Deliberation The Work of Making Choices Requires individuals and groups to grapple with values and the tensions among those values 1

2 Choice Work IS Work! Tensions – “... on the other hand...” Trade-offs – “... even if...” What things do you hold valuable? Give examples of when those values were in tension. What trade-offs have you accepted when your values were in tension?

Values Exercise 3

4 Expert Information Model vs. Public Learning Model Notebook Section 3: Viewpoint Learning, Inc., 2001

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Flawed Assumptions - Conclusion - Traditional model works only when there are no hard choices to make. 6

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“Public Learning” Model (page 7) Three stages: –Opinion formation –Working through (making choices) –Resolution Interactive Process varies - days and weeks, OR months, years, decades Public wisdom adds value to experts’ knowledge 8

9 Seven Stages of Coming to Public Judgment Source: Daniel Yankelovich (1991) Coming to Public Judgment (Section 3, pages 9-10)

Remember, events at any stage can cause people to return to a previous stage. 10

11 1. Dawning Consciousness Awareness Unstable opinions Strong feelings; doesn’t mean settled views

12 2. Greater Urgency Sense of urgency Demands of “someone do something”

13 3. Discovering the Choices A focus on alternatives Often not the best choices

14 4. Wishful Thinking Resistance to facing costs and trade-offs Easy to get approval when a wide range of options reflects what everyone wants

15 Who Are the Players in the Early Stages? The media Experts In conventional politics, they attempt to promote/sell their solutions. In public politics, people connect the issue to their concerns and describe how it affects their own lives and communities.

5. Weighing the Choices Weighing the “appeals” and “concerns” Public invests effort to: –Understand the choices –Understand consequences –Wrestle with conflicts over what they value most 16

6. Taking a Stand Taking an intellectual stand Understanding the reasons for making one choice over another May not be prepared for the reality of trade-offs 17

7. Making a Responsible Judgment Judging morally and emotionally Overcoming the impulse to put one’s needs/desires first Importance of commitments to society Assertion of ethics 18

19 To Frame or Not to Frame Do people care about the issue? Is there a call to do something? Has a decision already been made? Is your group advocating a particular choice? Is there a wide range of actors? Are there more than two sides? Does the issue go beyond a technical matter that experts could address?

Framing an Issue for Deliberative Forums Pages Can take weeks / months OPPD “Framing Issues for Deliberation” workshop Requires experience with deliberative forums 20

Steps in Issue Framing Create a framing team. Name the issue in public terms. Get people’s perspectives – 2 kinds of research. –Scholarly and popular media. –Personal interviews and surveys. Analyze the perspectives. Cluster into themes / 3-4 options. Write a draft issue guide. Hold test forums. Revise as needed. Publish the guide. 21

22 What Makes an Approach Framework Work? Tensions across AND within approaches –Not enough money or time to do all we would like to do –Cannot be done simultaneously Authentic tensions – not artificial The problem behind the problem Named in public terms – people see a role for themselves

Homework Assignment Doing citizen research for an issue guide 23

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