Kettering Foundation

The Kettering Foundation
is an independent, nonpartisan
research organization rooted
in the American tradition
of cooperative research.

Everything Kettering researches
relates to one central question:
what does it take for democracy
to work as it should?

Deliberative Decision Making

Both the National Issues Forums Institute (NIFI) and the Kettering Foundation have received requests for a visual example of how a deliberative forum is different from a discussion or debate. The video clip you see below was made to jumpstart deliberative decision making on how to counter the forces that put young people at risk. While the clip is from the 1990s, the principles of deliberation being illustrated haven’t changed.

The narrator in the clip emphasizes carefully weighing the pros and cons of different approaches or options for action on this issue. To deliberate is to consider fairly what is deeply important to people as well as relevant facts. Different concerns lead to different options, so there are always more than two approaches to consider when deliberating on issues.
Human beings have a variety of basic concerns that they share with others, yet people differ on which ones are most important in a given situation. So when faced with an issue like troubled youngsters, citizens are pulled in different directions by their concerns, especially when they have to make tradeoffs. You will see this tension evident in comparing approach one to approach four. To demonstrate that deliberation is not a contest between opposing camps, however, the narrator plays the champion of both options. She shows that the tensions are often as much within us personally as they are between us as citizens.

Note, too, that the objective of deliberative decision making is not to reach total agreement. As people deliberate, they often rename the issue they are facing, which allows them to imagine new remedies as well as new allies. They may come to a better understanding of those who have opposing views about which concerns are most relevant, and this helps combat hyperpolarization.

Although this short clip might give the impression that public deliberation is a special technique for facilitating meetings, it isn’t that at all, but rather an entry into a form of democracy that gives citizens greater power to shape their future. Being able to decide together is key to being able to act together. But make no mistake; making tough choices takes hard work.

For more information on deliberative decision making, see our many research publications.
For a list of issue books framed to promote deliberation, visit NIFI's web site.