AmericaSpeaks engages citizens in the public decision making and develops innovative deliberative tools that work for both citizens and decision makers and institutionalize links between the two groups.
Activities
AmericaSpeaks engages citizens in the public decision making and helps to develop tools that increase collaboration, information sharing, and consensus. The organization focuses on pilot projects to test tools and methodologies as well as reports and resources for use across the country. Consulting services in community engagement and strategic planning are also major offerings of the organization, along public speakers and meeting facilitators.
Relevant Project(s)
- Hamilton County Community COMPASS. Hamilton County, Ohio (including Cincinnati) began a comprehensive planning process with a visioning program from AmericaSpeaks. The program included a number of community forums, online meetings, youth forums, and county-wide town meetings.
- Chicago Common Ground Project. See Case Studies.
- Neighborhood Action Initiative. Washington, D.C.’s Mayor Williams began a comprehensive citizen involvement program for planning the City budget, yearly priorities, and holding government accountable. Over 10,000 D.C. citizens have been involved in the process to date, which culminates in a yearly Citizen Summit.
- Listening to the City. Engagement project in New York, NY focused on collaboration and community involvement in redeveloping lower Manhattan after September 11.
- Americans Discuss Social Security. 45,000 Americans are engaged in discussions across the country of social security issues and policy.
AmericaSpeaks also formed the Democracy Lab for Research and Innovation to advance the fields of citizen engagement and deliberative democracy. Projects include:
- Impact on Citizens. Developing and testing research methods to better understand the impact of deliberation on participants' future levels of civic engagement.
- Institutional and policy outcomes. Understanding the extent to which deliberation impacts decision-making.
- State of practice. Tracking and summarizing the latest thinking, best practices and novel experiments.
Relevant Methodologies
AmericaSpeaks’ 21st Century Town Meeting focuses on discussion and deliberation among citizens rather than speeches, question-and-answer sessions or panel presentations. Diverse groups of citizens participate in round-table discussions (10-12 people per table), deliberating in depth about key policy, resource allocation or planning issues. Technology (using keypad polling and networked computers) transforms the individual table discussions into synthesized recommendations representative of the whole room.
Region
International
More Information
17th Street, NW, Suite 701
Washington, D.C. 20036
202-775-3939 (phone)
202-775-0404 (fax)