Bias warps reason. Does deliberation ameliorate that?
Research shows that individuals bend facts and math to align with their existing views. But does this happen when they’re in high …
Doing democracy differently
In Is Democracy in Trouble? E.J. Dionne describes major studies suggesting that “Across most of the democratic world, there is an impatience bordering …
Democracy, Peace and the Iroquois
An invitation to speak has brought me back to some roots of my work I haven’t revisited in some time – the …
Ancient Athens didn’t have politicians. Is there a lesson for us?
Few people realize that in ancient Athens – the original democracy from which modern democracies supposedly grew – no one was elected to be a representative. There were no public offices elected by the people. They just didn’t have politicians.* T…
Two new anti-democracy developments to nip in the bud
Below are excerpts from six articles describing two upcoming national and international initiatives that could further undermine our already shaky ability to exercise informed self-governance. The first anti-democracy initiative is the apparent re…
Tom Atlee “public wisdom” conference call 1/17/2012
I’ll be doing an online dialogue in the 2-hour National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation Confab Call on Tuesday, January 17th at 2pm Eastern (11am Pacific). Ben Roberts, a principal in both weDialogue and Occupy Café, will be facilitating t…
Who really represents We the People? How do we find the Public Wisdom we need?
I have recently heard that people in the Coffee Party and the No Labels movement and some other groups seeking to represent “We the People” have recently been wondering how an organization can be about both “advocacy” AND “dialogue and deliberatio…
Will Egypt Revolutionize Democracy Itself?
Thomas Friedman suggests that the special strength of Egypt’s youth-led revolutionary movement has been “the fact that it represented every political strain, every segment and class in Egyptian society.” But then he turns around and says that dive…
2010 election in Oregon could change the game…
Do you live in Oregon? Do you have friends, associations, networks in Oregon? If you do, I’m urging you to spread the word on one of the most important developments toward a wiser democracy in the US. Although most Oregonians don’t know it — and …
From Climate Change to Transformation of Democracy
I laud Garrison for his brilliant formulation of our crisis quo, “From Climate Change to Climate Shock” http://bit.ly/9BTAUa, and his imperative that we actively use unfolding disasters to generate needed changes (just as corporations use them to …