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Friday digest-open thread 5/16/08

"One city ... thousands of voices heard ... democracy is here." That's the message of the winning video from the Indianapolis Neighborhood Resource Center, which took the $1,000 prize this week in Everyday Democracy's "Making Every Voice Matter" YouTube video contest. Using dozens of photos, music that moves from dramatic to energetic, and inspiring quotes about outcomes, the INRC entry shows how change is happening in neighborhoods throughout Indianapolis. As Everyday Democracy deputy communication director and operations manager Carrie Boron wrote on our website, "The video shows that all kinds of people are having a voice in improving Indianapolis neighborhoods. And it demonstrates that by employing simple production techniques, a community can use video to showcase its work in a medium accessible to lots of people." Read more here.

Everyday Democracy got another major media mention this week, this time in an essay, "Where Racial Healing Happens," from Rob Corcoran in the Christian Science Monitor. Quoting a friend who told him that "change happens from the bottom," Rob writes, "And he's right: Ordinary people are coming together to do extraordinary things. Healing conversation is already under way. In hundreds of local efforts across the US, diverse groups of citizens are bridging the traditional boundaries of race, class, and culture. Thousands have engaged in dialogue, symbolic acts of reconciliation, and collaborative problem solving. Organizations such as Everyday Democracy and Hope in the Cities (a project of Initiatives of Change) are facilitating this." Read it all here. Rob is national director for Initiatives of Change in the United States.

The past two weeks have been horrible ones for natural disasters including the cyclone in Burma and earthquake in China. A discussion at the Skoll Foundation's Social Edge website has been asking social entrepreneurs and community organizers to think about both how people can help affected areas now and what they'd do if a disaster hit their area. For example, author Jill Finlayson asks, "Are there grant applications or proposals for programs that you need funded that you can pull off the shelf and submit after a disaster?  Having these written in advance can enable you to promptly take advantage of funds that become available (before interest and support wanes), without having to start from scratch or take time away from the critical response efforts at the point of an emergency." Read more and join the conversation here.

Everyday Democracy executive director Martha McCoy spoke Thursday at the United Way's annual national conference in Baltimore. Her talk focused on "Engaging the Community, Building Community Knowledge." Also Thursday, United Way president Brian Gallagher outlined a new 10-year campaign focused on halving the number of high-school dropouts and working families that are struggling financially. "The country is at a crossroads right now," Gallagher said. "I've never felt a time in my career where there's this combination of enough pain, feeling of a lack of progress, feeling like we've stalled, combined with a next generation of leadership demanding change." Gallagher took questions about the goals in this live discussion at the Washington Post website.

Don't forget: There's now less than a week to catch the early-bird rate for Everyday Democracy's national meeting June 12-14 in Denver. Go here for more info, including the entire conference program now available in pdf form.

Cyclone relief trickles in

The mind boggles at the destruction wrought by Saturday's cyclone in Burma (Myanmar), and it struggles to imagine the sort of hurdles relief workers face as they try to bring help to one of the planet's most closed societies. The latest reports indicate the death toll could climb to 50,000 or higher and that more than a million people are homeless.

News dispatches indicate that many foreign aid workers are still awaiting visas, and that French officials are suggesting that the United Nations deliver aid to Burma without waiting for approval of the country's ruling military junta - a move that raises fascinating questions about whether and when global interests and humanitarian concerns should trump national sovereignty. Meanwhile, the junta insists the nation will move ahead with a constitutional referendum this weekend, even amid reports of the mounting cyclone-caused carnage and the post-storm executions of rioting political prisoners held in what former inmates call "the darkest hell-hole in Burma."

From Reuters:

"We are seeing at the United Nations if we can't implement the responsibility to protect, given that food, boats and relief teams are there, and obtain a United Nations' resolution which authorizes the delivery (of aid) and imposes this on the Burmese government," (French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner) said.

The United Nations recognized in 2005 the concept "responsibility to protect" civilians when their governments could or would not do it, even if this meant intervention that violated national sovereignty. ...

... Political analysts and critics of 46 years of military rule say the cyclone may have long-term implications for the junta, which is even more feared and resented since last September's bloody crackdown on Buddhist monk-led protests. ...

... With disease, hunger and thirst threatening survivors, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd begged the junta to allow in large-scale humanitarian relief.

"Forget politics. Forget the military dictatorship. Let's just get aid and assistance through to people who are suffering and dying as we speak, through a lack of support on the ground," Rudd told reporters in Perth.

From The Telegraph:

The military government said a constitutional referendum that is part of its so-called “roadmap to democracy” would go ahead this weekend, except in the worst-affected areas. Aung San Suu Kyi’s opposition National League for Democracy, which won elections in 1990 but has never been allowed to take power, said the decision was “extremely unacceptable.”

But analysts said the vote could give ordinary Burmese a safe way to protest against the generals’ handling of the disaster, after their bloody crackdown on protesting monks and civilians last year.

“The juxtaposition of the cyclone and the voting might cause many in Burma to feel this is an indication that the military should not be in power,” said David Steinberg, a Burma expert at Georgetown University in Washington.

Many Burmese are deeply traditional, he pointed out, and the disaster could be taken to mean the current rulers had lost the “mandate of heaven.”

Western organizations collecting donations for cyclone relief efforts include Direct Relief, the International Red Cross/Red Crescent Societies, the International Rescue Committee, UNICEF, and World Vision.

Friday digest-open thread 3/28/08

This week saw the creation of the world's newest democracy in Bhutan. The question is, can a democracy function without an opposition party? In Monday's vote, all but two of the 47 seats in the new Bhutanese parliament were swept by the pro-royalist Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT). Today, however, Reuters India is reporting that the opposition People's Democratic Party "said the country's first ever general election had been unfair and they would resign from parliament." Bhutan is perhaps best known for the Gross National Happiness index that values the well-being of people above any other profit measures. Will the good vibes continue as the nation grapples its way toward democracy? Stay tuned, and weigh in if you like at the Deliberative Democracy's Consortium blog on the subject.

Speaking of the DDC, today's email brought one of my favorite monthly reads, the DDC eBulletin. Many of the items collected by editor Lars Hasselblad Torres and his international cast of contributors find their way into posts here each month. You can email contributions here and read past issues and subscribe here.

There's been a lot of ink spilled and bytes - well, whatever bytes do - this election season over the rise of youth in American politics and public life. Adam Fletcher begs to differ. Writing at his Younger World blog, Fletcher says this is "No Country for Young People" because we are far more occupied with our middle-aged and senior populations than we are with children and young adults. He notes that youth involvement in civic life is far more robust overseas, and that "instead of being an occasional, one-off activity or an underfunded, underutilized grassroots movement, these efforts are systemic, operationalized and powerful." Read more here.

Meanwhile, in another topic of keen interest to young Americans, the next edition of the public radio show Justice Talking will ponder whether college admissions are becoming more elitist than ever. Here's the description: "The college admissions process has changed significantly in recent years, particularly for students seeking to get into the nation’s most elite universities. Should these schools' admissions policies favor athletes and children of alumni? Should low-income and minority students be a priority? Or should top schools only enroll the smartest and most academically accomplished? We also talk about the obstacles and misconceptions facing students who attend community college. Tune in to this edition of Justice Talking as we ask how money and privilege affect the college admissions process and whether reforms are necessary." Click here to find a station airing the show near you.

Many of us here at Everyday Democracy are fans of Parker Palmer and his Center for Courage and Renewal, which (according to its website) works "to help teachers, physicians, clergy and others 'rejoin soul and role,' renewing their passion for their work, reclaiming its basic values and deepening their service to others." Palmer recently spoke to the Commonwealth Club of California on "How to Build a Democracy." The 53-minute presentation can be heard here via American Public Media's Word for Word program. So sometime this weekend, why not get comfy on the couch and hear what he has to say?

War, faith, and a new social contract

This is the second of two posts from the Take Back America conference held this week in Washington, D.C. More than 2,000 progressive activists and organizers attended the event. Julie Fanselow was at the event as an invited guest (independent of her work at Everyday Democracy). Here are some of the interesting stories she heard:

• "A New Social Contract" was the theme of a panel moderated by Miles Rapoport, who is the president of Demos, described on its website as "a non-partisan public policy research and advocacy organization committed to building an America that achieves its highest democratic ideals." (He also is a member of the Board of Directors of the Paul J. Aicher Foundation, which oversees our work here at Everyday Democracy.) In this panel, Kate Kahan of the National Partnership for Women and Families, policy analyst Karen Kornbluh, and Julie Smith of Ohio Acorn discussed ways that the United States might replace or augment government programs that were designed for the 20th century with policies and programs that recognize modern realities. Rapoport noted how, after World War II, businesses, labor, and government all collaborated to increase prosperity for everyone. "It was public policy," he said. "It wasn't an accident." And yet the old contracts left a lot of people behind, notably people of color and women. They also were formed at a time when unions were stronger and the U.S. faced little global competition. So what - beyond the "plastic net" of mortgage and credit-card debt - might be part of the tool kit we use to rebuild the middle class? The panelists mentioned living wages (including a much higher minimum wage), paid sick days and an expanded Family and Medical Leave Act so workers can care for their families and not lose their jobs, and other policies that value families and individuals.

• As U.S. involvement in Iraq entered its sixth year this week, ten congressional candidates led by Darcy Burner of Washington state used the conference to unveil what they call A Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq. Their central point is that America shouldn't have to decide between an endless U.S. presence in Iraq and a sudden, destabilizing withdrawal. The candidates also indicated that - due to media ownership consolidation and war fatigue - many citizens have disengaged from the discussion. "The American public must also re-engage in the discussions and decision-making about how to proceed," the plan's text says. Although the plan's 10 original endorsers are all Democrats, it cites pending legislation including several bills with strong bipartisan support, including the Media Ownership Act of 2007 and the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2007.There also was a lot of talk at the conference about the "Iraq Recession," with speakers pointing out that the cost of the war in Iraq - more than a half a trillion dollars so far, and estimated up to $3 trillion once related costs are tallied - has prevented the United States from dealing with domestic spending needs at home.

• A panel on "Religious Activism and the Public Good" featured a lively discussion among several prominent clergy members and community organizers over recent shifts in some parts of the evangelical movement away from  issues like abortion and gay marriage and toward environmental activism and poverty relief. As evangelicals begin to work with more mainline and secular activists on these issues, they will need to focus on the common ground and minimize their differences on other issues. But it also means that activists who see the world in secular terms need to respect the religious views of others. "That will be a chance for progressives to be more progressive," quipped the Rev. Brian McClaren of Sojourners/Call to Renewal.

• Speaking at the final session on Wednesday, Deepak Bhargava of the Center for Community Change noted that political candidates from both major parties are busily seeking the votes of people of color and of low-income and working-class Americans. The big question, he asked, is whether low-income communities and communities of color will be as central to elected officials' agendas in 2009 as they are this year, when the elections are at stake. He advocated for a governing philosophy that benefits us all, but pays special attention to people on the margins.
  

Were you at Take Back America? What did you take away from the experience?

Book club launches in 10 days!

Next Thursday - just 10 days from now - is the launch of our new Everyday Democracy Book Club. (Study Circles Resource Center will soon be taking its new name, Everyday Democracy.) We'll be welcoming noted author and public visionary Frances Moore Lappé (seen at right at a recent book signing), whose works include Diet for a Small Planet, Democracy's Edge, and many more. Plan to join us at 1 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, January 17, as we discuss her latest work Getting a Grip: Clarity, Creativity, and Courage in a World Gone Mad.

You still have plenty of time to read the book, which is only about 150 pages long. At each end of Getting a Grip - literally on the front fold-out and back fold-out covers - Frankie features, first, a "spiral of powerlessness" describing a world view based on a lack of goods and goodness, and then a "spiral of empowerment" centered on the realization that we have plenty of goods and goodness in the world. Throughout the book, she offers eight key ideas to ponder and act on as readers realize that each of us has the power to change our way of thinking and then change our communities, the nation, and the world.

If you would like to submit a question to the author, you can email it in advance to book club moderator Julie Fanselow. Questions will also be taken during the one-hour live session as time permits. We look forward to a lively discussion on January 17!

Deliberative democracy: A review

How do we best achieve thriving, inclusive democracies - and how can we document efforts in that direction? The Deliberative Democracy Consortium has posted a new draft report, "Where Is Democracy Headed? Four Years of DDC Research and Practice," on its wiki. The report looks at what researchers and practitioners in the global democracy movement have been working on over the past few years and what they might address in the years to come.

This decade's output is impressive, including The Deliberative Democracy Handbook, the Journal of Public Deliberation, two researcher-and-practitioner conferences in 2003 and 2005, and many other projects. These are outlined in Part I of the summary report. Part II of the report includes notes on the current state of the field and ideas for moving into the future. This section raises many interesting observations and questions for researchers and practitioners to ponder, including:

• Some people like deliberation more than others. What happens when willing and unwilling participants are put together to deliberate public issues?

• How can proponents of different methods of deliberation work better together, rather than trying to "save the world in their own way"?

• As a way toward institutionalizing public participation and building support for civic engagement, can we show more examples of public policies that changed as a result of public deliberation?

• How can North Americans learn from civic engagement programs in the Global South?

• Should deliberative democracy proponents focus on local issues or pursue projects of national and international scale? Or both?

• Could researchers learn more about online forms of deliberation?

These are all thought-provoking questions, but this one may be the most critical: How can we better link deliberation to other democratic practices, including advocacy and movement building? "Deliberation is a political strategy; a means, not an end," Study Circles Resource Center deputy director Pat Scully told the researchers. "What's interesting is how deliberation intersects with other forms of politics, which gets more complex the higher the level of government.”

The report goes on to cite the Horizons project - in which SCRC and the Northwest Area Foundation have tied deliberation to “visioning,” leadership development, and actual poverty-reduction work in small, poor communities - as one example of linking deliberation to broader action. But where do advocacy and movement building intersect with public deliberation in the United States, especially when deliberative democracy remains off the radar for many national democracy proponents and organizations outside the dialogue-and-deliberation network; when our discourse is dominated by bitterly partisan debate; and when the issue of increased citizen engagement is barely registering in the current presidential campaign?

Middle East citizens speak out

A new round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks will take place this week in Annapolis, Maryland. The main focus is on the possible establishment of a Palestinian state, though, as CNN reports, "other huge issues related to regional peace are expected to surface, especially since long-time Israeli foes, Syria and Saudi Arabia and others, will attend."

An organization called OneVoice has been preparing for these talks for years and will have a delegation at the summit. Described on its website as "a grassroots movement designed to amplify the voice of the people and to empower Israelis and Palestinians on the ground to achieve a consensus on core issues," OneVoice has signed up a nearly equal number of people from the two nations - 309,602 Israelis and 294,963 Palestinians as of this morning - who seek a two-state solution by October 2008. They've also shown the power of citizen engagement by creating a Citizens' Negotiations Platform, encouraging nonviolent activism among moderates in the region, and holding an online referendum on peace process goals. According to OneVoice, "76 pertcent of Israelis and Palestinians - the same percentage on each side - were found to support a two-state solution."

The organization's efforts have met resistance from hard-line groups on both sides, most recently resulting in the cancellation of October peace concerts in Tel Aviv and Jericho, but organizers remain committed to bringing moderates from both Palestine and Israel together to build relationships and consensus. Writing in the Guardian Limited recently, Seth Freedman said, "These are the people who - like it or not - are about as likely to break the deadlock in the interminable conflict as anyone else in this troubled region. Leaving personal politics to one side, they come together as rightwingers, leftwingers, Jews and Arabs, all determined to combat the extremists and preach a message of moderation to the masses." (Not all observers are convinced that consensus is the best path to peace, however, as this commentary by Ben White shows.)

Click here to read more about how OneVoice is engaging citizens in Israel, in Palestine, regionally, and globally.

Youth-powered podcasts and more

This week, as we look forward to the Thursday water cooler on youth civic engagement, there are some cool podcasts being posted at the Center for Democracy and Citizenship's "By the People" blog. This one features Alexandra Young, an 18-year-old high school senior at St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists in St. Paul, Minnesota, who serves on her city's Youth Commission. And this one has 20-year-old University of Minnesota student Kelly Heskett explaining why students need to get a (public) life and work toward more balance in their jam-packed days.

Also of note, check out this list of do's and don't's for working with youth, from the C2D2 conference now under way in Vancouver, BC.

C2D2 conference is under way

The Canadian Community for Dialogue  and Deliberation's conference is now under way in Vancouver, British Columbia. "Facing Complex Issues Together" is the focus. As the C2D2 website says, "We live in complex times and face complex issues. Balancing the demands of social needs, economic stability with environmental sustainability is just one example of our multifaceted challenges and responsibilities. Responding wisely requires constructive and innovative approaches. We need better ways of talking and working together."

Are you at the conference? Please use this as a space to share what you're talking about, what's inspiring you, and what you hope to do with what you're learning. Post your thoughts in the comments below. C2D2 also has its own blog where you will see information about the conference.

 

Friday digest-open thread 11/02/07

Fifty-six months into the war in Iraq, many people are feeling both numb and cut off from what's really happening in the Middle East. The Dallas Morning News' David McLemore writes of a sure way to stay in step with what's happening on the ground in Baghdad and elsewhere: military blogs (milblogs for short) written by such soldiers as Spc. Alex Horton, the recently returned author of Army of Dude. In Vietnam, we had three television networks beaming pictures of war into our living room. In Iraq, we have soldiers doubling as diarists, writing the first draft of an unfinished history.

In related news, the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University held a conference the weekend before last for milbloggers and others involved in chronicling the Iraq War. A snip from a story in the Brown Daily Herald: "'Progress doesn't take place in the university, in the military or in political circles through blind consent,' said Professor of International Studies James Der Derian, one of the conference's organizers. 'It only happens through contestation - dissent with a willingness to listen to the other.'" There was plenty of both at the conference. Click here to read more.

On Wednesday, the National Council of LaRaza and the Urban Institute released a report detailing the consequences of immigration raids on children. The report explored how more than 500 children - two thirds of them under age 10 - were directly affected by the arrest of 912 people in three large-scale workplace immigration raids over the past year. “The local governments and communities we studied did not have adequate resources to deal with children’s needs in the aftermath of the raids,” said Randy Capps, a demographer with the nonpartisan Urban Institute. "We don't question the fact that our laws need to be enforced. We do question how we enforce those laws," Janet Murguía, president of the National Council of LaRaza, told USA Today. "You're talking about real pain and suffering for these kids." Read more here and here.

At thataway.org, Amy Lang reviews the recent defeat of electoral reform proposed by the recent Ontario Citizens Assembly. Linking to and echoing an analysis by Jim Snider, she suggests that "understanding the Assembly’s reasons for recommending the system they chose could have changed the debate about the proposal." The reform's sound defeat offers a challenge to civic engagement proponents, she adds: "For all the high we feel when we gather people together for face-to-face dialogue and deliberation, how do we connect the outcomes of this work to a broader public?" Read more here.

Noted in the AmericaSpeaks e-newsletter: "Educare Trust is a Nigerian education and health NGO that is establishing a Deliberative Democracy Section in their library to expose students and adult users to the concept of deliberative forums.  If you can donate books and resource material contact Folorunsho Moshood (phone +234-802-386-5772) in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria." Click here to see photos of the library and its users at the DD section's opening.

What have you been thinking about and working on this week? Have a great weekend, don't forget to set your clocks back an hour on Saturday night, and we'll see you here on Monday.