Session Overview:
In this session from the 2020 Gov Comms Festival, we hear fromDon Lenihan and Rhonda Moore. Don is the President and CEO of Middle Ground Policy Research and Rhonda is the Practice Lead inScience and Innovation at the Institute on Governance.
Don and Rhonda talk about the concept of public deliberation. What is it, and why should we care about it? Don explains the increasing complexity of public deliberation in the age of technological revolution and information abundance.
Don explains the democratic reform perspective on public deliberation, as well as how both politicians and voters tend to respond to it. He discusses the language of democracy, and why it is important to think about the language of democracy.
Don discusses the topic of polarisation, and why public deliberation is a potential solution to the problem of rising polarisation in many democracies throughout the world. According to Don, deliberation is a process of finding a middle ground.
Please note that this video is a live recording of a presentation from the GovComms Festival.
After watching this video, you will be able to:
- Define the concept of public deliberation, as well as the democratic reform perspective on public deliberation.
- Understandhowpolitical polarization interacts with public deliberation.
- Recognize the importance of deciding how we talk about and define democracy.
