Teaching the Art of Public Deliberation—National Issues Forums in the Classroom

Abstract

Democracy requires a deliberating citizenry, and college is the best place to teach the practice of public deliberation. From this perspective we will describe how you can teach this democratic practice in your political science classroom. In a traditional political science class, students are taught to participate in the political process by voting, joining interest groups, and protesting. According to focus group discussions with students on ten college campuses, many students are now rejecting these forms of participation (Harwood Group, 1993). The good news is that students are able to envision alterna-