1. Deliberation that Matters
Realizing the Potential for Civic Intelligence
Douglas Schuler
douglas@publicsphereproject.org
CeDEM11
Conference for E-Democracy and Open Government
Krems, Austria
May 5, 2011

2. Confessions
• I embrace interdisciplinary approaches (although
being everywhere generally can mean being
nowhere specifically).
• I support work that is intended to yield social
benefit -- especially based on the citizen as actor.
• I want to see the work here make a difference. (Or
else why do it?)
• I don’t want to squander our intellectual, ethical,
and material resources.

3. Why Deliberation?
• We are in desperate need of good decisions and actions.
Unfortunately they don’t necessarily result through
hidden-hands, side-effects, or luck.
• Non-deliberative approaches can be exploitive, coercive,
destructive.
• Deliberation can build civic capacity (hypothesis)
The real question is: Why not deliberation??

4. Looking at deliberation from two
perspectives: in-the-small & in-the-large
Although the two perspectives...
• raise different questions and
• suggest different courses of action,
they
• must work together if deliberation is to actually
make a difference

5. Deliberation in-the-small
• is the process of deliberation itself
• assumes a million forms and takes place in a
million places
• is a type of collaboration
• is purposeful
• is one of humankind’s most important
innovations!
• can even be done by enemies!

6. Deliberation in-the-large
• is the context of deliberation. It’s what
happens before and after deliberation
• looks at how deliberation plays out in
society
• depends on legitimacy, societal “access
points”, and other social factors
Without deliberation-in-the-large, deliberation-in-the-small
is impotent...

7. All of these
factors must be present
for successful
deliberation.

8. Civic Intelligence
• Is a type of collective intelligence that addresses shared
concerns effectively and equitably
• Is civic ends through civic means
• Is an under-acknowledged and under-appreciated
resource
• It always exists yet varies over time and from place to
place
Assertion:
It’s what many of us are -- or should be -- working on!

9. Civic Intelligence Emergencies
(The demand may exceed the supply)
• Even a short list of our problems can be depressing.
• The elites won’t solve these problems by themselves.
• Yes we can! We are very capable of creating messes that
we can’t clean up!
• As demands rise worldwide and our resources (water,
oil, etc.) are becoming scarce and despoiled we may be
creating a “perfect storm” for ourselves.
• If we don’t change directions we’ll get where we’re heading!
• but emergencies = opportunities

10. Towards Deliberation in-the-large
How could it realistically make a difference?
• Our efforts will need to be bigger than they are.
• Could deliberation spawn more deliberation? Could it go
viral?
• We need to build the base of useful (i.e. accessible)
knowledge
• Open up social science; Relax some constraints
• Social entrepreneurism
• e-Liberate, for example
• Deliberation on !5 a Day!?

11. Challenges
• Professional and well-resourced cultivators of civic
ignorance (far beyond the “Loyal Opposition”)
• Institutionalization of non-deliberative approaches
• Inertia & temporal differentiation
• Need for funding
• Lack of interest in actual deliberation. Deliberation
isn‘t cool!

12. Conclusions &
Recommendations
• Make deliberation (and civic intelligence) high
priority (and explicit)
• Break out of the routines; tweak the process!
write manifestos!
• Work together in semi-autonomous and semi-
coordinated ways
• Work with lots of groups -- especially across
boundaries
• Theorize, experiment, and act