Category: issue guides
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A Productive Year: New Materials for Deliberative Conversation
2020 has been a challenging year, on so many fronts. It is gratifying to be able to report that the group I work with at the Kettering Foundation and the National Issues Forums Institute has been able to rise to the challenge. We worked as never before, and the team were able to produce needed…
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A Decade of Deliberation
Today marks ten years as executive editor of the Kettering Foundation’s issue guide series. The team of colleagues that I have been working with to develop these materials is remarkably talented and insightful, and has grown to be a second family. I am grateful to have had this opportunity to do meaningful work to further…
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Health Care: How Can We Bring Costs Down While Getting the Care We Need? — New Conversation Materials Released
I am pleased to announce publication today of the most recent National Issues Forums issue guide, Health Care: How Can We Bring Costs Down While Getting the Care We Need? From the guide: Americans, individually and as a nation, are worried about high health-care costs. Many of us fear that skyrocketing drug prices and surprise…
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Naming Public Issues: Economic Concerns Illustrated
Two reasons that people find it difficult to work on shared problems are that the way they are talked about obscures their nature, and an assumed course of action is implied even though there is not broad agreement on either. When developing materials for people to deliberate together on shared problems, we try to mitigate…
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How Should We Prevent Mass Shootings In Our Communities? Announcing New Conversation Materials
I am pleased to announce publication today of a brand-new update to the National Issues Forums issue advisory, How Should We Prevent Mass Shootings In Our Communities? The materials are meant to support deliberative conversations in community and other settings, and are free to download. From the guide: The tragic attacks in El Paso, Texas;…
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A House Divided: Announcing New Conversation Materials on Political Division
American public life is highly divided and people find it more and more difficult to talk to one another. Not only are there solution wars over specific issues, but people increasingly lament division per se. I am therefore very pleased to announce publication today of the most recent NIF issue guide, A House Divided: What Would…
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Coming to America: Who Should We Welcome, What Should We Do? — New Issue Guide Released by National Issues Forums Institute
I am pleased to announce that the latest NIF issue guide, Coming to America: Who Should We Welcome, What Should We Do?, is released today. At the NIFI link, there is also available an “issue advisory” for free download – such advisories are the core “name” and “frame” of the issue in an easy to…
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What Should We Do About the Opioid Epidemic? — New Issue Advisory from the National Issues Forums Institute
I am pleased to announce a new “issue advisory” that is available as a free download (or fold-out hard copy) from the National Issues Forums Institute titled What Should We Do About the Opioid Epidemic? I am proud of my role in helping develop this resource. The Kettering Foundation researches and develops issue frameworks like this one…
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New at Inside Public Judgment: Starting Where the Public Starts
Friends know that at the Kettering Foundation we recently started a new blog called Inside Public Judgment, devoted to sharing what we are learning about framing issues for public deliberation — a behind-the-scenes look at various aspects of developing issue guides. My latest piece is posted, which outlines some of the false starts we made…
Brad Rourke 