Democracy Rising 18: Deliberation, Free Speech, and Democracy
We all have a sense (though often only a fairly vague sense) that free speech is somehow crucial to democracy. But why should that be the case?
Series
Democracy Rising 17: Earth Overshoot Demands Stronger Civic Infrastructure
In Public Participation for 21st Century Democracy, Tina Nabatchi and I defined civic infrastructure as “the laws, processes, institutions, and associations that support regular opportunities for people to connect with each other, solve problems, make decisions, and celebrate community.”
Power: Chapter 2. Power in the Pleistocene
The power to communicate aesthetic pleasure and thereby to feel profound affinity with other people, including individuals of other species, propel human culture forward in ways that are hard to measure, but that are impossible to ignore. These are powers that provide hope for our future.
The Charter of the Forest inspires our future
Unlike the Magna Carta, pertaining to the rights of barons, the Charter of the Forest addressed the rights of common people; it restricted the amount of land that the king could claim for private use and restored common rights to common natural resources.
Democracy Rising 16: Getting Started with Dialogue and Deliberation, Part 5
As you work to create deliberative dialogues, you will face many challenges. This post looks at two of those: getting people to show up, and ensuring that participation is productive.
Democracy Rising 15: Getting Started with Dialogue and Deliberation, Part 4
Even as an ordinary citizen you can begin engaging and facilitating change by starting with dialogue right where you are, and building from there.
Power: Chapter 1. Power in Nature
There are probably downsides to humans’ specialized powers (extreme intelligence, a highly developed ability to communicate, and proficient tool use). We humans tend to emphasize the advantages of these traits, but it’s always important to look for hidden costs.
Democracy Rising 14: Getting Started with Dialogue and Deliberation, Part 3
What I mean by dialogue is a defined set of communication patterns that build understanding and help people of different backgrounds and experiences openly share their thoughts and work through their differences with mutual respect.
Democracy Rising 13: Getting Started with Dialogue and Deliberation, Part 2
The first step in deciding where and how to start with deliberative dialogue is to ask, what is your environment and how are you placed and rooted in it?
The Taming of the Slough: Humanity’s History of Trying to Control Water (Episode 48 of Crazy Town)
What we do with water matters even more in the era of global warming. Can we learn to treat this most precious of resources in a way that achieves sustainability?
Democracy Rising 12: Getting Started with Dialogue and Deliberation, Part 1
And even if you are not an alliance builder, protester, organizer, or ready to take on an entire system, there is much you can do in the democratic wetlands to improve the democratic environment in ways that help support and sustain the overall work of change.
Democracy Rising 11: Doorways into Deliberation
Deliberation is key to public engagement work as well, enabling people to discuss the consequences, costs, and trade-offs of various policy options, and to work through the emotions that tough public decisions raise.
