How we operate
The Improving Democracy Project seeks to provide a mechanism to take the steam out of hot button issues and test the truth of emotionally appealing slogans.
The IDP seeks to provide content and references for self study to deepen our understanding of the history, theory and practice of Democracy and what responsibilities we as individuals must be willing to shoulder to make our democracy stable and lasting.
The IDP also proposes a mechanism for public gatherings with a specific format that focuses upon probing questions to help us all get beyond our emotional comfort zone. It is not a debate, it is not about personality, or being able to think quickly on your feet, or winning and losing. It is about investigating to develop a solid understanding. No conclusion is reached by the gathering, each participant leaves the gathering with the knowledge they have acquired to deliberate and form their own conclusions.
The IDP procedures can be adapted for both formal and informal gatherings.
For formal gatherings, which would generally be gatherings of people who do not know one another, each person who participates is required prior to entry to sign a contract agreeing to abide by rules of engagement that seek to insure civility and respectful dialogue. Click on "more" above to find our contract, and review the terms of the contract.
The format of the formal gatherings is centered around a neutral moderator, or moderators and a free flowing floor plan that allows persons to chose on a moment by moment basis whether to participate in formulating or answering, or simply observe. See the link "investigation format" for the specific guidelines.
Informal gatherings among people that know one another can pick and chose the formats and procedures that they find appropriate. However, we suggest that even for informal gatherings the participants be requested to review the IDP contract to understand the rules of engagement.
This website also seeks to develop a library of transcripts of the formal questions and answers for gatherings to provide a record and for persons not at the proceeding but interested in reviewing what occurred.
The IDP seeks to provide content and references for self study to deepen our understanding of the history, theory and practice of Democracy and what responsibilities we as individuals must be willing to shoulder to make our democracy stable and lasting.
The IDP also proposes a mechanism for public gatherings with a specific format that focuses upon probing questions to help us all get beyond our emotional comfort zone. It is not a debate, it is not about personality, or being able to think quickly on your feet, or winning and losing. It is about investigating to develop a solid understanding. No conclusion is reached by the gathering, each participant leaves the gathering with the knowledge they have acquired to deliberate and form their own conclusions.
The IDP procedures can be adapted for both formal and informal gatherings.
For formal gatherings, which would generally be gatherings of people who do not know one another, each person who participates is required prior to entry to sign a contract agreeing to abide by rules of engagement that seek to insure civility and respectful dialogue. Click on "more" above to find our contract, and review the terms of the contract.
The format of the formal gatherings is centered around a neutral moderator, or moderators and a free flowing floor plan that allows persons to chose on a moment by moment basis whether to participate in formulating or answering, or simply observe. See the link "investigation format" for the specific guidelines.
Informal gatherings among people that know one another can pick and chose the formats and procedures that they find appropriate. However, we suggest that even for informal gatherings the participants be requested to review the IDP contract to understand the rules of engagement.
This website also seeks to develop a library of transcripts of the formal questions and answers for gatherings to provide a record and for persons not at the proceeding but interested in reviewing what occurred.