Civic Engagement & Democracy News from our Friends at the DDC

Selected News from the Deliberative Democracy Consortium

• Can a group of people write a graphic novel about civic infrastructure? We’ll find out at the Frontiers of Democracy conference http://ow.ly/MCTE0
• Public Agenda celebrates their 40th anniversary and opens the Yankelovich Center for Public Judgment – http://ow.ly/NdEMr
• New issue of the Journal of Public Deliberation – http://ow.ly/MRoIn – has articles on online deliberation, institutional design, inclusion, recruitment, voting, culture, divided societies, and more, by authors like John Gastil, Alan Tomkins, Carolina Johnson, and Jennifer Stromer-Galley, and reviews of books by Josh Lerner, Chris Karpowitz and Tali Mendelberg, Paula Cossart, and Jose Marichal
• Rich Harwood champions the role of libraries in engagement, as “uniquely trusted local institutions” – http://ow.ly/Npxgo
• Boiling down public engagement to four basic types – http://ow.ly/NpwDJ
• How can “social deliberative skills” be encouraged and supported online? New research from Tom Murray and colleagues http://ow.ly/NpvwH
• Personal Democracy Forum is now accepting applications for its Civic Hall Fellowship Program – http://ow.ly/NlI9O
• New National Issues Forums guide on health care costs – http://ow.ly/NlI0i
• Using keypad polling as part of community planning in Laconia, NH – http://ow.ly/NnoIV @OrtonFoundation
• The Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life at the University of Texas is seeking a new director – http://ow.ly/NgIjC
• Latest issue of the National Civic Review focuses on the connection between engagement and educational opportunities http://ow.ly/N7mh2
• The new Promising Practice Database is a feature of membership in the National Civic League – http://ow.ly/MY52R @allamericacity
• How schools in Pittsfield, NH have implemented a more democratic, student-centered approach to leaning – http://ow.ly/MV0qz
• MetroQuest releases a free guide to effective online engagement – http://ow.ly/MUTnr
• Luca Belgiorno-Nettis reflects on whether the great democratic documents of the past have meaning for us today – http://ow.ly/MSG0i
• What do we mean, exactly, by “participation?”  http://ow.ly/MUGiv Take the survey at http://ow.ly/MUHUC to help clarify
• The Rockefeller Brothers Fund revises its guidelines for its Democratic Practice Program – http://ow.ly/MSFzB @RockBrosFund
• Online engagement platforms mainly involve the privileged? Probably. Here’s why this matters – and why it doesn’t – http://ow.ly/MSE5P
• Should all institutions be democratic? No, says Peter Levine http://ow.ly/MOGYF
• The National Issues Forums Institute releases three new discussion guides on water issues – http://ow.ly/MLWVV
• “The biggest crisis in the world is that we are at a low point in how we all participate in shaping our communities” http://ow.ly/MzuQl
• IAP2 USA seeks nominations for 2015 Core Values Awards, for project, research project, and organization of the year – http://ow.ly/MsRQs
• Rita Allen Foundation announces $515,000 in grants to build civic engagement through technology and media – http://ow.ly/MsRHA
• The session schedule is filling in for the Frontiers of Democracy conference, June 25-27. See the list so far at http://ow.ly/Mm3mI
• Everyday Democracy on how to create spaces for all voices, in Baltimore and elsewhere – http://ow.ly/MlPFU
• “‘When people have meaningful, productive roles in making public decisions and solving public problems, we get smarter, more equitable, more broadly supported public policies,’ says Leighninger” http://ow.ly/MfwKo
• Peter Levine has been named associate dean of Tisch College; Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg will succeed him as CIRCLE director http://ow.ly/LZxq0
• Peter Levine & Eric Liu find that no civic renewal organization “ has managed to be large, deep, diverse, and focused”  http://ow.ly/LYFZY
• Martin Carcasson and Leah Sprain introduce “deliberative inquiry,” a theory designed to aid the work of practitioners – http://ow.ly/LVxEi “ Deliberative inquiry moves from a linear event-focused model where deliberation produces refined public opinion and decision outcomes to using deliberative principles to guide a cyclical learning process.”
• The Democracy Fund releases its first annual report – http://ow.ly/LSTQn
• The National Conference on Citizenship will be held October 9 in DC – http://ow.ly/LPqcB
• Laura Black, Tim Shaffer, and Nancy Thomas take stock of the field of public deliberation for JPD – http://ow.ly/LLqxF “Traditionally, journals haven’t played a central role in social change. But for JPD, we have the potential to do more than a traditional ‘academic’ journal. This is not to be interpreted as a diminishment of rigorous scholarship; instead, we see it as a commitment to making scholarship meaningful to people and communities.”
• Submit lab ideas now for the World Forum for Democracy 2015. Theme: “Freedom vs control: For a democratic response” http://ow.ly/LBJlk
• “The future of journalism and the future of civic engagement are closely intertwined.” http://ow.ly/LpZUO
• Combining thick and thin engagement in budgeting through a new tool, Balancing Act – http://ow.ly/Ln4PG @BalancingActEP