Got This Letter in Your Mail? You’ve won the democracy lottery! If you received the letter, you have a chance to be part of a Citizens’ Initiative Review. If you reply and are randomly selected, you will: Spend four days reviewing a measure on the November ballot, as part of a 20-person citizen panel Have […]
2018 Portland-Area CIR Announcement Read More »
Into the Central Oregon barn walked students with purple hair, red Chuck Taylor high tops, and silver nose rings. They were gay and straight, male and female; each of them young, and all of them environmental studies majors from Lewis and Clark College in Portland.
Greeting them were farmers in Oregon State baseball caps and ranchers with silver hair beneath cowboy hats, and small timber operators with the scars to prove it. Some were young, but most were less young, and all had lived their lives and were making their living on the soil of the small Crook County community of Powell Butte.
This is What Democracy Looks Like: Notes from Conversations in a Crook County Barn Read More »
Executive Director Robin Teater reviews our accomplishments in 2017 and looks ahead to the new year.
2017: A Year in Review Read More »
HD’s summer 2017 Nevins Fellow, Andy Puthenpurayil, argues that one often-distorted category of ballot measures – those dealing with ‘three strikes’ laws and other criminal justice matters – could particularly benefit from the clarity of a CIR-style review.
A Case for Citizens’ Initiative Reviews of Criminal Justice Ballot Measures Read More »
Program Director Jessie Conover writes a few goodbyes on her leaving Healthy Democracy and the world of deliberative democracy.
The Human Heart is the First Home of Democracy*: A Farewell for Now Read More »
Robin Teater writes a goodbye to our beloved program director, Jessie Conover.
To Have Without Holding: A Farewell Message Read More »
In a talk at the Frontiers of Democracy conference in Boston, Ashley Trim calls for greater political inclusiveness within universities and the deliberative democracy community.
Jessie Conover responds to recent articles calling for less public participation in our democracy.
Actually, More Public Participation Can Save American Democracy Read More »
Linn Davis makes the case for urban thinker Jane Jacobs as a grandmother of modern public engagement.
Jane Jacobs and Urban Planning’s Lesson for Democracy Read More »
Robin Teater and Linn Davis recap the 2017 Elevate Engagement conference.
Conference Recap: Elevate Engagement 2017 Read More »
Wendy Willis reviews our first Democracy Salon on the topic of trust and journalism. The discussion, she writes, surfaced a number of important questions: “What is the appropriate balance between trust and skepticism?” “How do we foster belonging in a mass society?” and, more succinctly, “What the hell is going on?”
To Speak the Truth: Reflections on the First Democracy Salon Read More »
Jessie Conover reviews #Republic, the inspiration for our series on cultivating a healthy and balanced news diet.
A Healthy News Diet, Part 3: The Inspiration, Cass Sunstein’s #Republic Read More »
Jessie Conover shares her own journey to a more healthy and balanced news diet, through a series of simple steps.
A Healthy News Diet, Part 2: Squaring up your own news diet Read More »
Jessie Conover discusses the need for a healthy and balanced news diet to support a healthy democracy, including a taxonomy of news “food groups.”
A Healthy News Diet, Part 1: An imperfect theory Read More »
Program Director Jessie Conover offers tips for nonpartisan organizations in a time of “existential threats to our democracy”.
Nonpartisan Hygiene: 6 Tips to Stay Squeaky Clean Read More »
Linn Davis completes his post on sociologist Sherry Turkle’s case for conversation with a review of HD’s best ideas for strengthening our skills for political dialogue.
Democracy and the Art of Conversation, Part 2 Read More »
Linn Davis explores sociologist Sherry Turkle’s case for more face-to-face human interaction, in the context of modern US politics.
Democracy and the Art of Conversation, Part 1 Read More »
Healthy Democracy, along with Public Agenda and the Davenport Institute at Pepperdine University’s School of Public Policy, is a recipient of the Bridge Alliance 2017 Collective Impact grant program! Read about how this funding will elevate the voices of citizens in California and around the country.
Healthy Democracy receives inaugural Bridge Alliance Collective Impact Award! Read More »
Chip Taylor of Colorado describes why county commissions might find the Citizens Initiative Review intriguing, based on his observations of a Citizens Initiative Review in California.
Guest Blog: Innovative Process Helps Voters Make Better Decisions Read More »
Ann Bakkensen and Marion Sharp, two participants in Healthy Democracy’s first CIR in Oregon in 2010, discuss experiencing deliberative democracy in action — and the unlikely friendship that resulted.
Italians are voting on a significant ballot measure next week, and voters there are paying to learn about it. Program Director Jessie Conover explains why they shouldn’t have to.
In Italy, Voters Pay for Ballot Information – But There’s a Better Way Read More »
The Oregon Citizens’ Initiative Review citizen panel has completed their review of Ballot Measure 97, the corporate gross receipts tax, and the final statement is now available.
Citizen Panel Finalizes Review of Measure 97 in Oregon Read More »
