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. (continue)

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. (continue)

'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. (continue)

‘Athens’ on the Net (September 13, 2009), by Anand Giridharadas and published in the New York Times, is an article on the relationship between civic participation, open government and social media. This is a must-read for everyone involved in public dialogue and deliberation. NCDD member Jim Fishkin is quoted several times in the article. Part of the article is below; read the full article at www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/weekinreview/13giridharadas.html?_r=1. (continue)

Sociologists (and NCDD members) Caroline Lee and Francesca Polletta have created a website at http://sites.lafayette.edu/ddps to display the results of the 2009 Dialogue and Deliberation Practitioners Survey. You can also download the full survey results here. The survey was conducted online last Fall for the purpose of academic research on the deliberation field by the researchers. Francesca and Caroline felt that the field of public dialogue and deliberation has been growing so dramatically that no one fully knows what the field looks like. They sought ... (continue)

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. (continue)

This was the second topic focused on by the “Democracy Communications Network,” a 2007-2009 project that encouraged leaders in dialogue and deliberation to periodically write op-eds and blog posts as part of collaborative media campaigns that raise awareness of the importance of quality public engagement. Use the “Democracy Communications Network” tag to see all the great articles that were written in association with this project. Also see the General Tips for Writing Op-Ed Articles. Articles, blog posts and op-eds on this topic: May 4th article ... (continue)

This was the fifth topic focused on by the “Democracy Communications Network,” a 2007-2009 project that encouraged leaders in dialogue and deliberation to periodically write op-eds and blog posts as part of collaborative media campaigns that raise awareness of the importance of quality public engagement. Use the “Democracy Communications Network” tag to see all the great articles that were written in association with this project. Also see the General Tips for Writing Op-Ed Articles. For our fifth round of letters to the editor, members of ... (continue)

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. (continue)

"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. (continue)