Developing Deliberative Practice: The Role of Deliberation with Underrepresented Populations in Community Politics

Developing Deliberative Practice: The Role of Deliberation with Underrepresented Populations in Community Politics

Alberto Olivas and Deanna Villanueva-Saucedo

2008

16 pages

This report to the Kettering Foundation comes from Alberto Olivas and Deanna Villanueva-Saucedo, with the Maricopa Community College District Center for Civic Participation in Tempe, Arizona. In a set of interviews with public officials and citizen groups, the researchers identified little difference in perspectives about issues among ethnic groups, but they did find differences between the officials and citizens. Mistrust by citizens and cynicism among officials was the norm. Using that information, the researchers experimented with deliberative approaches to a variety of traditional decision-making processes, such as public hearings, candidate forums, and land-use planning sessions. Changing the processes had positive effects on experts and citizens alike.