Sandy Heierbacher: Upgrading the Way We Do Politics | NCDD

Sandy Heierbacher is the co-founder and director of the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation (NCDD).

Town hall meetings being held on healthcare legislation across the country are exploding with emotion, frustration, and conflict.  Citizens are showing up in throngs to speak out about health care as well as dozens of other topics, but it seems the louder voices get, the less people are actually heard.

The meetings have become a vivid demonstration of what’s missing in American Democracy.

Members of the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation (NCDD) have been sharing insights and tips – on NCDD’s listservs and in their own writings – on how legislators can engage citizens in ways that are more participatory and more productive than what we’ve seen in the news lately.

> Focus on building trust between citizens and government. ...

> Scrap the typical “town hall meeting” format. ...

> Upgrade to higher-quality meeting formats.