In September of 2019, 526 Americans, representing the demographic and political diversity of the country, got together in small groups to discuss policy issues. Both sides were presented a common set of facts for a discussion moderated by experts. For four days they deliberated everything from climate policy to immigration and beyond. And then they went home.
Our guest, Dr. Alice Siu, Associate Director, Center for Deliberative Democracy is on the podcast this week to tell us what happened next. As these individuals encountered a divisive presidential election, a global pandemic, and protests erupting all over the country, what did they take with them from those four days of discussion? How did the experience impact their lives and what can we learn from them about how to have respectful discussion of our political values? Alice spoke to them on her podcast, Voices of America in One Room, to find out.
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Show Notes:
- The Center for Deliberative Democracy
- America in One Room
- “These 526 Voters Represent All of America. And They Spent a Weekend Together.” – The New York Times
- “These Americans Tried to Listen to One Another. A Year Later, Here’s How They’re Voting.” – The New York Times
- Voices of America in One Room Podcast
About our guest:
Alice Siu received her Ph.D. from the Department of Communication at Stanford University, with a focus in political communication, deliberative democracy and public opinion, and her B.A. degrees in Economics and Public Policy and M.A. degree in Political Science, also from Stanford.
Siu has advised policymakers and political leaders around the world, at various levels of government, including leaders in China, Brazil, and Argentina. Her research interests in deliberative democracy include what happens inside deliberation, such as examining the effects of socio-economic class in deliberation, the quality of deliberation, and the quality of arguments in deliberation.