AmericaSpeaks recently launched a new effort to support U.S. officials who seek to involve citizens in shaping policy. They’re partnering with leading Canadian citizen participation firm Ascentum to offer a set of services and tools that they believe public officials need to create meaningful opportunities for citizen participation. You can find these at ASonline.org. (continue)

Here are some great tips that Joe Goldman from AmericaSpeaks sent out to people who were considering writing op-eds/letters to the editor as a part of the Democracy Communications Network… Limit the article to 750 words. Shorter is even better. Unfortunately, newspapers have limited space to offer, and editors generally won’t take the time to cut a long article down to size. Make a single point — well. You cannot solve all of the world’s problems in 750 words. Be satisfied with making a single […] (continue)

AmericaSpeaks' newest case study highlights the 2009 Advancing Futures for Adults with Autism National Town Meeting. More than 1,000 people in 16 cities and online came together to set an agenda for addressing the service needs for adults with autism. The 4-page case study can be downloaded here... (continue)

This video features AmericaSpeaks' summer 2010 national discussion on the nation's fiscal challenges. The core video is only about 6 minutes long, but included at the end are several minutes of interviews with participants and partners about their experience at the event. www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfOqh_yKPR0 (continue)

3,500 Americans came together across 57 sites around the country to discuss the nation’s long-term fiscal challenges on June 26, 2010 as part of Our Budget, Our Economy:  An AmericaSpeaks National Town Meeting. Participants worked in small groups with skilled facilitators to learn about the issues, weigh trade offs, and express their preferences. Face-to-face meetings at each of the sites took place simultaneously and were linked together by satellite and webcast to create a true National Town Meeting. At 19 of the sites, participants used […] (continue)

Written by NCDD director Sandy Heierbacher to expand upon the text on our “What Are Dialogue & Deliberation?” page. This resource provides enough details to enable you to decide which of these leading dialogue and deliberation methods you should learn more about. In addition to looking at which methods fit your intentions, you will need to consider which methods are aligned with your resources, timeline, and the people you feel need to be involved. The text below is drawn from NCDD’s Engagement Streams Framework. AmericaSpeaks […] (continue)

Open Policy Making 101: 10 Questions To Ask Before Launching Your Online Public Consultation (November 2009) is a list of ten important questions to consider before beginning an online public consultation, published by Joseph Peters, a founding Partner of Ascentum, and Joe Goldman, the Vice President of Citizen Engagement at AmericaSpeaks. The ten questions are listed below, and for more details, check out the full document, posted on Ascentum’s website. What do you want to know? What is your commitment to participants? Who needs to […] (continue)

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. (continue)

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." (continue)

Offers nine criteria with which to measure the environmental sustainability of a community, assuming citizen participation as a core value. (continue)