Legislative Effectiveness Committee

Louisville, KY
July, 2010

Global Horizons, LLC 

Growth through entrepreneurial thinking

Frank and Kimberlee Spillers
1413 Chestnut Street
Atlantic, Iowa 50022
712-254-1645

frank@ghorizons.com 
http://www.bewuca.com/ 

Community Politics and Deliberative Dialogue 

 THE PURPOSE OF COMMUNITY CONVERSATION IS TO:

•  engage a broad group of citizens in a thoughtful discussion on issues of community concern.
• identify common ground about important issues that affect communities, schools, counties and other public agencies.
• provide a discussion tool that can be useful to individual communities.

 WHAT IS CIVIC DIALOGUE?

• A chance for elected officials to listen to people talk about an important issue.
• A chance for citizens to talk with each other.
• A chance to talk through the issue, not just talk about the issue.
• A chance to weigh the pros and cons, strengths and weaknesses and areas of strong disagreement.

 CIVIC DIALOGUE IS NOT:

• a "public hearing."
• intended to result in writing a clear-cut plan with step-by-step solutions.
• a presentation or lecture.
• a conclusion; it is a starting point.

WHAT DOES A REPORT DO?

•  Represent the diverse perspectives that people bring to the issue in a fair and respectful manner.
• Examines what people think should be done about an issue as they consciously recognize the difficulties and trade-offs in all approaches.
• Summarizes any areas of disagreement as well as shared sense of direction.Provides common ground for policy makers.