Agent of Democracy - Society for College and University Planning

The New England Center for Civic Life
of that deliberative dialogue process might help the factions within
the Jaffrey-Rindge School District build a bridge that would lead
to greater community support of the district’s public schools.
When NECCL got the call
for help in April 2004, director
Joni Doherty proposed the use of
the Sustained Dialogue process
developed by Kettering Foundation
Director of International
Affairs Harold Saunders. It was a
process we had used successfully
for years at Franklin Pierce University
with students and faculty
to talk about tensions related to
racial/ethnic and other kinds of
social diversity within the campus
community. The citizens’
committee liked the process she
proposed and invited Doherty to
help them get started.
They began meeting once a
“Rather than aiming at
knowledge representative
of a collection of individuals,
the practices of
deliberative democracy
attempt to create legitimacy
through the establishment
of a public voice
that reflects the common
ground among them.”
(“Living in the Lap of an Immense
Intelligence: Lessons
on Public Scholarship from
the Field,”HEX, 2002.)
week from May through August. Doherty was the facilitator at
first, but soon turned that role over to coleaders representing each
of the two groups. She helped them agree on a name—Citizens
Seeking Common Ground—offered meeting space at Franklin
Pierce University for the group to use and coached them in how
the dialogue process works. The weekly dialogue helped the members
begin to better understand the perspectives of those with whom
they disagreed. As the weeks turned into months, members from
both sides deepened their understanding of each other and
began to see the issue in more complex terms and to view each
other as real people, each with many legitimate concerns and
good ideas. Eventually, they saw that they shared many of the
same values and hopes for their communities. They were propelled
forward by a belief that common ground could be forged
without compromising their ideals.
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