Synopses & Reviews
Praise for The Deliberative Democracy Handbook"The Deliberative Democracy Handbook is a terrific resource for democratic practitioners and theorists alike. It combines rich case material from many cities and types of institutional settings with careful reflection on core principles. It generates hope for a renewed democracy, tempered with critical scholarship and political realism. Most important, this handbook opens a spacious window on the innovativeness of citizens in the U.S. (and around the world) and shows how the varied practices of deliberative democracy are part of a larger civic renewal movement."
—Carmen Sirianni, professor of sociology and public policy, Brandeis University, and coauthor, Civic Innovation in America
"The Deliberative Democracy Handbook, edited by John Gastil and Peter Levine, is an important collection of readings for anyone interested in the role of citizen participation in the public policy process. It provides concrete examples of successful efforts to expand public input in decision-making at the local, state, and national levels. The book also grapples with emerging challenges to the continued development of these efforts in the future."
—Robert Mark Silverman, associate professor, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University at Buffalo, the State University of New York
"In government, we need to get beyond the polarization of interest groups if we are to make good and politically sustainable decisions. The Deliberative Democracy Handbook shares lessons of endeavors around the world to engage the community in the complex task of decision-making. I recommend it to anyone in public office."
—Hon. Alannah MacTiernan, minister for planning and infrastructure, Western Australia
"Clear-eyed about the challenges as well as the promise of public deliberation, the book will be an invaluable resource for practitioners and scholars alike."
—Francesca Polletta, associate professor of sociology, Columbia University
Synopsis
The Deliberative Democracy Handbook is a terrific resource for democratic practitioners and theorists alike. It combines rich case material from many cities and types of institutional settings with careful reflection on core principles. It generates hope for a renewed democracy, tempered with critical scholarship and political realism. Most important, this handbook opens a spacious window on the innovativeness of citizens in the U.S. (and around the world) and shows how the varied practices of deliberative democracy are part of a larger civic renewal movement.
About the Author
John Gastil is associate professor of communication at the University of Washington. He has collaborated with members of the Deliberative Democracy Consortium (DDC), the National Coalition of Dialogue and Deliberation (NCDD), AmericaSpeaks, and the Kettering Foundation's National Issues Forums. He is the author of
Democracy in Small Groups and
By Popular Demand.
Peter Levine is deputy director of the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) and a research scholar at the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy, both housed in the University of Maryland's School of Public Affairs. He is a cofounder of the Deliberative Democracy Consortium and author of The New Progressive Era: Toward a Fair and Deliberative Democracy.
Table of Contents
Tables and Figures xi
Preface xiii
John Gastil, Peter Levine
About the Editors xvii
About the Contributors xix
PART ONE: BACKGROUND 1
1 A Nation That (Sometimes) Likes to Talk: A Brief History of Public Deliberation in the United States 3
John Gastil, William M. Keith
2 What Can We Learn from the Practice of Deliberative Democracy? 20
Mark Button, David Michael Ryfe
PART TWO: DELIBERATION AND PUBLIC JUDGMENT 35
3 National Issues Forums: A Network of Communities Promoting Public Deliberation 37
Keith Melville, Taylor L. Willingham, John R. Dedrick
4 Electoral Deliberation and Public Journalism 59
Michelle Charles, Harris Sokoloff, Chris Satullo
5 Deliberative Polling*: From Experiment to Community Resource 68
James Fishkin, Cynthia Farrar
6 Consensus Conferences and Planning Cells: Lay Citizen Deliberations: 80
Carolyn M. Hendriks
7 Citizens Juries: Creating a Trustworthy Voice of the People 111
Ned Crosby, Doug Nethercut
8 Adapting and Combining Deliberative Designs: Juries, Polls, and Forums 120
Lyn Carson, Janette Hartz-Karp
PART THREE: DELIBERATIVE GOVERNANCE 139
9 Bringing the Public and the Government Together Through On-Line Dialogues 141
Patricia A. Bonner, Robert Carlitz, Rosemary Gunn, Laurie E. Maak, Charles A. Ratliff
10 A Town Meeting for the Twenty-First Century 154
Carolyn J. Lukensmeyer, Joe Goldman, Steven Brigham
11 Collaborative Learning and the Public's Stewardship of Its Forests 164
Antony S. Cheng, Janet D. Fiero
12 Participation and Public Policies in Brazil 174
Vera Schattan P. Coelho, Barbara Pozzoni, Mariana Cifuentes Montoya
13 Deliberative City Planning on the Philadelphia Waterfront 185
Harris Sokoloff, Harris M. Steinberg, Steven N. Pyser
PART FOUR: COMMUNITIES AND DELIBERATIVE CULTURE 197
14 Study Circles: Local Deliberation as the Cornerstone of Deliberative Democracy 199
Patrick L. Scully, Martha L. McCoy
15 e-thePeople.org: Large-Scale, Ongoing Deliberation 213
G. Michael Weiksner
16 Learning Democracy Centers: Where the Public Works 228
Carole J. Schwinn, John T. Kesler, David R. Schwinn
17 Disagreement and Consensus: The Importance of Dynamic Updating in Public Deliberation 237
Christopher F. Karpowitz, Jane Mansbridge
18 Growing Governance Deliberatively: Lessons and Inspiration from Hampton, Virginia 254
William R. Potapchuk, Cindy Carlson, Joan Kennedy
PART FIVE: CONCLUSION 269
19 Future Directions for Public Deliberation 271
Peter Levine, Archon Fung, John Gastil
Recommended Reading 289
Index 301