The following message was submitted by NCDD member Michael Baldwin of Libraries for Democracy via the Add-to-Blog form… Dear Friends and Colleagues, In 2011, I created Libraries For Democracy (LFD) for the purpose of providing factual, non-partisan, information and political tools citizens need to reclaim American democracy. LFD is a unique, free, information service thatRead… Read more »
The Deliberative Democracy Consortium (DDC) and the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2), who work in partnership to jointly support the Journal of Public Deliberation (JPD), are beginning a search to find the next editor for the journal. This peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary publication appeals to practitioners, academics and emerging professionals interested in the public participation aroundRead… Read more »
Hey, everyone! We have a one-hour webinar scheduled for tomorrow (Tuesday) at 1pm Eastern for the national dialogue initiative Creating Community Solutions. Two NCDD members I just adore — Martha McCoy of Everyday Democracy and Daniel Clark of AmericaSpeaks — are leading the webinar, on the topic “Organizing Multiple Conversations Across Your Community.” If you’reRead… Read more »
Our friends at the Kettering Foundation recently posted about a paper on the seriousness of the challenge posed by political polarization. You can read the post below or find the original post on the KF News blog here: www.kettering.org/kfnews/do-partisan-elites-polarize-the-public. Is polarization an elite or public phenomenon, or is it, indeed, both? KF research associate DavidRead… Read more »
We are excited to invite you all to join us for a free conference call being hosted by our partners at CommunityMatters® and the Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design on Thursday, June 20th from 3:00 to 4:00 pm Eastern. The call will feature Amy Frykman from Resource Media and Fran Stoddard of the Orton FamilyRead… Read more »
Tomorrow (Monday, June 3rd), President Obama and Vice President Biden will host a National Conference on Mental Health as part of the Administration’s commitment to launch a national conversation to increase understanding and awareness of mental health. The day-long conference at the White House will convene people from across the country, including representatives from stateRead… Read more »
As the national debate on gun policy continues, we wanted to highlight this insightful blog post from NCDD Board member John Backman, who shares a story of how deep, meaningful dialogues can take place when we simply ask questions and share personal stories about issues that matter to us. You can find the original postRead… Read more »
Join us for a fun afternoon meetup immediately before this year’s Frontiers of Democracy conference begins! On Thursday, July 18th from 1-4pm at Tufts in Medford, Massachusetts, we’ll do some “speed networking,” spend time in small groups learning about some of the region’s most exciting dialogue and deliberation projects, and talk some about what isRead… Read more »
We were quite inspired recently to hear the story of a mother who, challenged by her teenager’s accusation of being political intolerant, launched an online platform and documentary project aimed at breaking down political barriers and bridging the deepest divides in our democracy. We know that the vitriol and divisiveness of today’s political discourse isRead… Read more »
When we think of learning by cultural immersion, many of our minds jump to study abroad programs and foreign language courses. But we were struck by Steve Seeche’s recent blog post on his new opportunity to learn about one side of the gun control debate through a different kind of immersion – taking a gunRead… Read more »