Public Deliberation | Wisconsin Institute for Public Policy and Service

About Deliberation

Why Public Deliberation?

"The incredible shrill tone of discourse these days shows that our ability to have a rational and productive conversation about anything important in this country is becoming more difficult. Because of this, it is growing near to impossible to address our most pressing challenges."
~Arthur Sulzberger, Publisher, New York Times

Public officials are distanced from a public that holds negative perceptions about government
Cynicism and incivility threatens democracy because it results in a lack of citizen participation.
Many citizens grow alienated and feel shut out of the political system
Concerned citizens don’t see how they can make a difference

*People everywhere echo the cry that "something is wrong in the country," or "things are off track"

Even engaged citizens and organizations attempt action, but the actions not only fail to complement each other; they are often at odds

Public deliberation or deliberative dialogue is part of the solution.

The Kettering Foundation and the NIF Model of Public Deliberation

David Matthews, President of the Kettering Foundation, which advocates the National Issues Forum model of public deliberation, distinguishes "organic politics" from "institutional politics." In a democracy, "institutional politics" includes elections, lawmaking, and the delivery of services; "organic politics" is a compendium of ad hoc associations and civic organizations, where political democracy is rooted. Matthews worries that the nature of institutional politics has often been to colonize democracy and remake it in an institutional image. The mechanisms for doing this are often well-intended and familiar: empowerment projects, participatory mandates, accountability standards, and engagement campaigns. These build support for deserving institutions (like public schools), promote better understanding of government agencies, and provide institutional legitimacy. Their goal is to connect citizens to institutions; yet, in the rush to do this, the need for citizens to first engage one another is often overlooked. As a result, involvement efforts run the risk of missing the contributions that might come out of the "ecosystem" of democracy.

The Kettering Foundation is not the only organization to sense that there is more to democracy than contested elections to create representative governments, nor is it alone in noting that governments, at all levels, and the political system in general have suffered from a significant loss of public confidence. Likewise, government officials don’t always have confidence in the ability of citizens to carry out their responsibilities in a democracy. The truth is that both agencies need each other: institutions can’t do their job unless citizens do theirs.

One way citizens can reclaim their role is to bring meaningful, lively, civic discourse back to the public arena. The National Issues Forums model of deliberative dialogue is a powerful tool, and the Wisconsin Institute for Public Policy and Service is proud to be a sponsor and educational outreach partner in the mission of reclaiming democracy through dissemination of this model.

Reclaiming democracy through the practice of deliberative dialogue is based on these core premises:

Democracy is rule by the citizenry, and citizens acquire the power to make a difference through their collective action.
This collective action must be informed by sound judgment, which requires collective decision making through public deliberation.
Judgment is sound when decisions to act are consistent with what is most valuable to people.
Public deliberation promotes sound judgment by moving from hasty reactions to more shared and reflective weighing of the consequences of action on what citizens value.
Through public deliberation, citizens can make sound collective decisions. Though people will not always agree, they will often come to a mutual understanding.
Rather than being informed by an outside authority, citizens are more likely to take responsibility for choices they make themselves.
Democratic practices, the things people do to govern themselves, are variations of the things that happen every day in communities. If the routine business of politics is done in ways that are open to citizens, the routines can become public practices.
Citizens want to shape the future of their communities and exercise self-rule through the challenge of addressing wicked problems.
Collective action requires community, innovation, and leadership.
Communities that act effectively have changed the way they go about their collective business, and have put the public back into the public’s business.
Recognition and reinforcement of the practices and institutions through which people engage their issues increases the capacity of communities to continue to act effectively on the challenges they face.
This process of renewing our civic and institutional infrastructure fosters self-government in the broadest sense.

Public Deliberation is Different from Other Forms of Public Input

Town hall meetings normally involve one-way communication (citizens to decision-makers or vice versa) or a conversation between citizens and decision-makers. Public deliberation consists of conversations among citizens.
Focus groups attempt to “capture” what people think, not to change the way people think. Public deliberation gets citizens talking and listening, working through difficulties, and making tough choices together. Citizens become problem-solvers rather than consumers or spectators.
Communication between citizens and political leaders typically consists of calls, emails, or visits from individuals with strong opinions about issues, often registered in the form of a complaint. On many issues, constituents’ opinions often contradict one another. So for lawmakers, more public participation often means more complaints and more people talking past each other. Decisions made through public deliberation move beyond the typical pattern of communication between citizens and decision-makers. Public deliberation offers a way for people to talk with one other and confront the tough choices that political leaders face.