Helping America Talk

You might think of a democratic society as one that is involved in a grand conversation, a public conversation, about where that society might be headed and how it might get there. Our public talk, our public discourse, covers the many different ways that we, as citizens can communicate with each other about public matters. We communicate as individuals and as groups. We talk to each other–and we talk with our government. And government talks to us. Thanks to new communication technologies, our public talk is flowing in more directions than ever–and opening up new access points to join the public conversation. The seven contrasting policy possibilities in this discussion guide are intended to spur discussion and open up our exploration of these & related issues. These broad policy approaches address how people might gain access to and participate in public discourse, and how to improve the quality of public discourse for those who participate.