The Latest & Greatest
Keep up to date with our latest blog posts, press releases, news coverage, podcasts, and more!
Council Approves New Engagement Tactic for Hughes
22 Aug 2024 At the City Council Regular Meeting on August 20, 2024, Fort Collins City Council…
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How will Fort Collins decide what to do with old Hughes Stadium? It’s trying something new
Rebecca Powell, Fort Collins Coloradoan | Published 5:01 a.m. MT July 23rd, 2024 | Updated 7:54 p.m.…
Can ordinary citizens solve our toughest problems?
By GEORGE ANDERS of The Chronicle of Philanthropy | Updated 2:00 PM PST, December 11, 2024 BEND, OREGON…
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A Visitor’s Perspective: Deschutes Civic Assembly on Youth Homelessness
By Nick Coccoma – A few weeks ago, as Americans hurtled toward yet another turbulent election, I…
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Can Ordinary Citizens Solve Our Toughest Problems?
An effort in Bend, Ore., backed by big funders looks for answers to youth homelessness. George Anders,…
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In Oregon assembly, Americans show another kind of politics is possible
📺 Watch Deschutes County assembly members describe their experience in their own words https://youtu.be/jahGnbOnCOs As a contentious…
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Civic Assembly on Youth Homelessness wraps up its final discussion, preps proposed solutions for leaders to consider
Kelsey McGee, October 6, 2024 — BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — An innovative new way for Central Oregonians…
“Thanks for giving me hope”
October 17, 2024 — From 14 September to 6 October 2024, a Civic Assembly on the topic…
Selection Event for First Civic Assembly in Central Oregon
July 30, 2024 — The Central Oregon Civic Action Project (COCAP), Healthy Democracy, and the Central Oregon…
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Move to Give Community “Seat at Table”
City Club Forum Floats Idea of Citizens Assembly to Tackle Topics in “Bend” Way Simon Mather, May…
More than 12,000 Deschutes County households invited to help launch Civic Assembly on Youth Homelessness
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — The Central Oregon Civic Action Project and Central Oregon Youth Action Board have…
Asambleas ciudadanas locales comenzarán en el otoño
La primera asamblea se enfocará en encontrar soluciones para los jóvenes sin hogar Julianna Lafollette | Translated…
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Local Citizen Assemblies to Start in the Fall
The first assembly will focus on finding potential solutions for youth homelessness JULIANNA LAFOLLETTE, JUNE 25, 2024…
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Launching a first-of-its-kind Civic Assembly in Deschutes County, Oregon, USA 🇺🇸
12,750 invitation letters have been mailed to residents in our first project to institutionalise a Citizens’ Assembly…
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Editorial: Does Deschutes County need a do over on setting policy?
May 19, 2024 — When the Bend City Council agreed Wednesday to join an effort by the Central Oregon…
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Citizen Assemblies Concept Proposed for Central OR
HEATHER ROBERTS BEND, OR — A concept to engage the public in government policy decisions rarely seen in…
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Staff Transitions
The last three years at Healthy Democracy have been a triumph in collaboration. The art of practicing…
Hot off the Press!
“Lottery-selected democracy is no panacea, but it is an example of a complex design that directly counters…
Randomly Chosen Panel Should Guide Airport’s Future, Officials Say
JORGE CASUSO “September 25, 2023 — The future of Santa Monica Airport should be hammered out –…
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Behind the Scenes at HD
Since you haven’t heard from us much lately, we thought we’d share a glimpse of what’s inspiring…
Reinventing Democracy: How Hometowns Are Strengthening America
Mayors, city councilors, select board members, city and town managers, county executives, and other local government officials…
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What if the People Governed? How Citizens’ Assemblies Can Restore Trust in LA City Government
This introduction to citizens’ assemblies and how they can empower breakthroughs in local democracy was co-hosted by…
Creating a Healthy Democracy For Everyone – Omni Win Podcast
How can we include everyday people in political decisions? Duncan welcomes Alex Renirie, Linn Davis and Kacey…
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Guaranteeing Representation: Reimagining Community Participation through Democratic Lotteries — Webinar
In this webinar, held on November 18th, 2021, Healthy Democracy teamed up with experts from across the…
A Tribute to Ned Crosby
Ned Crosby’s Memorial Facebook Page Healthy Democracy is grieving the loss of Ned Crosby. Ned was not…
Here’s how the controversial new Petaluma fairgrounds planning process will work
AMELIA PARREIRA ARGUS-COURIER STAFF March 2, 2022, 12:15PM To form the panel of 30 to 40 residents,…
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Let the People of California Solve the State’s Homelessness Crisis
A Citizens Assembly Could Unify People Around a Thorny Problem and Succeed Where Politicians Have Failed by JOE MATHEWS | FEBRUARY 22, 2022…
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Community Matters: Finally, a novel approach to resolving the Petaluma Fairgrounds quandary
TYLER SILVY ARGUS-COURIER EDITOR February 9, 2022 Eager to find a solution to the quandary, Petaluma City…
Democracy Rising 8: Deliberative Democracy — Power
By Susan Clark, originally published by Resilience.org Citizens’ Initiative Review (CIR) gives an old system a much-needed update. The initiative…
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Opinion: Citizen Initiative Review Commissions Provide Deeper Involvement in Democracy
Guest opinion article written by Sue Malek for the Missoulian: Should we enact Citizen Initiative Review Commissions…
City of Eugene Review Panel Publishes Guiding Principles on Housing, as Part of Innovative Public Engagement Process
EUGENE — A first-of-its-kind Review Panel has completed the first phase of a public engagement process designed…
Podcast // Facilitating Public Deliberation: Episode 32, Citizens’ Initiative Reviews with Linn Davis
From Facilitating Public Deliberation: Linn Davis leads Healthy Democracy’s program development and process design. He coordinates Healthy Democracy’s complex public…
Assuming Democracy: Adam Says Hello
After too many years working in the advertising industry as a Creative Director, one day I came…
“The Hope and Promise of Our Democracy”: Robin Says Goodbye
It has been my great privilege to have served the Healthy Democracy organization over the past 4…
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Podcast // Democracy In Crisis Part 2: Mini-publics, Citizens’ Assemblies and Juries
Democracy in Crisis is a special online series of global roundtable discussions about the use of randomly-selected…
Annabelle’s Reflection on her Nevins Fellowship with Healthy Democracy
Over the summer, Healthy Democracy was grateful to welcome Annabelle LaRosa as our 2020 Nevins Fellow. The…
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First Virtual Oregon Citizen Assembly Shares COVID-19 Recovery Recommendations August 27
For Immediate Release August 12, 2020 Media Contact: Robin Teater, Executive Director Ph: 503-841-6865; Email: robin@healthydemocracy.org …
First Statewide Online Assembly Will Look at Coronavirus Recovery
From Portland Tribune: Forty Oregonians, just under half the size of the Legislature, will meet online during the…
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Oregonians to weigh in on COVID-19 recovery issues in ‘virtual citizen assembly’
From KTVZ News Channel 21: PORTLAND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Oregonians from all walks of life will participate in…
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Oregon Citizens to Weigh-In on COVID Recovery: Healthy Democracy & Oregon’s Kitchen Table Convene First Virtual Citizen Assembly
For Immediate Release June 30, 2020 Media Contact: Robin Teater, Executive Director Ph: 503-381-1196; Email: robin@healthydemocracy.org …
Citizens’ Initiative Review: Helping Citizens Make Better Informed Voting Choices
From medium.com/participo: Linn Davis is a program manager at Healthy Democracy, a US-based nonpartisan non-profit that designs and…
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Practical Values for Virtual Participation
Everyone is talking about online engagement these days. Yes, those are eight different links to eight different articles, all from one quick dive into…
On the Other Side of the Crisis . . . Thoughts from John Frohnmayer on Life After the Corona Virus
Healthy Democracy’s good friend and former Board member, John Frohnmayer, shares his thoughts on what we are…
Democracy as Community: Pandemic Edition
I wanted to take a moment this month, in this extraordinary time in our country, to do…
Observations on France’s Citizens’ Convention on Climate: Unrivaled Influence & Unresolved Questions
In early-March 2020, HD’s Linn Davis observed France’s national Citizens’ Convention on Climate. He reports on the potential influence of the Convention, and suggests questions for deliberative practitioners to consider.
Catching the UK’s “Deliberative Wave”
It’s a pretty cold time of year to surf real waves in the North Atlantic, so it’s…
Citizens’ Initiative Review Needs Legislative Funding
The Oregon legislature just started their short session on February 1. Senator Arnie Roblan, who sponsored the…
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Do you trust your fellow citizens more than your leaders?
From swissinfo.ch: A Swiss experiment bringing together a group of citizens to prepare an informational sheet for February’s…
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Podcast // Democracy Nerd: Exploring Oregon-Style Democracy
From Democracy Nerd: In this episode, Jefferson Smith talks with Linn Davis, Healthy Democracy Program Manager. Linn…
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Bridging the Urban Rural Divide
From Ruralite: On a Saturday morning in August, Mike and Jeanney McArthur gather in their living room…