper, Cooper & Associates Research.
This 21-page PDF document is from a presentation given by Jane Cooper at the February 6, 2003 Workshop on Evaluation of Public Involvement Activities.
Resource Link: http://www.cprn.org/documents/20818_en.pdf
Evaluating Public-Participation Exercises: A Research Agenda
Gene Rowe and Lynn J. Frewer. Science, Technology, & Human Values, 29 (4), 512-556, 2004.
The concept of public participation is one of growing interest in the UK and elsewhere, with a commensurate growth in mechanisms to enable this. The merits of participation, however, are difficult to ascertain, as there are relatively few cases in which the effectiveness of participation exercises have been studied in a structured (as opposed to highly subjective) manner. This seems to stem largely from uncertainty in the research community as to how to conduct evaluations. In this article, one agenda for conducting evaluation research that might lead to the systematic acquisition of knowledge is presented.
Resource Link: http://sth.sagepub.com/cgi/content/short/29/4/512
Evaluating the First U.S. Consensus Conference: The Impact of the Citizens' Panel on Telecommunications and the Future of Democracy
David H. Guston, Rutgers University. Science, Technology, & Human Values, Vol. 24, No. 4, 451-482 (1999). Sage Publications., 1999.
Consensus conferences, also known as citizens' panels - a collection of lay citizens akin to a jury but charged with deliberating on policy issues with a high technical content - are a potentially important way to conduct technology assessments, inform policy makers about public views of new technologies, and improve public understanding of and participation in technological decision making. The first citizens' panel in the United States occurred in April 1997 on the issue of "Telecommunications and the Future of Democracy." This article evaluates the impact of this citizens' panel.
Resource Link: http://sth.sagepub.com/cgi/content/short/24/4/451
Evaluation Item Pool
National Issues Forums, University of Georgia and Ithaca College.
This document lists evaluation questions used in the l994, 1995, and l996 surveys of students who participated in the National Issues Forums between the University of Georgia and Ithaca College. Both on-line and off-line items are included.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/Eval_Item_Pool.doc
Evaluation of a Deliberative Conference
Gene Rowe, Roy Marsh, and Lynn J. Frewer. Science, Technology, & Human Values, 29 (1), 88-121, 2004.
The concept of public participation is currently one of great interest to researchers and policy makers. In response to a perceived need for greater public involvement in decision making and policy formation processes on the part of both policymakers and the general public, a variety of novel mechanisms have been developed, such as the consensus conference and citizens jury, to complement traditional mechanisms, such as the public meeting. However, the relative effectiveness of the various mechanisms is unclear, as efforts at evaluation have been sparse. In this article, the authors describe an evaluation of a two-day "deliberative conference" on the topic of radiation dose assessment.
Resource Link: http://th.sagepub.com/cgi/content/short/29/1/88
Evaluation Report: California Mediated Public Policy on Physician-Assisted Suicide and End-of-Life Issues
Center for Collaborative Policy, 2002.
At the request of the California State Assembly Select Committee on Palliative Care, a group of nineteen stakeholders and interested individuals assembled in a mediated process to discuss end of life issues. This group met beginning November 1, 2001, and convened nine times before ending in June 2002 with a final report. This report is an evaluation of the dialogue using a methodology appropriate for such consensus seeking dialogue processes.
Resource Link: http://www.csus.edu/ccp/publications/Devolution_CCP_2004.pdf
Evaluation Tools for Racial Equity
The Center for Assessment and Policy Development and MP Associates, Inc., has just launched a new website that offers resources and advice on evaluating a program?’s effectiveness in bridging racial divides. The site includes all kinds of tools and resources on how to organize and carry out an evaluation, what kinds of questions to ask and outcomes to measure, and also some guidelines for thinking about and using results.
Evaluation: How Are Things Going?
Study Circles Resource Center.
This evaluation tool from the Study Circles Resource Center helps practitioners evaluate the facilitation component of a public dialogue process using the study circles model. Includes a range of tools such as evaluation of facilitator training, questions for checking in with facilitators, performance appraisal, and facilitator evaluation for participants.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/SCRC_Facilitation.pdf
Everybody Ready for School: How Can we Ensure High Quality Early Childhood Programs?
Public Agenda.
Many educators, parents and researchers agree that high quality "school readiness" programs can help youngsters be more successful later on in school and in life. But preschool programs vary widely in quality. How can we make sure that all preschool programs provide safe and enriching environments that do a good job preparing children for school? In other words, how can we make sure all preschool programs are of the highest possible quality? This Citizen ChoiceWork Guide (and video) from Public Agenda presents three approaches: fund programs more adequately and equitably; create standards and accountability; and give parents more choice. Available in video and print format.
Resource Link: http://www.publicagenda.org/pubengage/pe_toolkit.cfm
Everyday Democracy's Dialogue-to-Change
Part of a larger community program, an Everyday Democracy dialogue (formerly known as a "Study Circle") is a group of 8 to 12 people from different backgrounds and viewpoints who meet several times to talk about a critical public issue. In a dialogue, everyone has an equal voice, and people try to understand one another's views. They do not have to agree with one another. The idea is to share concerns and look for ways to make things better. A neutral facilitator helps the group look at different views and makes sure the discussion goes well.
Everyday Politics: Reconnecting Citizens and Public Life
Harry C. Boyte. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004.
A pioneer in our field, Boyte is founder and co-director of the Center for Democracy and Citizenship at the University of Minnesota. In Everyday Politics, Boyte transcends partisan politics to offer an alternative. He demonstrates how community-rooted activities reconnect citizens to engaged, responsible public life, not just on election day but throughout the year. Boyte demonstrates that this type of activism has a rich history and strong philosophical foundations. It rests on the stubborn faith that the talents and insights of ordinary citizens ?— from nursery school to nursing home ?— are crucial elements in public life and everyday politics.
Resource Link: http://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/14068.html
Evolution of Evaluations for Critical, Reflective and Deliberative Discourse: National Issues Forums On-line
M.E. Holt, F Rees, J.D. Swenson and P.B. Kleiber. National Issues Forums Project, Department of Adult Education, The University of Georgia (UGA) College of Education.
This 17-page report is an evaluation of online deliberation. It asks such questions as "How can online deliberation be assessed?", "Can deliberation occur online?", and "Can the deliberative process be learned through participation in an electronic forum?"
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/Evol_of_Eval.doc
Evolutionary Salons
Evolutionary Salons are gatherings in which people share and explore how individuals, groups, and societies can evolve more consciously and wisely. The first Evolutionary Salon was held in May 2005. It was the brainchild of Michael Dowd, but quickly became a co-creation with a community of leaders in collective intelligence and evolutionary action.
Examining Three Conceptions of Deliberative Democracy: A Field Experiment
Shawn Rosenberg.
This study of deliberation was designed as a field experiment. It was done in a way that combined an academic interest in analyzing the nature and efficacy of citizen deliberation with a political interest in promoting citizen empowerment and practical action. Thus the experiment was designed both to explore the nature of citizen deliberation and to encourage deliberative democracy practice in the local community of Laguna Beach. One result is that there are few issues of external validity the deliberations included concerned citizens who deliberated and then made recommendations to relevant governmental institutions and the local community.
Executive Guide: Effectively Implementing the Government Performance and Results Act
United States General Accounting Office, Comptroller General of the United States, 1996.
Under the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA), every major federal agency must now ask itself some basic questions: What is our mission? What are our goals and how will we achieve them? How can we measure our performance? How will we use that information to make improvements? GPRA forces a shift in the focus of federal agenciesaway from such traditional concerns as staffing and activity levels and toward a single overriding issue: results. GPRA requires agencies to set goals, measure performance, and report on their accomplishments. This document is a guide to effectively implement the set of practices enumerated by the GPRA.
Resource Link: http://www.gao.gov/archive/1996/gg96118.pdf
Experience with Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation in Yunnan, China
Li Yan, Li Yuping, Guo Guangpin, Susan Roelofs, and Julia Robinson. Particpatory Development Forum (PDForum), 2001.
This document describes an experience in introducing Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation approaches in the Chinese southern province of Yunnan, for a maternal and child health project implemented by CIDA. One of the project?’s goals was to introduce PM&E strategies with the Yunnan Public Health information and management systems, in order deepen the understanding of the project?’s results, especially the participatory approaches and qualitative indicators. It was also felt that PME would enrich community dialogue at the grassroots level and strengthen project management.
Resource Link: http://www.eldis.org/assets/Docs/11622.html
Experiences from National IT-Projects--How Can It Be Done in a Better Way?
The Danish Board of Technology, 2001.
In the year 2000, the Danish Board of Technology resolved to gather together experiences from a number of large-scale public IT-projects and to assess common problems that the projects had run up against. Problems that served to occasion delays in the IT-systems, make them more expensive than originally planned and also, in several cases, frustrated expectations with respect to their practical value. The present report sets forth the results of this work. At the same time, it offers a series of recommendations about how people in the public-sector can get a grip on coming IT-projects.
Resource Link: http://www.tekno.dk/pdf/projekter/ExperiencesIT.pdf
Experiential Learning Exercises In Social Construction: A Field Book for Creating Change
Robert Cottor, Alan Asher, Judith Levin, and Cindy Weiser. Taos Institute Publishing, 2004.
Translating theory into practice is a creative challenge. The Institute for Creative Change has found amazing success in doing this through the performance of experiential learning exercises. This field book presents exercises that have been organized into Learning Labs that will invite innovative thinking and practice with those familiar with social construction theory as well as those who are newcomers to constructionist thinking. Learning Labs are designed to generate new thinking about diverse societal and professional issues.
Resource Link: http://taosinstitute.net/publishing/detailELEISC.html
Experimenting with Deliberative Democracy: Effects on Policy Preferences and Social Choice
Cynthia Farrar, James S. Fishkin, Donald P. Green, Christian List, Robert C. Luskin, Elizabeth Levy Paluck.
Using data from the first fully randomized field experiment within a Deliberative Poll, we examine the effects of the Deliberative Poll's formal on-site deliberations on both policy preferences and "preference structuration" or single-peakedness (operationally, the proportion of individuals whose preferences are aligned along the same shared dimension). The issues were airport expansion and revenue sharing in New Haven, Connecticut and its surrounding towns. We find that deliberation significantly altered aggregate policy preferences and increased the degree of single-peakedness on revenue sharing, though not airport expansion. These results both confirm the promise of civic deliberation as a means of transforming citizen preferences and raise the question of how deliberation's effects may depend on the kind of issue being deliberated.
Resource Link: http://cdd.stanford.edu/research/papers/2003/experimenting.pdf
Experiments in Empowered Deliberative Democracy
Archon Fung and Erik Olin Wright. MA, and WI, USA, 1999.
This volume of the Real Utopias Project explores five innovative real-world experiments in such institutional redesign, experiments that in different ways enlist the energy and intelligence of ordinary people--often drawn from the lowest strata of society--in the solution of problems that plague them. The five cases are: (1) the participatory budget of Porto Alegre, Brazil; (2) neighborhood governance councils in Chicago; (3) the Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership (WRTP); (4) the Panchayat reforms in West Bengal, India; and (5) Habitat Conservation Planning under the Endangered Species Act.
Resource Link: http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/~wright/deliberative.html
Expert Panel
Expert panels are engaged when highly specialized input and opinion is required for a project. Generally, a experts in a variety of fields are engaged to debate and discuss various courses of action and make recommendations.
Extending Public Consultation via the Internet: the Experience of the UK Advisory Committee on Genetic Testing Electronic Consultation
Colin Finney. Science and Public Policy 26(5): 361-373, 1999.
This paper considers the use of electronic consultation as a deliberative mechanism for risk regulation in relation to genetic testing. The author explains the methodology used and assesses the limitation and benefits of the process. A number of barriers are identified such as the reluctance within the United Kingdom advisory committee system to extend consultation, the cost associated with extended consultion and the relatively low level of public engagement in the process.
Resource Link: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/
Extending the theory of the Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM) through a community dialogue process
Barnett W. Pearce and Kimberly A. Pearce. Communication Theory, 10: 405-423. 2000., 2000.
Extreme Facilitation: Guiding Groups Through Controversy and Complexity
Suzanne Ghais. Jossey-Bass, 2005.
Extreme Facilitation picks up where other books on the topic leave off to present a revolutionary method that helps large, unwieldy, adversarial, and apparently dysfunctional groups achieve consensus and reach objectives on divisive and contentious issues no matter how long the group has been struggling. Throughout the book, expert facilitator Suzanne Ghais shows how extreme facilitation - which puts on the emphasis on creativity, flexibility, and customization - can change how group members interact with one another and how participants view the issues even in the most challenging and exceptionally difficult situations.
Resource Link: http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0787975931.html
Fabulous Facilitators Network, Breakfasts and Listserv
Lisa Heft hosts a "Fabulous Facilitators Breakfast" each month in Berkeley, California for a dynamic, growing group of facilitators. This casual breakfast group brings facilitators in the region together for mutual support, learning, interaction and community. Over breakfast, facilitators who specialize in a variety of methods share challenges, questions, news and mutual appreciation in about a 2-hour time span without an agenda.
Resource Link: http://lists.topica.com/lists/[email protected]/
Face-To-Face at Arm's Length: Conflict Norms and Extra-Group Relations in Grassroots Dialogue Groups
Amy S. Hubbard. Human Organization. Fall 1997, 56:3., 1997.
Research has shown that internal relations in small groups are affected by members' relationship to the external world and the extent to which groups focus their efforts on extra-group relations. This article describes the conflict norms used to manage intra-group relations by members of a grassroots dialogue group in the U.S. whose members - US Jews, Palestinians, and others - came together to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Facilitate.com
Since 1996 Facilitate.com has specialized in web-based collaboration software tools and techniques that dramatically enhance meeting productivity in the conference room or over the internet. Facilitate.com 8.0 is an electronic conference center with group decision making tools that accelerate idea generation and consensus building in a meeting room and across the internet. The resources section at Factilitate.com provides some great resources on topics like facilitating effective virtual meetings, web-based meeting tools and online strategic planning.
Resource Link: http://www.facilitate.com
FacilitatePro
FacilitatePro turns your web browser into a collaborative meeting place that facilitates group problem solving and decision making. FacilitatePro web meeting software helps facilitators and team leaders run high performance meetings by delivering tools and techniques to support innovative thinking and decision making. FacilitatePro provides online tools for surveys, brainstorming, categorizing, prioritizing, custom voting and polling, alternative analysis, action planning and reporting. Explore their live software demo site or call for a hands-on guided tour.
Resource Link: http://www.Facilitate.com
Facilitating to Lead!: Leadership Strategies for a Networked World
Ingrid Bens. Jossey-Bass, 2006.
Of all the skill sets that support the shift from a traditional management role to a more collaborative approach, none is more relevant than that of the role of the facilitator. The beliefs, behaviors, and practices of facilitation are precisely what all leaders need to acquire and put into action. In Facilitating to Lead!, renowned facilitation expert Ingrid Bens applies her proven concepts of facilitation to the leadership role and demonstrates that facilitation is an effective work style, not merely a meeting technique.
Resource Link: http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0787977314.html
Facilitating with Ease!: Core Skills for Facilitators, Team Leaders and Members, Managers, Consultants, and Trainers
Ingrid Bens. Jossey-Bass, 2005.
Facilitating with Ease! is an updated version of the best-selling resource that offers easy-to-follow instructions, techniques, and hands-on tools that team leaders, consultants, supervisors, and managers have used to learn the basics of facilitation. Complete with worksheets on CD-ROM that can be customized to fit your personal needs, it's a complete facilitation workshop in a take-home format.
Resource Link: http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0787977292.html
Facilitation
The simplest form of facilitation entails ensuring that all involved have a chance to speak and that the meeting starts and ends on time. Any group member can do this, especially if the group agrees to support them at it. It can help to rotate the responsibility, giving all group members a turn at it.
Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making (2nd Edition)
Sam Kaner with Lenny Lind, Catherine Toldi, Sara Fisk and Duane Berger. Jossey-Bass, 2007.
The Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making is the best available training manual and sourcebook for facilitators, managers and leaders who want to encourage full participation, promote mutual understanding, and help groups build inclusive, sustainable agreements. It presents more than 200 valuable tools and skills and places them in the context of a lucid, realistic model of the dynamics of group decision making. The Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making will help all facilitators improve their diagnostic judgment and increase their repertoire of methods and skills for supporting groups to make sounder, saner decisions.
Facing History and Ourselves National Foundation, Inc.
Facing History and Ourselves is an international educational non-profit organization that engages middle and high school teachers and their students in an examination of racism, prejudice, and antisemitism by relating the past to the world today. Facing History helps students find meaning in the past and recognize the need for participation and responsible decision making. Based in Brookline, Massachusetts and with branches in six U.S. cities, Facing History and Ourselves provides a range of resources (printed, network-based, speakers' bureaus, videotapes) to confront racism, prejudice and anti-Semitism in schools and the wider society.
Resource Link: http://www.facing.org
Facing Racial and Cultural Conflict: Tools for Rebuilding Community (2nd Edition)
Lester P. Schoene, Jr. and Marcelle E. DuPraw. Washington, DC: National Civic League, 1994.
This publication offers an assortment of tools that can be used to bring people together and help channel intergroup conflict in productive directions. The techniques presented range from proactive initiatives to incident-specific responses. Emphasis is given to collaborative problem solving, but the authors discuss such topics as the role of the community leader in a conflict situation, grassroots initiatives, and educational programs.
Resource Link: http://www.ncl.org
Facing Racism in a Diverse Nation
Everyday Democracy, 2006.
Resource Link: http://www.everyday-democracy.org/en/Resource.91.aspx
Faculty Toolkit for Service-Learning in Higher Education
Sarina D. Seifer and Kara Connors, Editors. Community-Campus Partnerships for Health, for Learn and Serve America's National Service Clearinghouse.
This toolkit is divided into 10 units designed to aid faculty in every step of planning, designing, implementing and evaluating service-learning programs into their curriculum and institutions.
Fairness and Competence in Citizen Participation: Evaluating Models for Environmental Discourse
Ortwin Renn, Thomas Webler, and Peter Wiedemann. Technology, Risk and Society Series, Volume 10, 1995.
This book develops a method of measuring the performance of processes to allow the public to participate in environmental debates. Drawing on Habermas' Critical Theory of Communication Action, describes public participation as an act of communication and constructs a normative framework around the principles of procedural fairness and competence in knowledge verification. Evaluates and critiques eight models from North America and Europe. The paper is of interest to planners and citizen activists.
Resource Link: http://www.springer.com/west/home/default?SGWID=4-40356-22-33376306-0
Faith & Politics Institute
The Faith and Politics Institute is a non-partisan, interfaith organization which fosters community and conscience in and among U.S. political leaders. The Institute works with members of Congress who want to involve citizens in discussion and action on race in their home districts.
Resource Link: http://www.faithandpolitics.org
Federal Dispute Resolution: Using ADR with the United States Government
Jeffrey M. Senger. Jossey-Bass, 2003.
This guide to using alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in matters involving the federal government is appropriate for anyone involved in the ADR process, including those who represent the government and those who have disputes with the government. In a highly accessible format, Federal Dispute Resolution offers valuable information about the benefits of the ADR process and outlines the laws and regulations that govern this new field. The book includes instructions on how to determine which disputes are best suited to ADR and how to select the type of ADR process that is most appropriate for a particular situation. It also includes step-by-step guidance on how to prepare for ADR and offers suggestions on how to advocate effectively in ADR.
Resource Link: http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0787968587.html
Federal Rulemaking: Agencies' Use of Information Technology to Facilitate Public Participation
Michael Brostek.
This letter responds to the US General Accounting Office requests to provide examples of how federal agencies are using information technology (IT) to facilitate public participation in the rulemaking process. The GAO also asked the letter to identify potentially beneficial uses of IT in the rulemaking process that have not yet been adopted by federal agencies, and to discuss the benefits and drawbacks of standardizing innovative uses of IT across multiple agencies.
Resource Link: http://www.gao.gov/archive/2000/gg00135r.pdf
Fellowship for Intentional Community
FIC nurtures connections and cooperation among communitarians and their friends. They provide publications, referrals, support services, and sharing opportunities for a wide range of intentional communities, cohousing groups, ecovillages, community networks, support organizations, and people seeking a home in community.
Resource Link: http://fic.ic.org
Field Trip
Field trips are organized trips where participants visit physical sites. They are a venue for providing information and at times, opportunities for participant input. Public input is possible when other participative activities are combined with the field trip.
Fielding Graduate Institute - Dialogue, Deliberation and Public Engagement Certificate Program
In 2004, Fielding Graduate Institute, in collaboration with The International Institute for Sustained Dialogue (IISD) and the Kettering Foundation, launched this unique 16-week graduate level Certificate Program. The program strives for the development of "virtuosity" in our practice of dialogue and deliberation. "Virtuosity is what results when people follow their passions to know something well and to perform skillfully. It combines at least three things: (a) a 'passion' for what you are doing; (b) an ability to make [clear] distinctions and (c) the ability to engage in skilled performance.?” We have designed the course to enhance participants?’ abilities to engage in skilled performance.
Resource Link: http://www.fielding.edu/hod/ce/dialog/index.html
Fielding Graduate Institute - School of Human and Organization Development
Fielding's School of Human and Organization Development is a global community of lifelong learning professionals who place a premium on student and faculty interaction through mentoring and dialogue, both face-to-face and online. The program offers distance learning doctoral degrees and online masters degrees. The School of Human & Organization Development currently offers three Continuing Education Certificate programs: the new 16-week Dialogue, Deliberation, and Public Engagement Certificate, the Online Facilitation Certificate, and the Evaluation and Organization Development Certificate.
Resource Link: http://www.fielding.edu/schoolhod/index.htm
Fighting Urban Poverty: Which Participatory Approaches?
World Urban Forum III / United Nations Online Network in Public Administration and Finance (UNPAN), 2006.
This report summarizes a panel held during a side event of the third annual World Urban Forum in Vancouver, Canada, June 2005. Due to the rapid urbanization of poverty, the focus was on issues relating to approaches, methodologies, tools and techniques that are relevant to participatory methods in tackling this growing phenomenon.
Resource Link: http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/UN/UNPAN024789.pdf
Finding Better Ways to Solve Public Problems: The Emerging Role of Universities as Neutral Forums for Collaborative Policymaking
Policy Consensus Initiative, 2005.
This report describes how universities are establishing centers that serve as forums for using collaborative approaches to address public issues. The report, which is based on a survey of 42 conflict resolution and consensus building programs housed at universities in 35 states, describes one way of filling a key need identified in their research on how collaborative governance can best work. That need: a neutral forum where all sectors can come together to work on solutions to public problems. The survey was conducted in late 2004 by David Kovick.
Resource Link: http://www.policyconsensus.org/publications/reports/docs/UniversityReport.pdf
FISH!
Conversations don't just impact your culture. They ARE your culture... FISH! Culture is a step-by-step 10-unit learning program that will have a lasting impact on the overall culture of your organization. The "FISH! Philosophy" emerged in 1998 from the film "FISH! Catch the Energy, Release the Potential" about the Seattle's world-famous Pike Place Fish Market. What was captured and translated into film was that even in a workplace where fishmongers spent stinky, grueling 12-hour shifts stocking, selling and packing fish, remarkable results can occur when people accept the invitation to: 1) Be There for their coworkers and customers; 2) Play; 3) Make someone's day, and; 4) Choose their attitude about how they show up for work.
Resource Link: http://www.charthouse.com
Fishbowl
A technique used to increase participation and understanding of issues. The fishbowl consists of an inner group of participants in a roundtable format involved in a conversation (possibly including Decision Making).
Five Stages of the Public Peace Process
Harold Saunders. Conflict Resolution Center International Newsletter, January 1998, pp 20, 23., 1998.
A two-page essay outlining Harold Saunders' five stages of a public peace process which leads to reconciliation and collaboration. The stages are: deciding to engage, mapping the relationship together, probing the dynamics of the relationship together, experiencing the relationship by thinking together, and acting together.
Flawless Consulting and Stewardship
Peter Block. Jossey-Bass / Pfeiffer, 2000.
Fle3
Fle3 is server software for computer supported collaborative learning. With Fle3's Knowledge Building tool, groups may carry out knowledge building dialogues, theory building and debates by storing their thoughts into a shared database. Fle3 comes with two default Knowledge Type sets: Progressive Inquiry and Design Thinking.
Resource Link: http://fle3.uiah.fi/
Flipping the Script: White Privilege and Community Building
Maggie Potapchuk (MP Associates) and Sally Leiderman (Center for Assessment and Policy Development), with Donna Bivens (Women's Theological Center) and Barbara Major (St. Thomas Health Clinic). MP Associates, Inc. and the Center for Assessment and Policy Development (CAPD), 2005.
Flipping the Script is a 156-page monograph designed for people who work in communities to identify and address issues of white privilege, oppression, racism and power as they play out in this work. It is for community builders, grant makers, technical assistance providers and others who are trying to develop more equitable and thoughtful partnerships with community residents and organizations.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/Potapchuk_Flipping.pdf
Focus Group
Focus groups are used for exploratory studies, and the issues that emerge from the focus group may be developed into a questionnaire or other form of survey to verify the findings. Relatively inexpensive, focus groups can provide fairly dependable data within a short time frame.
For Communities to Work
David Mathews. Kettering Foundation.
For Communities to Work presents a broad framework intended as background for civic organizations that want to look at the state of the public in their communities. It explains how private individuals become public citizens and how publics form. The process of reinvigorating citizens in communities requires generating the political will for "public work," or the work of citizens with each other. 53 pages.
Resource Link: http://www.kettering.org
For Convenors and Moderators: Organizing for Public Deliberation and Moderating a Forum/Study Circle
National Issues Forums, 2001.
This 24-page guide for moderators and convenors of National Issues Forums-style deliberation includes sections on how to get started, organizing a forum, moderating, reporting, posters, materials and more.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/NIF_guide_for_moderators.pdf
For next set of national campaign issues, think locally
Matt Leighninger. Christian Science Monitor, July 13, 2005.
Matt Leighninger, senior associate at the Study Circles Resource Center, wrote this op-ed, asking party leaders to take note of the changing relationship between citizens and government on key public issues, such as homeowner protection, budgeting processes, and family-driven schools.
Resource Link: http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0713/p09s02-coop.html
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is a resource for innovative people and institutions worldwide. Our goals are to: strengthen democratic values, reduce poverty and injustice, promote international cooperation and advance human achievement. Created with gifts and bequests by Edsel and Henry Ford, the Foundation is an independent organization, with its own board, and is entirely separate from the Ford Motor Company.
Forgiveness - Breaking the Chain of Hate
Michael Henderson. Grosvenor Books, 2003.
Michael Henderson writes about remarkable people of many nations and faiths who have broken the chain of hate and the hold of history. Survivors of the Burma Railway, the Siberian Gulag and Nazi atrocities forgive those who tormented them; representatives of entire peoples, Australian Aborigines, African-Americans, black South Africans, are reconciled with whites who exploited them; offenders find the grace to apologize. Archbishop Desmond Tutu calls the book "A deeply moving and eloquent testimony to the power of forgiveness."
Forum Foundation
The Forum Foundation conducts futures research in the field of Administrative Theory and Many-to-Many Communication technology to discover those dynamics which tend to move organizations and institutions, universally, toward solving their problems and anticipating or adapting to changes in their internal or external environment.
Resource Link: http://www.ForumFoundation.org
Forums Institute Policy Forums
Over the past 10 years, the Forums Institute for Public Policy has developed Informed Contemplative Dialogue, a successful method of engaging stakeholders in not only talking about an issue, but also learning new perspectives and sharing information with others beyond the forum itself. Unlike most group gatherings whose goal is to support cohesive group effort, the goal of a Policy Forum using Informed Contemplative Dialogue is to provide participants what they need to think about an issue and to take action within their own sphere of influence.
Fostering a Culture of Environmental Compliance Through Greater Public Involvement
Ruth Greenspan Bell, Jane Bloom Stewart, and Magda Toth Nagy. Environment, 44 (8), 33, 2002.
The Aarhus Convention grew out of the process of European and global international environmental law drafting, which has included the notions of environmental democracy, transparency, and public participation increasingly since the early 1990s. The convention includes three "pillars"--in addition to access to environmental information, Aarhus contains provisions about public participation and so-called access to justice, or mechanisms to safeguard the explicit rights afforded under the first two pillars and under national environmental law. Central and Eastern European countries have several incentives to turn history around.
Resource Link: http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1076/is_8_44/ai_92378060
Fostering Dialogue Across Divides: A Nuts and Bolts Guide from the Public Conversations Project
Maggie Herzig and Laura Chasin, Public Conversations Project.
For years, the Public Conversations Project has set the standard for facilitation materials and training in the dialogue and deliberation field. This Guide--chock-full of PCP's road-tested techniques for effectively engaging people across differences--is an invaluable resource for both established dialogue facilitators and newcomers to this work.
Resource Link: http://www.publicconversations.org
Foundation for Community Encouragement
FCE is a Seattle-based international nonprofit which teaches the community building methods developed by FCE and Dr. M. Scott Peck, author of The Road Less Traveled. Committed to discovering new and better ways of being together, FCE offers facilitator training; regional, national and international workshops; seminars; corporate consulting; and community coaching services.
Resource Link: http://www.fce-community.org
Foundation for Prevention and Early Resolution of Conflicts (PERC)
The Foundation for Prevention and Early Resolution of Conflicts (PERC) is dedicated to the promotion of conflict resolution by agreement-making through the voluntary techniques of conflict resolution: negotiation, mediation and arbitration. The website contains a statement by Theodore W. Kheel, PERC's president, entitled "The Gentle Art of Agreement-Making," in the belief that agreement-making underlies both conflict resolution and alternative dispute resolution.
Resource Link: http://www.conflictresolution.org
Four Simple Principles for Democratic Governance of Globalization
Dani Rodrik.
The fundamental dilemma of the world economy is that markets are straining to become global, while the institutions that are required for their effective functioning - legal, social, and political - remain largely parochial and national. This disjuncture between the reach of markets and the scope of non-market institutions has adverse consequences for both economics and politics. On the one hand, economic integration remains necessarily incomplete, limiting the gains to be reaped from open trade and investment policies. On the other, economic openness raises equity and legitimacy concerns on the part of groups that feel left out and ignored. The author presents four principles to govern reform of global economic structure.
Framing Questions and Starting Conversations
Let's Talk America, 2004.
Let's Talk America (LTA), a project that encouraged conversations that bridge across political difference, provided a resource to help conversation hosts frame questions in a way that is not polarizing. LTA recommended starting with a question that invites a personal story from people, in order to create a context in which they feel invited to speak. They suggested the question "What about the invitation to this conversation moved and inspired you? What led you to come?" Here are some other ideas...
Framing, Deliberation, and Opinions about Campaign Finance Reform
James N. Druckman, Kjersten R. Nelson. Paper presented at the Political Psychology and Behavior Workshop, Center for Basic Research in the Social Sciences, Harvard University, December 5, 2002.
Public opinion research demonstrates that citizens' opinions depend on elite rhetoric and interpersonal conversations. Yet we continue to have little idea about how these two forces interact with one another. In this paper, the authors address this issue by experimentally examining how interpersonal conversations affect (prior) elite framing effects. Focusing on opinions about campaign finance reform, the authors find that conversations among like-minded people have no effect on elite framing, but conversations that include conflicting perspectives eliminate elite framing effects.
Free Conference
Offers free reservationless and web-scheduled conference calls for businesses, organizations and individuals. Each participant calls a long distance number and is charged by their phone company accordingly, but the host does not pay any per-participant fee. This service is used widely by nonprofit organizations.
Resource Link: http://www.freeconference.com
Free-range Thinking
a goodman.
Free-range Thinking is a free printed monthly newsletter for public interest groups, foundations, and progressive businesses that want to reach more people more effectively. Produced by Andy Goodman's company "a goodman," this unique newsletter covers such topics as crafting your message, making good PowerPoint presentations, and telling your organization's story effectively.
Resource Link: http://www.agoodmanonline.com
FriendsOfNVC (e-newsletter)
Run by the Center for NonViolent Communication, FriendsOfNVC is a one-way email announcement list for people interested in being kept up-to-date by email about activities and developments in the NVC network.
Resource Link: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/friendsofnvc
From An Introduction to Contemporary Political Theory: Deliberative Democracy
Colin Farrelly.
Different distributive principles are endorsed by different justice theorists (e.g. the difference principle, the principle of minimal relative concession, etc.). But many political theorists have questioned the distributive paradigm which has dominated contemporary liberal theory. In this chapter the author examines another theory which also questions the dominance of the distributive paradigm- deliberative democracy. Since the early 1990s the so-called "deliberative turn" (Dryzek, 2000) in democratic theory has preoccupied debates concerning the relation between democracy and justice, a relation that was marginalised by the distributive paradigm.
From Conflict to Creativity: How Resolving Workplace Disagreements Can Inspire Innovation and Productivity
Sy Landau, Barbara Landau and Daryl Landau. Jossey-Bass, 2001.
From Conflict to Creativity offers leaders, managers, boards of directors, and team members a new way of thinking about conflict in the workplace. Within these pages, three experts in the field of workplace conflict resolution present an innovative and proven collaborative model that can help resolve on-the-job conflicts and unleash the potential for creativity. Using the information and tools presented in this book can take any organization from a place that merely tolerates conflict to a dynamic environment that uses everyday differences to enhance creativity.
Resource Link: http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0787954233.html
From Dialogue to Action: Paying the Democratic Deficit in Venezuela
Jay Hartling and Laura Wells.
This 31-page PDF was used to guide Jay Hartling and Laura Wells' well-received workshop at NCDD's 2006 conference in San Francisco. The lively lecture-style presentation and discussion examined action beyond dialogue, and the intersection of state institutions, civil society organizations and neighborhoods through preliminary research on the implementation of Venezuela's new Law of Communal Councils. Presenters discussed the convergence of political will and pressure from grassroots communities to support a bold shift to a truly participatory democracy. The session also shared information on different approaches to democracy in other regions of the globe, particularly the global south.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/Hartling_DtoA-venezuela.pdf
From Diatribe to Dialogue on Divisive Public Issues: Approaches Drawn from Family Therapy
Richard Chasin, Margaret Herzig, Sallyann Roth, Laura Chasin, and Robert R. Stains Jr.. Mediation Quarterly, Volume 13, 4, 323-344, 1996.
A comprehensive overview of the Public Conversation Project's general approach, this article draws case examples from four different subprojects and it makes explicit the connections between PCP's principles and practices and ideas and methods drawn from family therapy.
Resource Link: http://www.publicconversations.org/pcp/resources/resource_detail.asp?ref_id=61
From International System to International Society: Structural Realism and Regime Theory Meet the English School
Barry Buzan. American Journal of International Law, 93 (3), 1993.
The idea of international society is an essential element in the study of international relations. International society is the core concept of the English school and has not yet been systematically integrated with American-originated structural realism and regime theory. This article brings together these three bodies of theory and shows how they complement and strengthen each other.
Resource Link: http://www.cup.org/
From Rio to Johannesburg: Reflections on the Role of International Legal Norms in Sustainable Development
Alhaji Marong. Georgetown International Environmental Law Review, 16 (1), 21 ?– 76, 2003.
This paper has three broad objectives. First, it seeks to establish that the historical development of sustainable development as a legal concept shows that it implies the pursuit of economic development, environmental protection, and social development as non-hierarchical objectives of international society.
Resource Link: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3970/is_200310/ai_n9282137
From Stuck Debate to New Conversation on Controversial Issues: A Report from the Public Conversations Project
Carol Becker, Laura Chasin, Richard Chasin, Margaret Herzig and Sallyann Roth. Journal of Feminist Family Therapy, 7 (1-2), 143-163, 1995.
This article presents the four guiding objectives of PCP's work and describes practices that support each of those objectives, drawing case examples from their introductory dialogues on abortion.
Resource Link: http://www.publicconversations.org/pcp/resources/resource_detail.asp?ref_id=69
From the Four Directions Circle Starter Kit
A leader is anyone who wants to help, anyone who is willing to step forward to help create change in their world. Change begins with conversation. From the Four Directions, an initiative of the Berkana Institute, offers a simple, yet powerful way for people to be in meaningful conversations.
Resource Link: http://www.fromthefourdirections.org
From Users and Choosers to Makers and Shapers: Repositioning Participation in Social Policy
Andrea Cornwall and John Gaventa.
In this paper, the authors explore an approach to social policy that sees citizens not only as users or choosers, but as active participants who engage in making and shaping social policy and social provisioning. In doing so, we argue that the concept of 'social citizenship' that has often underpinned considerations of social welfare should be expanded to include not only concepts of social rights, but also of social responsibilities and social accountability through direct forms of democratic governance.
Resource Link: http://www.socialplatform.org/module/FileLib/participationinsocialpolicy.pdf
From Wrongs to Rights: 1973 to 1999 Public Opinion on Gay and Lesbian Americans Moves Toward Equality
Alan Yang; introduction by Dr. Kenneth Sherrill. Produced by the Policy Institute of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
Securing accurate, factual, well-researched data on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities remains one of the biggest challenges facing the advocacy movement and policy makers. This 40-page report marks an important step to deliver such data. From Wrongs to Rights collects and analyzes data from a wide range of public opinion polls done over a more than twenty year period.
Resource Link: http://www.thetaskforce.org/downloads/fwtr99.pdf
Full Circle Associates
The consulting practice of Nancy White and a network of independent professionals, Full Circle Associates provides strategic communication, online community development, facilitation, marketing, and project management services for the community, non-profit and business sectors. Full Circle focuses on online and offline strategies with a passionate interest in online community and collaboration, and provides training in online facilitation and distance collaboration.
Resource Link: http://www.fullcirc.com
Full Circle Associates' Online Community Toolkit
Maintains a rich collection of resources aimed at helping online community builders stay informed on current trends, and obtain technical assistance and advice.
Resource Link: http://www.fullcirc.com/community/communitymanual.htm
Full Circle Trainings
Full Circle offers high-quality trainings on facilitating online interaction, hosting and moderating live chat environments, hosting and moderating on-line communities and effective global teamwork. These interactive trainings are hands-on, in-depth, personalized and fun.
Resource Link: http://www.fullcirc.com/ws/wisecircle.htm
Future Café
The Future Café is an innovative, dialogue-based method that builds upon people's natural desire to seek common ground and collaborate for a better future. This methodology is usually offered in the form of a workshop -- a seven-step, dialogue-based process, that is ideal for the collaborative exploration and practical development of any chosen theme, challenge or idea.
Resource Link: http://www.thefuturecafe.com
Future Search
Future search includes a planning process and a 16 to 18-hour meeting usually including two overnights. Participants discover a set of shared values or themes (common ground) and build new dynamics such as inclusion and collaboration into their organization or community. Future search ("future search" is not capitalized) is not owned by anyone and all are encouraged to use the process and experiment with it. It is supported by a network of people called the Future Search Network. It is an open system process, which means it considers anyone a necessary participant who can affect, is affected by or has important information or experience related to the task at hand.
Future Search Network (and trainings)
The Future Search Network initiates future search conferences, innovative planning conferences used world-wide by hundreds of communities and organizations. The conferences meet two goals at the same time: helping large diverse groups discover values, purposes and projects they hold in common; and enabling people to create a desired future together and start implementing right away.
Resource Link: http://www.futuresearch.net
Future Search: An Action Guide to Finding Common Ground in Organizations and Communities
Marvin Weisbord and Sandra Janoff, Future Search Network. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 1995.
This book describes a step-by-step process for planning and leading a Future Search conference, where diverse community members come together to envision and plan their shared future.
Resource Link: http://www.futuresearch.net
Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD)
GLAAD is dedicated to promoting and ensuring fair, accurate and inclusive representation of people and events in the media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. GLAAD?’s high-quality Media Reference Guide, now in its 6th edition, offers the tools journalists need to tell the stories of LGBT people in a fair, accurate and inclusive way.
Resource Link: http://www.glaad.org
Gay Rights Issue Guide
Public Agenda.
For much of American history, indeed, for much of world history, homosexuality has been a taboo subject. Often, it has been considered a crime in itself. Yet today, millions of gay and lesbian Americans are not only open about their sexuality, they are campaigning for new laws which they say would grant them the same rights accorded to heterosexuals, including the right to marry and protection against discrimination. What's more, there's been a notable shift in the public's attitudes toward homosexuality over the last two decades. Public Agenda Issue Guides or ?“Citizen Choicework Guides?” contain background information on the topic and present three different approaches to the issue for people to deliberate.
Resource Link: http://www.publicagenda.org/issues/frontdoor.cfm?issue_type=gay_rights
Gay Rights: All the Way to the Altar?
Public Agenda.
In the next few years, politicians will have to decide whether gays and lesbians should have the right to marry, adopt children, or serve in the military, and whether they should be protected from hate crimes or workplace discrimination. Your vote can decide how far the country will go ?— or where it will refuse to go. Consider the alternatives. Decide what you think is best. And let your vote influence what they decide. This choicework guide about same-sex marriage presents three approaches: (1) Extend equal rights to all our citizens, including gay people; (2) Let states and communities choose their own solutions; (3) Protect traditional institutions and values. Each approach is accompanied by arguments for and against the approach.
Resource Link: http://www.publicagenda.org/firstchoice2004/gayrights.cfm
Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN)
GLSEN works to create safe and effective schools for LGBT students. Although its focus is on primary and secondary schools, some of its resources - which include background on why an organization like GLSEN is necessary, tools to help ensure safe schools, information on current legal and political battles over safety for LGBT students, classroom curricula and lesson plans, and tools to assist with local organizing/training - may be of a more general interest.
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Civil Rights Laws in the U.S.
Research by Jane Goldschmidt. The Policy Institute of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (www.thetaskforce.org). August, 1998.
This publication lists state and municipal laws that concern gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights. These include hate crimes laws, sodomy statutes, domestic partnership laws and registries, anti-same-gender marriage statutes, and state, city and county ordinances which include coverage against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Wherever possible, gay rights laws that have been repealed have also been included. Download the 27-page PDF document directly from the NCDD website.
Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/glbt_civil_rights_laws.PDF
Gecko Graphics
Gecko Graphics is a firm specializing in corporate Mindscaping. Mindscaping is the unique process of transforming ideas and concepts into a powerful, highly visual graphic format of pictures, images, words and key icons. Founder Michelle Boos-Stone captures the 'flow' of business sessions in real time (as a presenter or speaker is talking) in bold, colorful images to help stimulate visual learners to better follow and understand processes and to clearly see interrelationships, while synthesizing thoughts and information.
Gender and Participation in Agricultural Development Planning: Key Issues From 10 Case Studies
Jeanne Koopman. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy.
Report and training guide on using participatory methods for reproductive health interventions in Nepal. Documents experiences from two training of trainer workshops that were conducted over a two year period in Nepal to assess reproductive health needs and to help trainers gain the skills to assist communities in addressing these needs. The workshops were conducted by World Neighbors in partnership with a local non-government group, the Baudha Bahunipati Family Welfare Project (a project of the Family Planning Association of Nepal).
Resource Link: http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/FAOINFO/SUSTDEV/WPdirect/WPre0061.htm
Generative Dialogic Change
Based upon a year of research, the Generative Dialogue Project has identified a new family of approaches to global problem solving which they call "multistakeholder generative dialogic change processes." The words "generative dialogic change," mean that through dialogue--deep conversations among all relevant system actors--a greater level of understanding and awareness is developed about the problem and each actor's role in a larger system of interactions. By doing so, system actors are able to generate new alliances, collaborations, and solutions that go beyond traditional approaches.
Generative Dialogue Project
The Generative Dialogue Project emerged in late 2003 as part of the Global Leadership Initiative, a broad effort to address the need for more effective approaches to global problem solving. From the outset, our intention for the GDP has been to organize a community of experienced dialogue practitioners as a peer learning group to work together to advance the state of the art of dialogic problem solving and to promote the use of the most effective processes in the global arena.
Resource Link: http://www.generativedialogue.org
GeNIe
GeNIe is an environment for building graphical decision models. The GeNIe [Graphical Network Interface] software package can be used to create decision theoretic models intuitively using the graphical click-and-drop interface. It is a major teaching and research tool in academic environments and is being used in research and in teaching courses at the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University.
Resource Link: http://genie.sis.pitt.edu/
Genuine Contact Program
The Genuine Contact Program's holistic approach provides the opportunity for leaders and organizations to assist their organizations to heal and to increase their skills, capacity, and competence in achieving optimal performance. Workshops include Organizational Health and Balance, Individual Health and Balance, Working with Open Space Technology, Whole Person Process Facilitation, Cross Cultural Conflict Resolution, and developing the Conscious Open Space Organization.
Resource Link: http://www.genuinecontact.net
Geoff Ball & Associates
Geoff Ball, Ph.D. works in a variety of settings with a wide range of clients in situations that are often complex, technical, conflict-laden, multi-jurisdictional, and involve varying numbers of people from small working groups to large conferences and public meetings. Recently he has focused on facilitation (including graphic facilitation) of key meetings; strategy and strategic planning; facilitation system training; conflict resolution and team building with city councils, boards and senior management teams.
Resource Link: http://www.geoffballfacilitator.com
George Mason University - The Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution
George Mason University's ICAR program offers Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Conflict Analysis and Resolution. Both degree programs are among the first in this field and are part of the mission of the Institute: to advance the understanding and resolution of significant and persistent human conflicts among individuals, small groups, communities, ethnic groups, and nations. Enhancing the Institute's degree programs are three additional components: research and publication, a clinical and consultancy program, and public education.
Resource Link: http://www.gmu.edu/departments/ICAR
Georgetown University - Master of Arts in Conflict Resolution
From Darfur to Iraq to Washington D.C., disputes over politics, culture, resources, and religion have given rise to the need for new and creative approaches to resolving conflict. While deeply-rooted conflicts are often not fully resolved, they may be transformed from heated or violent disputes into more manageable, peaceful forms. The Georgetown M.A. Program in Conflict Resolution seeks to equip its graduates with the theoretical and practical tools necessary to better understand the nature of, and solutions to, many types and degrees of conflict.
Resource Link: http://conflictresolution.georgetown.edu/
Georgetown University - Master of Arts Program in Democracy Studies
The Center for Democracy and Civil Society has established a two-year Master of Arts Program in Democracy Studies through the Department of Government. Intended to meet the diverse needs of all those who seek a deeper understanding of democracy and processes of democratization, the ground-breaking program will be of special interest for those seeking to develop careers working on behalf of democratic change in a wide range of professional and academic settings, in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.
Resource Link: http://cdacs.georgetown.edu/democracystudies
Getting a Grip: Clarity, Creativity, and Courage in a World Gone Mad
Frances Moore Lappé. Small Planet Media, 2007.
This determinedly optimistic manifesto-cum-workbook by the author of Diet for a Small Planet begins with the question, "Why are we as societies creating a world that we as individuals abhor?", Lappé posits that U.S. culture is grounded in a worldview of scarcity, creating a society of competitive materialists who practice a Thin Democracy of electoral politics in a one rule market economy that returns wealth to wealth and leads to an ever-increasing concentration of power. Yet she believes there is no reason we can't create a values-guided, empowering democracy based on the premise of plenty, where individuals and communities take charge of public life and engage in active listening, conflict mediation, dialogue and judgment.
Resource Link: http://www.gettingagrip.net
Getting the Most Out of Public Hearings: A Guide to Improve Public Involvement
Terry Amsler, with JoAnne Speers. The Institute for Local Government of the Collaborative Governance Initiative, 2005.
This twelve-page pamphlet provides practical ideas for making public hearings more effective forums for participants and public officials alike. Suggestions include how to add to the diversity of the public's participation, improve the quality of testimony and communications at hearings, and developing greater public trust in these processes for public decision-making.
Resource Link: http://www.ca-ilg.org/publichearings
Getting the Public into Public Policy
Judy Watling, Canadian Policy Research Network (CPRN).
In Getting the Public into Public Policy, a presentation to the Canadian School of Public Service, Judy Watling, Assistant Director of CPRN's Public Involvement Network, distinguishes citizen engagement from processes like public communication and public consultation. The latter entail one-way, rather than interactive information flows.
Resource Link: http://www.cprn.org/en/doc.cfm?doc=1398
GIS and Public Participation Planning: Recommendations from Hollywood, California
Terence Young. Paper presented to the Association of American Geographers, Los Angeles, CA. March 19-23, 2002.
In the last 150 years, environmental planning has become an expected feature of urban management and has generally been run as a top-down, expert driven process relying ever more heavily upon complex technologies like Geographic Information Systems (GIS). In recent decades, however, critics have called increasingly for less emphasis on formal expertise and greater community participation. Environmental planning, they argue, needs to be more bottom-up, open, and democratic.
GIS in Public Participation Settings
Paul Schroeder.
This presentation reports on meetings, discussions and projects concerned with the theme "public participation GIS" (PPGIS). Emerging visions of public contexts for GIS are contrasted with some of the present limitations of GIS implementation. The opportunity to develop new community institutions and the need for new professional roles within a culture of information sharing are discussed as reflections of the public participation theme. The significance of places to community members points toward including narratives and stories as an initial step in developing a multimedia GIS. This would also begin to enable communities to locate situational precedents and communicate about them with each other while maintaining a geographic information context.
Giving and Volunteering in the United States: Key Findings
Independent Sector, 2001.
Independent Sector's Giving and Volunteering in the United States 2001 is the seventh in a series of biennial national surveys that reported trends in charitable behavior. For the 1.23 million charities, social welfare organizations, and religious congregations in the United States, giving and volunteering is at the heart of citizen action and central to their ability to serve their communities. This comprehensive study demonstrates once again the everyday generosity of Americans.
Resource Link: http://www.independentsector.org/programs/research/gv01main.html
Global Dialogue Institute
Temple University's Global Dialogue Institute promotes a process called 'Deep-Dialogue' within and among the cultures, religions and other direction-shaping forces of the world. GDI fosters the Three Dimensions of Deep-Dialogue (ethics, globality and spirituality) by organizing and promoting research, publications, and face-to-face Inter-World Encounters in its Twelve-Step Program to Deep-Dialogue.
Resource Link: http://www.global-dialogue.com
Global Dialogue Institute
The Global Dialogue Institute at Temple University promotes a process called 'Deep-Dialogue' within and among the cultures, religions and other direction-shaping forces of the world. GDI fosters the Three Dimensions of Deep-Dialogue (ethics, globality and spirituality) by organizing and promoting research, publications, and face-to-face Inter-World Encounters in its Twelve-Step Program to Deep-Dialogue.
Resource Link: http://www.global-dialogue.com
Global Directory of Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution Programs (Seventh Edition)
A joint project of the Peace and Justice Studies Association (PJSA) and the International Peace Research Association (IPRA) Foundation, this is the most current comprehensive annotated guide to peace studies and conflict resolution programs at colleges and universities worldwide. This edition profiles over 450 undergraduate, Master's and Doctoral programs and concentrations in over 40 countries and 38 U.S. states.
Resource Link: http://www.peacejusticestudies.org/publications.php
Global Environment: Considering U.S. Policy
Choices Program at Brown University?’s Watson Institute for International Studies.
Global warming is in the news daily. This issue is not new. The Kyoto Treaty went into effect on February 16, 2005. While many European nations and Japan signed the treaty, the United States did not. What should U.S. policy be concerning global environmental issues? This resource presents four divergent policy options on the question of U.S. global environment policy. Resources to facilitate deliberation on this issue are included. Links to additional materials are also available. The materials are produced for use in high school classrooms, and are easily adapted to public discussion.
Resource Link: http://www.choices.edu/resources/twtn_environment.php
Global Facilitator Service Corps
Through our support of volunteer facilitators worldwide, GFSC helps communities build their capacity to work through their challenges and create sustainable solutions. GFSC is dedicated to helping communities, groups and institutions address their needs, help people learn how to resolve their differences, care for themselves, solve problems and create sustainable solutions. We mentor, coach and share tools and techniques with volunteer facilitators in local communities, encouraging and supporting the use of local resources to meet local needs.
Resource Link: http://globalfacilitators.org
Global Kids
The mission of Global Kids is to prepare urban youth to become global citizens and community leaders. Global Kids works to ensure that young people of diverse backgrounds have the knowledge, skills, and experiences they need to succeed in the workplace and participate in the shaping of public policy and international relations. Global Kids conducts online and face-to-face dialogues for high-school students.
Resource Link: http://www.globalkids.org
Global Legal Pluralism and Electronic Democracy
Oren Perez.
The paper focuses on one aspect of the globalization process: the emergence of new forms of global law, with unprecedented normative powers. The highly autonomous and intrusive nature of these new legal systems presents the global society with a difficult democratic challenge. It is a challenge to which the contemporary political order (of the national and international levels) has no answer. The paper argues that a proper, and realistic response to this democratic challenge would require the development of novel arenas for deliberation, which could break the mold of the current nationalistic order, and compensate for the absence of a truly universal political framework.
Resource Link: http://www.biu.ac.il/law/unger/working_papers/3-04.pdf
Global Majority
Global Majority promotes non-violent conflict resolution education, mediation and advocacy. We believe that principled dialogue is imperative and must replace violent conflict if humankind is to thrive. To promote a fundamentally new manner of thinking in global relations, Global Majority is developing national, regional, and global advocacy campaigns that embody our aim to give voice to the global majority.
Global Networks for Democracy Promotion: Enhancing Local Governance
Timothy D. Sisk.
This case study describes the global public policy network for democracy promotion and explores the new emphasis on local governance in an era of globalization. One of the principal lessons learned from the democracy promotion field is that local actors need to be more fully and systematically included in the global public policy network if external assistance for democracy promotion is to be more successful. A close, cooperative and equal relationship among local and international actors in this network is critical. Without such relationship, democracy promotion can be perceived as external meddling in a country's politics and power.
Resource Link: http://www.globalpublicpolicy.net/fileadmin/gppi/Sisk_Local_Governance.pdf
Global Nonviolent Peace Force
Nonviolent Peaceforce is a federation of over 90 Member Organizations from around the world. In partnership with local groups, unarmed Nonviolent Peaceforce Field Team members apply proven strategies to protect human rights, deter violence, and help create space for local peacemakers to carry out their work. The mission of the Nonviolent Peaceforce is to build a trained, international civilian peaceforce committed to third-party nonviolent intervention.
Resource Link: http://www.nonviolentpeaceforce.org
God & Allah Need to Talk: A Film for Healing and Reconciliation
Ruth Broyde-Sharone, filmmaker.
Following the devastating events of 9/11, filmmaker Ruth Broyde-Sharone saw an urgent need to document the efforts of courageous Muslims, Jews, and Christians in Los Angeles who are determined to bring healing to a fragmented nation. The film illustrates how interfaith dialogue, community outreach, and even dinner conversation can be harnessed to dissolve fear and suspicion and, ultimately, to create a path towards true reconciliation. God/Allah is always talking to us, but are we talking to one another?
Resource Link: http://filmsthatmatter.com/videos.html
Going public: Working systemically in public contexts (Published as: '?ƒ"?ƒºTornando-se público'?ƒ"?ƒ¹: trabalhando sistemicamente em contextos publicos)
Barnett W. Pearce and Kimberly A. Pearce. Pp. 275-296 in D. Fried Schnitman & S. Littlejohn (Eds.) Novos paradigmas em mediaçâo. Porto Alegre: Artmed. Trans. J. Haubert Rodrigues & M.A.G. Domingues. 1999..
Gov2U
Gov2U is a Greek NGO that has been working to promote the use of technology in citizen-government decisionmaking. Gov2U was founded by a group of visionary professionals from the fields of Legislative Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and community activism aiming to develop tools that facilitate the everyday work of elected officials and that offer citizens a greater stake in political discourse by enabling them to contribute their ideas, suggestions, and opinions. Gov2U has created Gov2DemOSS, an open source, collaborative e-participation platform.
Resource Link: http://www.gov2u.com
Governance in Empowerment Zone Communities
Robert Chaskin and Clark Peters. Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago, 1997.
The Federal government's large-scale move into community development through support of local empowerment zones has produced many models of governance. They all faced common challenges in addressing issues of representation, building trust in institutional administration, and coordinating with government agencies.
Resource Link: http://www.chapinhall.org/article_abstract.aspx?ar=1288&L2=63&L3=108
Governance Matters III: Indicators for 1996-2002
Daniel Kaufmann, Aart Kraay, Massimo Mastruzzi.
Outlined in this paper are the definition and sources of data on governance, constructing aggregate indicators, interpreting changes in governance across countries, and uses and limitations of governance indicators. The paper is written for presentation at the World Bank, Harvard University, and the Center for Global Development.
Resource Link: http://www.worldbank.org/wbi/governance/pdf/govmatters3_present.pdf
Governance Structures and Political Processes in a Public System: Lessons from Quebec
Damien Contandriopoulos, Jean-Louis Denis, Ann Langley, and Annick Valette. Public Administration, 82 (3), 627- 656, 2004.
This paper concentrates on the dynamics involved in the emergence of new governing capabilities in public systems. More precisely the implementation of regionalization policies in the health care field (in this case of Canada) conceived as one major attempt to renew the governance structures in a large public system is studied. The study draws on the comparative analysis of empirical regulation in 3 health regions as contrasted with 3 ideal type models of governance in regionalized systems.
Resource Link: http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/
Governing America: Our Choices, Our Challenge--How People are Thinking about Democratic Government in the U.S.
John Doble Research Associates, Inc., 1998.
The 1997-1998 NIF issue book, Governing America: Our Choices, Our Challenge, presents three choices or alternative options to improve the way government functions: the first focuses on government and advances the idea of turning over government functions to the private sector and suggests that a cutback on government would revive the role of civic and charitable organizations; the second centers on reducing the influence of lobbyists and special interests, strictly limiting campaign spending and initiating public financing of congressional and presidential campaigns, and transferring power from Washington to the state and local levels; the third choice focuses, not on government, but on citizens and the role of the public specifically; on reviving people's tendencies to form small-scale associations and act together to deal with public issues or community problems.
Governing in the Information Age
Christine Bellamy and John Taylor. Open University Press, 1997.
This book provides a critical assessment of the significance of the so-called information age to contemporary government, taking into account various perspectives on the relationship between information technology and social change in the context of British governance. In particular, the volume assesses current debates on the New Public Management, the reinvention of government, the new public consumerism and 'electronic democracy' in light of these perspectives. It also evaluates policy stances towards the 'information superhighway' and the likely effects on future public services.
Governing Information and Communication Technologies
Julian Thomas, Gareth Grainger, Karen Koomen.
This chapter considers the relations between nation states, citizens and the new information and communication technologies in a range of important legal and policy fields. The rapid emergence of a wide spectrum of new global communications systems has without doubt created new challenges and opportunities for governments and communities which will be examined in this context.
Resource Link: http://www.unesco.org/webworld/wcir/en/pdf_report/chap8.pdf
Governing Tools for the 21st Century: How State Leaders Are Using Collaborative Problem Solving and Dispute Resolution
Policy Consensus Initiative, 2002.
The Policy Consensus Institute's 12-page overview of how state leaders are using collaborative problem solving and dispute resolution. Describes the range of ways state agencies across the country are employing these tools in their day-to-day operations.