The five-page article, Why and When Should We Use Public Deliberation?, written by Stephanie Solomon and Julia Abelson, was published 2012 in the Hastings Center Report. In the article, Solomon and Abelson discuss the role of public deliberation in public policy decision-making. Public deliberation is an alternative process to determine public policy and can be a more effective method of creating policy than other familiar methods; depending on the circumstances of the issues, the level of engagement desired, and the needs of the community. Public deliberation can […] (continue)

What legal issues do public agencies face relating to their use of social media?  This paper chronicles a number of them. It also offers “dos and don’ts” advice for reaping the benefits of social media while minimizing the pitfalls.  A version of this paper was delivered to the May 2010 City Attorneys Spring Conference. (continue)

Note: NCDD was informed that the e-Deliberation platform was retired February 2015 because “it failed to reach escape velocity”. We are will still maintain this resource as reference.  e-Deliberation™ is a web-based platform used by teams and communities to collaboratively deliberate to resolve a focus, which can be a complex problems or a goal. The teams include a rich variety of stakeholder perspectives (between 15 and 80 participants) who all contribute to define a consent-based, strategy to address the said focus. The strategy develops as […] (continue)

The Sciencewise-ERC is the UK's national centre for public dialogue in policy making involving science and technology issues. It provides co-funding and specialist advice and support to Government departments and agencies to develop and commission public dialogue activities in emerging areas of science and technology. (continue)

One of the National Issues Forums Institute’s issue guides, The New Science of Food: Facing Up to Our Biotechnology Choices outlines this public issue and several choices or approaches to addressing the issue. National Issues Forums do not advocate a specific solution or point of view, but provide citizens the opportunity to consider a broad range of choices, weigh the pros and cons of those options, and meet with each other in a public dialogue to identify the concerns they hold in common. The use […] (continue)

This 2004 Kettering Foundation report about public forums held using the National Issues Forums (NIF) issue discussion guide Examining Health Care: What’s the Public’s Prescription? was prepared by Paul Werth Associates.  The findings in the report are derived from some 40 deliberative forums held in various locations around the country.  The report also includes an analysis of 1,027 post-forum surveys that were completed by forum participants. Find more details & order info on the NIF website. From the report… (continue)

This 1999 report assembled by Doble Research Associates describes how forum participants are thinking about questions of privacy, censorship, free speech, and free enterprise on the Internet. Find more details & order info on the NIF website. From the report… Five Overarching Themes from the Forums: As people deliberated about issues related to the Internet, five distinct themes emerged. Each is a composite of participants’ feelings about the many choices or policy options presented in the NIF issue book, Protecting Our Rights: What Goes on the […] (continue)

In National Issues Forums (NIF) in 42 states and the District of Columbia, diverse groups of Americans came together in 2007 to deliberate for up to three hours about one of the major challenges facing the country, the energy problem.  As forum participants deliberated, they increasingly came to see that the energy problem is a short- and long-term threat to this nation’s economic well-being, national security, and environment. By the end of the forums, many felt that a number of steps could be taken to […] (continue)

One of the National Issues Forums Institute’s issue guides, What Should Go on the Internet? Privacy, Freedom, and Security Online outlines this public issue and several choices or approaches to addressing the issue. National Issues Forums do not advocate a specific solution or point of view, but provide citizens the opportunity to consider a broad range of choices, weigh the pros and cons of those options, and meet with each other in a public dialogue to identify the concerns they hold in common.  From the […] (continue)

On June 9 and 10, 2006, the Kettering Foundation, Public Policy Institute, and the National Issues Forum sponsored a two-day event at the Carter Presidential Library, hosting 46 participants. The first day’s activities focused on framing issues for public deliberation, and three fellows from the University of Georgia’s chapter of the Roosevelt Institution (Roosevelt), a national-network of student-run think tanks, facilitated discussion in three small groups. A general guide provided by the Kettering Foundation governed how the three fellows, Gabe Allen, Jennifer Oliver, and Elizabeth […] (continue)