[Winona Online Democracy]
Greetings Everyone,
We've just passed three-months of Winona Online Democracy. Thanks to
everyone for contributing to a lively discussion of community issues!
I thought this might be a good time to pass along some information I came
across regarding "deliberative discussion". It is our hope that the
discussions that take place on Winona Online Democracy will be ones that
tend toward problem solving and consensus building, rather than ideological
debates that primarily seek to convince others of the correctness of an
individual's point of view.
According to the Kettering Foundation . . . .
"In deliberating, individuals come together and discuss issues that affect
them all. They find shared values and decide on a likely course of action.
Deliberation can be considered the functional speech of the community, or
the formation of the will of the public; the way that a community decides
what it wants. Deliberation is based on a recognition of shared values
between individuals, and a realization of conflicting values. If the
participants are unwilling to see things from another's point of view, the
discussion will likely dissolve into unproductive conflict."
I hope that as we discuss more challenging issues, we can keep an ethic of
Deliberative Discussion and work to recognize the views of others while
working to develop specific solutions to issues that affect our community.
Thanks for your continued participation.
-Steve Kranz, Co-Chair
Winona Online Democracy
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