Why Can’t We Talk? Christian Wisdom on Dialogue as a Habit of the Heart examines the connection between Christian values and good dialogue practices.  From the author… As practitioners, we deal in process all the time. But what can we do before the process to prepare ourselves for dialogue? Why Can’t We Talk? Christian Wisdom on Dialogue as a Habit of the Heart (SkyLight Paths, November 2012) explores a wealth of strategies and resources—ancient spiritual practices, fundamental mindshifts, and “practical” steps—that can reorient our deepest ... (continue)

Several years in the making, with the involvement of many of us in the D&D community, this 2012 book edited by Tina Nabatchi, John Gastil, G. Michael Weiksner, and Matt Leighninger is due out on November 1st but can be purchased here on Amazon.com now for under $30. The 336-page book is published by Oxford University Press. Although the field of deliberative civic engagement is growing rapidly around the world, our knowledge and understanding of its practice and impacts remain highly fragmented. Democracy in Motion represents the first ... (continue)

This important 2012 book by Carolyn Lukensmeyer (founder of AmericaSpeaks and now director of the National Institute for Civil Discourse) offers seven field-tested strategies for public managers to help them maximize citizen engagement as they implement the President’s Open Government Directive. Lukensmeyer’s first book is due out November 10, but you can pre-order your copy now here at Wiley.com or by calling 800-356-5016. Use Promo Code CL252 to save 36% on your order. The Core Strategies for Citizen Engagement discussed in the book are: Establish Links to Decision-Makers; ... (continue)

In “Slow Democracy,” community leader (and NCDD Sustaining Member) Susan Clark and democracy scholar Woden Teachout document the range of ways that citizens around the country are breathing new life into participatory democracy in their communities. (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2012.) Large institutions and centralized governments, with top-down, expert-driven thinking, are no longer society’s drivers. In fact, they are often responsible for tearing communities apart. New decision-making techniques now pair with cutting-edge communication tools to make local communities—and the citizens who live there—uniquely suited to meet today’s ... (continue)

Are you interested in finding a way of working with diverse stakeholders to co-create enduring solutions to complex issues? This 2012 book is about Collaborative Governance, or the Power of ‘Co’. This book provides real evidence of the benefits of collaboration as well as a theoretical framework on which to build the capacity of organisations and individuals to collaborate more often and more effectively to address dilemmas and find solutions that stick. Collaborative Governance demands the sharing of both power and trust. It also requires a ... (continue)

The Kettering Foundation’s soon-to-be-released book, Democratizing Deliberation: A Political Theory Anthology, brings together recent and cutting-edge political theory scholarship on deliberative democracy. Edited by Derek Barker, Noelle McAfee, and David McIvor, the collection reframes deliberative democracy to be sensitive to the deep conflicts, multiple forms of communication, and aspirations for civic agency that characterize real public deliberation. In so doing, the book addresses many of the most common challenges to the theory and practice of deliberative democracy. Here’s what NCDD member Katherine Cramer Walsh (University of Wisconsin-Madison) says about the ... (continue)

Toward Wiser Public Judgment (2011) revisits and expands upon Yankelovich's seminal 1991 book, Coming to Public Judgment, which argued that people advance through several distinct stages to form politically meaningful judgments about public issues. In particular, citizens must "work through" the temptation to opt for easy answers or engage in wishful thinking, reconcile conflicting values, and come to terms with tough tradeoffs, before they can truly support a new course of action. (continue)

This 2008 book by Peter Block (Berrett-Koehler Publishers) is an exploration of the exact way community can emerge from fragmentation: How is community built? How does the transformation occur? What fundamental shifts are involved? He explores a way of thinking about our places that creates an opening for authentic communities to exist and details what each of us can do to make that happen. Here’s an excerpt from a review of the book by Scott London: In his much-discussed new book, Community: The Structure of ... (continue)

The 2010 book, “The Handbook for Working With Difficult Groups: How They Are Difficult, Why They Are Difficult, and What You Can Do About It,” edited by Sandor Schuman, is written for group facilitators, team leaders, and group members — people who are concerned with how people and groups can work together more effectively. (continue)

Using primary sources from archives around the country, William M. Keith’s book Democracy as Discussion traces the early history of the Speech field, the development of discussion as an alternative to debate, and the Deweyan, Progressive philosophy of discussion that swept the United States in the early twentieth century. Available at Amazon.com. (continue)