Slides for keynote presentation at the Conference on Electronic Democracy and Open Government, May 5, 2011, University of the Danube, Krems, Austria.

1. Deliberation that Matters
Realizing the Potential for Civic Intelligence 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?)
Douglas Schuler
douglas@publicsphereproject.org • I don’t want to squander our intellectual, ethical,
CeDEM11 and material resources.
Conference for E-Democracy and Open Government
Krems, Austria
• I’m hoping to be controversial without being
May 5, 2011 unthinkable.
Why Deliberation? Looking at deliberation from two
perspectives: in-the-small & in-the-large
• We are in desperate need of good decisions and actions.
Unfortunately they don’t necessarily result through
hidden-hands, side-effects, or luck. Although the two perspectives...
• Non-deliberative approaches can be exploitive, coercive,
• raise different questions and
destructive.
• Deliberation can build civic capacity (hypothesis) • suggest different courses of action,
they
The real question is: Why not deliberation?? • must work together if deliberation is to actually
make a difference

2. Deliberation in-the-small Deliberation in-the-large
• is the process of deliberation itself • is the context of deliberation. It’s what
• assumes a million forms and takes place in a happens before and after deliberation
million places • looks at how deliberation plays out in
• is a type of collaboration society
• is purposeful • depends on legitimacy, societal “access
points”, and other social factors
• is one of humankind’s most important
innovations!
Without deliberation-in-the-large, deliberation-in-the-small
• can even be done by enemies! is impotent...
Civic Intelligence
• Is a type of collective intelligence that addresses shared
concerns effectively and equitably
All of these
• Is civic ends through civic means
factors must be present • Is an under-acknowledged and under-appreciated
for successful resource
deliberation.
• 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!

3. Civic Intelligence Emergencies Towards Deliberation in-the-large
(The demand may exceed the supply) How could it realistically make a difference?
• Even a short list of our problems can be depressing. • Our efforts will need to be bigger than they are.
• The elites won’t solve these problems by themselves. • Could deliberation spawn more deliberation? Could it go
viral?
• Yes we can! We are very capable of creating messes that
• We need to build the base of useful (i.e. accessible)
we can’t clean up! knowledge
• As demands rise worldwide and our resources (water,
• Open up social science; Relax some constraints
oil, etc.) are becoming scarce and despoiled we may be
creating a “perfect storm” for ourselves. • Social entrepreneurism
• If we don’t change directions we’ll get where we’re heading! • e-Liberate, for example
• but emergencies = opportunities • Deliberation on !5 a Day!?
Challenges Conclusions &
Recommendations
• Professional and well-resourced cultivators of civic • Make deliberation (and civic intelligence) high
ignorance (far beyond the “Loyal Opposition”) priority (and explicit)
• Institutionalization of non-deliberative approaches • Break out of the routines; tweak the process!
write manifestos!
• Inertia & temporal differentiation
• Work together in semi-autonomous and semi-
• Need for funding coordinated ways
• Lack of interest in actual deliberation. Deliberation • Work with lots of groups -- especially across
boundaries
isn‘t cool!
• Theorize, experiment, and act