Public deliberation initiatives are sponsored by a diverse network of civic and educational organizations, such as neighborhood associations, Junior Leagues, senior citizen centers, public schools, libraries, churches, or coalitions of organizations. Sometimes these groups are small and informal and meet in someone's living room. Other times they are large and formal, involving thousands of people. What is common about these varied groups, however, is their decision to take responsibility for common problems. There are three types of formats that groups use for public deliberation: the forum or study circle, the focus group, and the Citizens Jury Each of these is described in more detail below.

Forums and Study Circles

The purpose of both a forum and a study circle is to engage participants in making�or at least working toward�a decision about how they will act on a problem or policy they think is important to their community or country. Both are characterized by people coming together to deliberate to reach common ground or a shared sense of purpose. A forum and a study circle may differ in the size of the group and the number of times the group meets, but essentially, they are the same.

• A forum tends to gather a large group (30-200 people) that meets once to discuss a single issue.
• A study circle typically gathers a small group (5 to 20 people) that meets weekly for a series of
• Three to four sessions to discuss the same issue.

Dialogue sessions for both the forum and the study circle last about two hours and are led by a moderator whose role is to focus the discussion, engage participants, and enforce mutually agreed upon ground rules. Moderators clarify by asking questions and help the group consider a variety of views. Training that includes an introduction to forum practices and processes is offered through the National Issues Forums Public Policy Institutes and the Public Agenda Foundation. Sessions vary from one day to two and a half days. The Study Circles Resource Center offers a basic six-hour training format for moderators. Training, to conduct either a forum or study circle, can benefit moderators; however, it is not required. Resource guides and training manuals provide moderators with the necessary information to plan, conduct, and evaluate deliberation meetings and execute action plans and follow-up activities.

Depending on the goals of the forum or study circle, both formats can support participants through various phases of deliberation: from talking, listening, and learning how others feel about a topic, to developing action plans, making recommendations, creating task force committees, or influencing policy outcomes. New or related forums or study circles may grow out of these discussions.

A forum or a study circle may have the intended outcome of determining a course of action. This action-taking role is exemplified by the townsfolk in traditional Western movies when they gather, overcome their fear, and hire a sheriff to drive out the outlaws (Mathews, 1996). A more modern example is a community deliberating about the issue of quality education and deciding to form a community education foundation to fund special requests from teachers to enrich the curriculum.

Other times, a forum or study circle is meant to inform a governing body, such as a school board or a city council that is responsible for designing and implementing a course of action. In this latter role, participants deliberate so that those responsible for taking action do so based on informed and reflective recommendations. In an example of how group forums can help a school district practice site-based management, one high school was given the challenge of making a transition from a vocational training curriculum to one of science and technology. Through many forums involving students, parents, staff, and community members, the school learned the community's concerns and expectations. These were reflected in the faculty's plan for reinventing the school. In return, the community embraced the school with more support and allegiance.

A study circle, unlike a forum, will meet several times. However, there are many variations on the basic study circle structure of weekly small group meetings conducted over the course of 3 to 4 weeks. Some groups integrate a study circle into a regularly scheduled meeting. Other groups, who cannot meet regularly, conduct a retreat or workshop where the entire study circle takes place in one or two days (Study Circles Resource Center, 1993, p. 4).

Both forums and study circles can be used at the local, city, state, and national levels. The discussions typically begin with personal involvement centered around the participant's own experiences, interests, and views on the topic. The issue is then considered from multiple points of view. Issues are divided into manageable sections, and controversial topics are dealt with in depth (Study Circles Resource Center, 1993, p. 3). The issues discussed vary widely: race relations, crime, drugs, education, and other community problems or controversies.

To help participants analyze these different perspectives, many forums and study circles provide participant manuals, videos, and other materials. These resources can be obtained from organizations such as the National Issues Forums Institute and the Study Circles Resource Center and may be adapted to local needs. Many communities and organizations also develop and create their own materials.

Focus Groups

The purpose of focus groups is to understand how diverse groups in a community think about an issue. Different types of groups, made up of representative members, provide distinct points of view. A focus group is a structured conversation organized around a set of questions and typically lasting about two hours. It is designed to gauge how a group of 10 to 15 participants feels about a specific topic. The questions are care
fully chosen to elicit from various groups (parents, students, educators, community members, or employers) their thinking, concerns, and wishes.

Typically, a single organization such as a school board or neighborhood association will be the initiating organization. Often they coordinate with other groups to engage a diverse pool of citizens that will help build a clear and accurate picture of the community's understanding and desired direction. Tony Wagner (1995) provides basic information in "How to Conduct a Focus Group." A group of teachers will have different needs and concerns from a group of parents. Therefore, he suggests that a separate focus group for each group will provide an opportunity to understand their distinct viewpoints and concerns. Other times, he explains, it is helpful to mix the groups, to include varied perspectives. However, if the intent of the dialogue is to learn how one group views the other, it is better to keep the groups separate.

The focus group approach may involve gathering snapshot views from one focus per constituency. The information from these discussions can help to design questions for a survey or town meeting. If the goal is also to partly educate the larger community on a complex topic, then a series of many separate focus groups over an extended period can help to inform the community. A series of focus groups can also pave the way for a larger town meeting involving many participants.

A focus group series can also impart knowledge and understanding and help participants reach conclusions based on reflective dialogue. In this case, an extended series of dialogues has educational value. For example, one school district used focus groups to bring understanding and clarification about the complex issue of school reform. The dialogue provided participants with the needed time, information, and variety of perspectives on which they based their decisions.

Typically, four or five carefully designed questions frame the issue and help clarify people's thinking. When needing to compare focus groups, it is best to ask the same questions in the same sequence. An impartial moderator, whose role it is to elicit participation from all members, establish and enforce mutually agreed upon ground rules, and move the discussion forward with clarifying questions, should guide the discussion. The Institute for Responsive Education and the Public Agenda Foundation offer several one-half to two-day training sessions. Focus group moderators benefit from training; however, it is not required.

A jury that deliberates for public policy is called a Citizens Jury.* The purpose of the jury is to bring together a group of citizens who are representative of the community to examine a complex issue and pronounce a judgment. The members of the jury are briefed in detail on all the background and current thinking about a specific issue and asked to deliberate and make recommendations to the larger community. A jury has 12 to 24 jurors who have been selected so as to constitute a microcosm of the community. Hearings are led by a moderator, last four to five days, and deliver briefings by expert witnesses. The witnesses are the sole source of information. A jury can remain together or form into smaller groups. Whether as a larger body or in smaller groups, they study the information, cross-examine the witnesses and discuss the various aspects of the issue. Time, resources, and information help the jury arrive with a reasonable, well developed, and thoughtful solution. The jury's conclusions are presented to the body that commissioned them in the first place. The jury's verdict need not be unanimous nor its recommendations binding. However, the commissioning body must inform the general public of the jury's findings and undertake to carry out the recommendations or give reasons why it chose not to do so.

Juries can be conducted at the national, state, city, and local level, or on a smaller scale by individual organizations. The idea of a Citizens Jury was created by Ned Crosby of the Jefferson Center in 1971. It is used in the United States as well as in Germany and Britain.

Here is an example of how one school district used the jury process to identify and address its needs. A random telephone survey was conducted to identify 24 jurors representative of the district regarding age, education, gender, geographic location, and general attitude. For five consecutive days the jury heard testimony from witnesses, deliberated amongst themselves, and developed a set of recommendations. A final report was presented in a community public forum.

Like forums, study circles, and focus groups, the Citizens Jury process helps participants take a wider, more objective perspective and see issues from multiple viewpoints. The deliberation begins with the facts, then moves beyond the accumulation of knowledge and information to a place where no expert or book can advise, but to a place that David Mathews calls "public knowledge." This knowledge is the product of serious reflection and is possible only through group engagement (Mathews, 1996).

Costs and Facilities

Depending on size, duration, and implementation, the costs of the study circle/forum, focus group, or jury can range from minimal (through the use of volunteers and grassroots methods) to more costly (with a citywide or statewide structure that is planned by and conducted by a community group or coalition and a professional dialogue organization). Communities may also use a combination of the three formats.

Schools, colleges and universities, libraries, community centers, and places of worship are excellent meeting sites. They can provide the needed rooms for both large and small group gatherings, audiovisual equipment, and parking facilities.

*It should be noted that the Jefferson Center for New Democratic Processes has registered the Citizens Jury process. For ease in reading, from this point forward, we will not include the Æ symbol each time we mention "Citizens Jury."