The Center for Voter Deliberation of Northern Virginia

Civic Engagement 101

A thoughtful video.

 

 

Deliberation That Matters in California & Japan

This fall, on either side of the Pacific, dramatic changes proposed by ordinary citizens through Deliberative Polls are making their way towards possible enactment.

In California, the Government Performance and Accountability Act has been placed on the November ballot as Proposition 31.  Crafted after an exhaustive weekend of discussions among a representative cross-section of 400+ Californians just over a year ago, Proposition 31 embodies six widely-accepted steps to remedy the state’s chronic fiscal dysfunction.

In Japan, a statistical microcosm of the Japanese people gathered in August at Keio University in Tokyo, where the 285 participants spent two days deliberating about the future of nuclear power in that country. They embraced the combination of zero nuclear power by 2030 along with strong commitments to energy conservation and renewable energy. These priorities increased with deliberation even after all the arguments on either side were discussed in detail. This Deliberative Poll is the first anywhere in the world that was commissioned by a government to get input on a subject of national importance before a forthcoming decision by that government.

To learn more about the California and Japan Deliberative Polls, visit the website of the Center for Deliberative Democracy at Stanford University.  Details on the California Governance and Accountability Act are available at the website of the California Forward Action Fund.

I should also mention that, in Washington this summer, Rep. John Sarbanes, a Maryland Democrat, floated draft legislation to pay for congressional elections through vouchers that would empower many more voters to participate in campaign finance.

Bill Corbett

1.3 million signatures for a California ballot initiative originated by a Deliberative Poll

 

With leadership from the California Forward Action Fund,1.3 million signatures have been gathered for the Government Performance and Accountability Act, a potential California ballot initiative.  Those signatures have been submitted to hopefully place the initiative on the ballot in November.

Just one year ago, a scientific sample of the entire state of California was gathered in a single place for a Deliberative Poll® on how to remedy the state’s chronic fiscal dysfunction. Thirty proposals were put on the table for these 400-plus Californians to consider. After a weekend of small group discussions and questions to competing experts, the support for some of the proposals went up, and for others it went down.  In particular, six of the thirty proposals had strong support at the start of the weekend, and even more support afterward. 

• Establish clear goals for government programs, assess and report on progress toward them at least once every ten years: 86% in favor (at the start of the weekend), rising to 90% (at the end of the weekend).

• Require the Governor and the Legislature to adopt two-year instead of one-year budgets: 56% rising to 72%.

• Require the Governor and the Legislature to publish three and five year budget projections prior to the budget vote each year: 80% rising to 83%.

• Transfer from the state to local governments control and financing of services provided at the local level and require minimum standards for delivering them: 67% rising to 73%.

• Require state and local governments to identify policy goals and publish progress toward meeting them: 89% rising to 92%.

• Require legislation creating new programs or tax cuts costing $25 million or more to indicate how they will be paid for: 84% rising to 88%.

The proposed ballot initiative, the Government Performance and Accountability Act, embodies these six proposals. The initiative is timely and salient: In May the state announced yet another big budget shortfall, this one close to $16 billion.

California’s initiative process has played a major role in bringing about the state's unfortunate fiscal dysfunction.  Stanford Professor Jim Fishkin, who organized the Deliberative Poll®, believes the initiative process can be restored to its original purposes.

The magic of the initiative is that the people can make new law. But the process has been manipulated in the past by special interests setting the agenda. In this case, the reforms have been selected after exhaustive discussions by a sample representing everyone. The reforms seem sensible to overwhelming majorities, both before and after deliberation. Passing them would be a fine way to commemorate the 100 years of the initiative process just completed in California. Let the people, not the special interests, set the agenda. Let the people govern themselves.

Details on the California Governance and Accountability Act are available at the website of the California Forward Action Fund.  To learn more about the California Deliberative Poll of June 2011, visit the website of the Center for Deliberative Democracy at Stanford University.

Join a forum in Washington on the National Debt

You are invited to a National Issues Forum, A Nation in Debt: How Can We Pay the Bills?

• Monday, December 5, 2011
• Lunch at 12:00 pm Forum 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm
• Discussion 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm
• At the Hall of States, 444 North Capital Street, NW, Washington DC

We need you to lend your voice on this difficult issue.

Join a conversation that is nonpartisan and focused on the serious choices we have to make as a nation. What do you think should be done about our debt?

This forum is sponsored by the National Issues Forums Institute and the Charles F. Kettering Foundation.

Join the forum by completing the form below.

Learn more about the plan for our forum by reading a summary of the issue guide materials at the National Issues Forum Institute. 

Or, take a look below at a three minute introductory video on the national debt.

We hope to see you soon.

Name:
Email Address:
Where are you located?

Join a National Issues Forum on the National Debt -- in the Virtual World of Second Life

Thanks to everyone who expressed interest in our continuing online discussion of economic security in the virtual world of Second Life.  Now we turn to the national debt.

The next forum will be Saturday November 5, from 2:00 pm (Eastern Standard Time) to 4:00 pm.  Our location in SL will be Morill4/31/163/2, a lovely (and underwater) virtual meeting room  belonging to our hosts, the National eXtension Initiative. 

Join the forum by completing the form below.  If you are new to Second Life, we will help familiarize you.  We promise an interesting discussion with people from around the United States and the world.

Learn more about the plan for our forum by reading a summary of the issue guide materials at the National Issues Forum Institute. 

Or, take a look below at a three minute introductory video on the national debt.

We hope to see you soon in Second Life.  (Interested in othe free events in Second Life?  Take a look at these from the National eXtension Initiative: NeVC virtual conference and the Virtual State Fair event).

Name:
Email Address:
What is your Second Life Avatar Name? If you don't have one yet, please type NONE.
Do you need to be introduced to Second Life?	Yes No
We hope to use Skype for improved audio. What is your Skype User Name? (Write NONE if you don't have one.)

Financial regulation - not tough enough yet

A small group from across the nation (and across the Pacific) met on Wednesday evening, July 27, in the virtual world of Second Life for a National Issues Forum on economic security in America.

After the forum, several people completed a brief online survey. Those responses reflected one matter of strong consensus: That it is very important for financial institutions that make risky investments be more strictly regulated.

Also, some respondents said the forum either changed their thinking in some way, or gave them new ideas for action.

-- "[Citizens in my community could] develop local businesses, shop locally, and bank with credit unions instead of [using larger, non-local firms]....[However,] unless there are major chages in the political climate and the policies that continue to increase income disparity, I don't think small individual actions will be enough."

-- "...Now I have an appreciation for the complexity of 'economic security' and of the U.S./global political situation, our 'democratic' institutions and more broadly how power is distorting communication and decision making."

-- "I'm more frustrated now....[Citizens in my community could] organize and cooperate more."

Thank you again to those who joined us. We hope to gather again this Fall in Second Life...please keep an eye out for the announcement.

Wed July 27: The next in our continuing forums on economic security in the virtual world of Second Life

Thanks to everyone who expressed interest in our continuing online discussion of economic security in the virtual world of Second Life.

The next will be Wednesday July 27, from 7:00 pm (Eastern Standard Time) to 9:00 pm.

Join the forum by completing the form below.

We hope to meet you then.

Name:
Email Address:
What is your Second Life Avatar Name? If you don't have one yet, please type NONE.
Do you need to be introduced to Second Life?	Yes No

This HTML form was created by Freedback.

Register here for a continuing forum on economic security -- in the virtual world of Second Life

You are invited to join a continuing National Issues Forum in the virtual world of Second Life on Saturday April 30 at 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time). The topic is economic security in America.

Name:
Email Address:
What is your Second Life Avatar Name? If you don't have one yet, please type NONE.
Do you need to be introduced to Second Life?	Yes No

Participants in our first forum, two months ago, focused on how best to take charge of the future so families can feel reasonably secure, parents can help their children prosper, and everyone can move toward a financially stable retirement.

We had a small and like-minded group, one that was more concerned about the actions of government than individuals in failing to prevent the nation's recent recession and in needing to take further steps to remedy it.

"I hadn't realized before how fundamental is a properly functioning financial system....Because of the distortions in the financial system supported by government, the financial system is not doing its traditional job of supporting innovation throughout the entire economy."

"I wasn't thinking about how the current economic crisis is an opportunity to question the fundamental design principles of our economy such as whether we even want to return to the same kind of economy we had in 2008. It would be useful to think about how to rebuild in a better way than we had before."

We hope to broaden the discussion on April 30, and to add your point of view.

Rethinking the fundamentals of our economy

On Saturday February 19 the Center for Voter Deliberation of Northern Virginia (CVDNVA) and PublicDecisions cohosted a deliberation in Second Life about economic security in America.

We focused on the key question: How can we best take charge of the future so families can feel reasonably secure, parents can help their children prosper, and everyone can move toward a financially stable retirement?

We had a small and like-minded group in the forum, one that was more concerned about the actions of government than individuals in failing to prevent the nation's recent recession and in needing to take further steps to remedy it. Here are two comments after the forum from participants.

"I hadn't realized before how fundamental is a properly functioning financial system....Because of the distortions in the financial system supported by government, the financial system is not doing its traditional job of supporting innovation throughout the entire economy."

"I wasn't thinking about how the current economic crisis is an opportunity to question the fundamental design principles of our economy such as whether we even want to return to the same kind of economy we had in 2008. It would be useful to think about how to rebuild in a better way than we had before."

Special thanks to Thynka Little and Cooperative eXtension in Second Life for hosting us. The home base of Cooperative Extension in Second Life is the Virtual State Fair, where you can enjoy a combination of recreational and educational content developed by Thynka Little and her creative partners in the Extension system. For more information, go to www.ThynkaLittle.com.

Many thanks too, to Kathy Eisenmann/University of Wisconsin, Craig Paterson/Deliberative IDEAS, Janice Thompson/INVOLVE (our photographer) and Peg Schears for their assistance with making the day possible.

We'll be convening our next virtual deliberation in April on a topic to be decided soon.  Complete the form below to receive an invitation by email.

Name:
Email Address:
What is your Second Life Avatar Name? If you don't have one yet, please type NONE.
Do you need to be introduced to Second Life?	Yes No

This contact form was created by Freedback.

Join a nationwide online discussion of economic security: Sat 2/19 at 2pm (Eastern time)

Join a forum in the virtual world of Second Life on Saturday February 19 at 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time) about economic security in America.

As the nation slowly recovers from its worst recession in decades, it is a good time to ask, How can we best take charge of the future so families can feel reasonably secure, parents can help their children prosper, and everyone can move toward a financially stable retirement?

Many thanks to Thynka Little and Cooperative eXtension in Second Life for hosting us.  The home base of Cooperative Extension in Second Life is the Virtual State Fair, where you can enjoy a combination of recreational and educational content developed by Thynka Little and her creative partners in the Extension system.  For more information, go to www.ThynkaLittle.com.

Here's an introduction to what we will talk about in Second Life on February 19.

 

To register and get information on how to join Second Life (it's free), please complete this form and click the Submit button below. If you need help with joining and using Second Life, we will be in touch soon to help you out. Thanks!

Name:
Email Address:
What is your Second Life Avatar Name? If you don't have one yet, please type NONE.
Do you need to be introduced to Second Life?	Yes No

This form powered by Freedback