By the People is partnering with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation on the Dialogues in Democracy project.
By the People: Video Excerpts of Online Meetings
During the Dialogues in Democracy online deliberative poll 20 groups met for an hour each week and deliberated on a different topic involving "Citizenship in 21st Century America". Discussions were held in the Vox Populi audio discussion software developed by Polimetrix. Video excerpts of each topic are included below.
Session 1: Citizenship and Participation
- Why do you think voter turnout in the US is lower than in many other democracies? (2m 11s)
- Would you support or oppose introducing a "compulsory voting" system? (3m 06s)
- Would you support or oppose allowing felons to vote after they have served their sentences? (2m 04s)
Session 2: Exercising Choice
- Do you think that it is important for citizens to have a wide range of options/candidates/parties to choose from? (2m 11s)
- Would you support or oppose having a "national" primary, in which all states vote on the same day? (3m 40s)
- Would you support or oppose making it easier for third party candidates to get on the ballot? (3m 26s)
Session 3: Serving One's Country
- Would you support or oppose requiring a period of some kind of public service, military or non-military, by all citizens? (3m 02s)
- Would you support or oppose expanding non-military public service opportunities (like AmeriCorps)? (1m 44s)
- Would you support or oppose requiring a period of military service by all citizens? (1m 38s)
Session 4: Becoming Informed
- Do citizens have an obligation to be informed about politics and the political process? Would you support or oppose providing public funding for non-partisan civic education groups? (2m 25s)
- Would you support or oppose using public funding to ensure that all citizens have access to the internet? (1m 56s)
- Would you support or oppose providing free air time to candidates? (2m 09s)