In a deliberation individuals share their views to learn from one another. The goal is to identify the values and goals around which community action can be forged. There are disagreements, to be sure. But deliberation gives individuals a chance to be heard, and a reason to listen, using a well-tested format.
Starting in small group discussions, moderators introduce three approaches to the topic at hand. The approaches distill the most common ways people express their views on that topic. Each approach is put forward in the most favorable terms. But trade-offs and critiques are also pointed out. The deliberators then pose questions of one another and compare views.
Next, officials and experts respond to the whole gathering with facts and their own opinions.
This format has two key benefits. First, it starts the discussion at the three places where most people find themselves, at least at the outset. Second, everyone has a chance to participate and to learn from each other. The format is the product of twenty-five years of research by the Kettering Foundation and the National Issues Forums.
Deliberators can expect to learn what common ground -- which is the basis for community action -- might exist among people of otherwise divergent views. Participants leave a deliberation with a better appreciation of what lies behind points of view other than their own. A few people even change their minds based on what they hear.
Most important, new approaches, perhaps better-informed and more widely shared, will emerge from the initial three. That is not to suggest that one deliberation will deliver a consensus. Rather, it is a means to discover the possibilities for consensus and to make progress, often slowly, towards that end.
