IDENTIDADES 1 ENGLISH IDENTIDADES 6 ENGLISH | Page 12

share. In deliberative democracy,
conversations must take place within a
very well structured environment. For
this to happen there is a protocol that
begins with a population sample; this
population
receives
background
information and get together in small
groups of 6-7 persons and a trained
moderator. In general, what happens is
that the people at these tables are
permitted to ask a resource panel or
panel of experts questions. These experts
answer the different tables’ questions,
then the table participants are given time
to reflect on the day’s conversation. At
the end, they fill out a survey about that
information. This is how a wellstructured and informative conversation
is produced. These conversations are
held regularly among people who
normally don’t speak to each other and
produce additional benefits for political
debate, in general. Let’s just say that
people begin to develop respect and
tolerance for other opinions, and
cultivate a civic culture: the type of civil
virtue or civil society that has been
absent from many of the new
democracies that simply received a
liberal constitution without having a
civic base. The practice of deliberative
democracy not only produces betterinformed opinions, but also cultivates a
sense of civic virtue amongst people.
This reminds us that democracy must be
received into people’s lives. Yet,
deliberative democracy is also a
professional skill and set of rules. It uses
a basic model, a deliberative poll. A poll
is taken prior to any discussion in order

to know what the position of those
polled is, what information they have
and how they live. Then these people,
who must be well prepared, are given a
background document about the
particularly issue that will be discussed;
it must present varied perspectives
regarding the same issue. They are put
together into small groups with trained
moderators; the members often share life
stories. It is amazing to see how some
able to enter the lives of others in so
uncomplicated a manner. The last 10
minutes of this conversation are used to
arrive at a consensus about two
questions that are handed over to the
panel of experts whose members are
chosen from among people who have
practical knowledge and expertise on the
subject.
They
serve
as
teachers.Deliberation is quite different
from debate. If it is important to have
debate skills, as citizens it is more
important to be able to deliberate. One
must listen carefully and be willing to
work to solve a problem. The
deliberative democracy model works
better when a subject is not being
debated, but rather when people are
working, when we roll up our sleeves
and try to solve a specific problem. And
it works. The Pittsburgh Mayor’s office
has accepted this model as a way to
achieve
consensus
amongst
the
population. Deliberative forums should
be tied to a result, an action, so they can
influence policy and decisions. In its
purest form, a deliberative poll has only
the power to advise. If a particular idea
achieves a super majority, then the

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