Citizens Voice

During the IAP2 Conference three films will be shown that will demonstrate different methods of citizen's voice. A short film called Nothing Short of a Miracle tells the story of local people in an outer metropolitan suburb in South Australia making their own future through community management - and having more success that the US President did when he was a community organiser if you read his own account in Dreams of My Father. You will also be able to hear from Prof James Fishkin directly and view his film on deliberative democracy : Europe in One Room. Jim will be there to take your questions and his new book about this project is on its way! Finally, Issues Deliberation Australia/America will be showing their award winning film Beyond Beliefs, using the deliberative poll method invited by Jim on an issue of national importance in Australia - Muslims and non-Muslims in Australia. The matters raised in this part of the world also have international ramifications for many Western democracries as well. And for good measure there will be popcorn too!

The White House's Office of Public Engagement launched earlier in the year the results of their collection of the Citizen's Voice in the Citizen's Briefing Book and many of the ideas and issues will be interest to IAP2 members worldwide -it is another way of listening into the citizen's voice. Around the world more and more leaders are recognizing that "government does not have all the answers, and that public officials need to draw on what citizens know " (US President Obama).

These films and this resource give you the chance to hear first hand what everyday citizens are saying to government and saying to one another.

Town Halls, Living Rooms and Social Media

This week Professor Dr Jim Fishkin from the Center for Deliberative Democracy at Stanford University published an opinion piece in the New York Times shedding some light on ways to ensure a range of voices are heard in the public domain. Jim is also a member of IAP2's Journal Advisory Board and creator of Deliberative Polling. This method will be showcased in two films at this year's international conference - one set in Europe and the other Australia.

Today, Associate Professor Dr Lyn Carson from University of Sydney had an opinion piece published in the Canberra Times generating discussion on how home is where the action is - people can log on to make their contribution from the comfort of their living room. The place of social media in dialogue and discourse is proving to be an interesting challenge for democracies like the USA where Town Hall meetings are being captured by specific interest groups and for countries like China where 'home churches' are growing at a pace.

Carson is a member of the International Board of IAP2 and will also have an article in the next edition of the International Journal of Public Participation which will be on line in the next week.

What does this all mean for public participation, online tools, deliberation vs crowd sourcing? These and other interesting discussions vital for the future of public participation will be happenning at this year's IAP2 conference in San Diego - don't leave the debate to others -come and share your experience, knowledge and wisdom. If you feel you need to top up on your knowledge and skills in this area there are many workshops in this field on offer at the conference as well. See you there!