New possibilities for Government

Selected benefits:

• Transcend partisan gridlock by evoking a legitimate, thoughtful a voice of the people
• Involve citizens in new levels of civic engagement
• Elevate the level of public conversation to be more collaborative and creative
• Address and solve difficult public issues

• Convene a Creative Insight Council on the issue of "the national debt." Randomly select a group of twelve citizens to meet for five days. The CIC hears partisan arguments and positions from experts for two days. Then the doors are closed and the Council is facilitated using Dynamic Facilitation. This allows them to reliably achieve a unified view on the issue, which they present to the nation. Because the group is random and unanimous, it is a symbolic voice of "the people" speaking in the public interest. This transforms the usual battle among special interests and elevates the level of public conversation.
• A different CIC should be convened every few months, allowing the general public to take the ideas forward and build greater national unity.

• EXAMPLE: The mayor of Bregenz, Austria convened a Creative Insight Council to bypass the usual partisan bickering and get citizens involved in solving a hot public project in the middle of the city. This step allowed the project to proceed, although modified in a win/win way … making it better for citizens, elected officials, and the developer. See the work of the Office of Future Related Issues in Vorarlberg Austria, directed by Dr. Manfred Hellrigl.
• ARTICLE: "WISE DEMOCRACY: A strategy for involving the citizens, transcending partisanship, and solving impossible public issues" by Jim Rough.
• LETTER: Proposing this strategy to the governor of Washington State.
• INTERVIEW: Ruth Gordon, local elected official, interviews Jim Rough (10/12/09 ) about how the Insight Council might be used