April 14, 2006
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI EXTENSION
SOUTHWEST REGION NEWS SERVICE
Contact: David Burton, civic communication specialist
Headquartered in Greene County
Tel: (417) 862-9284
E-mail: burtond@missouri.edu

First person column …
Use Free Materials to Help Reclaim the Public’s Role in Our Democracy

Research shows many Americans are turning away from public life, becoming spectators rather than participants in democracy.  Increasingly, people say they are frustrated with politics and the seemingly insurmountable partisan divide.  

Those involved in National Issues Forums (NIF) are committed to changing this trend by bringing people’s voices back into politics by involving citizens in deliberation and decision-making on local, national and global issues.

Most NIF issue books focus on a specific public issue.  People learn about deliberation and think about democracy as they work through issues that are important to them.

This year, NIF is presenting an issue book entitled, "Democracy's Challenge: Reclaiming the Public's Role," which tackles the obstacles and issues people face in a democracy that appears to have nudged its citizens onto the sidelines.

The forum on democracy encourages citizens to think about what they can do to strengthen the relationship a democracy demands between the government and its people.

To download free materials for conducting an issue forum or group study using “Democracy’s Challenge,” visit http://extension.missouri.edu/swregion/Publicissues/issueforums.shtml.

SOUNDING RETREAT

While most Americans are still proud of living in a country that is governed by and for the people, many of them are no longer sure that Abraham Lincoln’s vision of a democracy has withstood the test of time. 

They have become increasingly dissatisfied with the democratic process and increasingly disillusioned with politicians who appear disinterested in what they have to say.

Too many Americans today have retreated from the public places, meetings, and associations at which they traditionally met to say what they thought and do what needed to be done to improve their communities and their nation.

This forum study guide is about what citizens can do. It suggests that citizens themselves can and should provide the motivating power that will rekindle the vibrant relationship a democracy demands between the government and its people.

THREE PERSPECTIVES

While there is no widespread agreement on how this rekindling can be done, “Democracy’s Challenge” provides a framework for a discussion of the possibilities. It presents three perspectives on the problem, each of which suggests a somewhat different course of action:

The first perspective, “Democratic Values: Rebuilding democracy’s moral foundation,” suggests that as a nation, we have become self-indulgent and self absorbed, inclined to accept neither hard choices nor sacrifice. The emphasis on individual rights and personal freedom has undermined democracy. In recent decades, the moral curriculum has been neglected; this is a key element in our public troubles.

The second perspective, “Web of Connections: Reinventing Citizenship,” says democracy requires the ability to work together on common concerns that most people learn in clubs, church groups and local associations. The public square is emptying because many Americans aren’t making the civic connections that form the habits and sharpen the skills of citizenship.

The third perspective, “By the People: Bringing the Public Back into Politics,” says government is no longer “of, by and for the people.” Governance is something politicians do, not something that involves citizens. In a democratic nation where the people are supposed to be sovereign, citizens have lost control of the government. The political system has to be fixed so citizens once again have a central place in it.

National Issues Forums (NIF) is a nonpartisan, nationwide network of locally sponsored public forums for the consideration of public policy issues. It is rooted in the simple notion that people need to come together to reason and talk about common problems. In Missouri, one of the leading organizations of public issues forums is University of Missouri Extension.
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David Burton can be reached in the Greene County Extension Center at (417) 862-9284. A former weekly newspaper editor and public relations specialist, Burton has been with Extension for five years. He received a master's in communication (2001) and a bachelor's in political science and journalism (1988) from Drury University. In his position as civic communication specialist he edits Southwest Region News Service, conducts public issue forums, and provides other communication services for Extension in southwest Missouri.