Various federal departments and agencies of Canada funded the ChoiceWork Dialogue to learn more about their citizens’ expectations of governments, the private sector, and their communities. The goals that Canadian societies seek to achieve are detailed in a “social contract.” When leaders planned for post-war policies after World War II, a primary result was the birth of a welfare state. By the 1970s, government revenue was unable to sustain the dependent system. The outcome was major changes to trade and economic policy.
On August 11-12th, 2011, 193 residents of Seoul and the surrounding metropolitan area took part in a deliberative poll about the reunification of the two Koreas. Participants discussed the “Exchanges and Cooperation” program, North Korea’s nuclear weapons, and the government’s reunification policy. The deliberative poll was broadcast by KBS (Korea’s public broadcasting network) on December 4th, 2011 as a one hour program, part of a two-part documentary on unification.
The Year of Civil Discourse on Israel was a year long initiative organized by the Jewish Community Relations Council of San Francisco, The Peninsula, Marin, Sonoma, Alameda, and Contra Costa Counties. The Initiative was designed to foster discussion and community building among the Bay Area Jewish Community over disagreements regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict. From December 2010 to December 2011 a number of events were held to help tackle this issue, such as facilitator training sessions and book and movie reviews.
The Center for Communication and Civic Engagement (CCCE) is a Seattle, WA-based organization whose mission is to understand “communication processes and media technologies that facilitate positive citizen involvement in politics and social life”[1].
The Digital Activism Research Project (DARP) is “dedicated to studying the effect of digital technology on civic engagement, non-violent conflict, and political change around the world” (digital-activism.org). DARP’s mission is to bring a more empirical and collaborative approach to the study of digital citizen engagement, in context of the important role global digital activism has played in the evolution of non-violent conflicts, democratization, and peace-building efforts around the world.
