Deliberations.US: The Electoral College

Deliberations.US is designed to decrease toxic polarization and increase civil discourse, fostering common understanding across a wide range of people through fact-based, inclusive and nonpartisan civil online deliberation events. Deliberations.US presents participants with short, engaging videos and briefing materials on complicated social and political issues. Then, via a video discussion platform designed to facilitate small group deliberation, we track the attitudes of participants as they discuss those issues. While each group is a cultivated mix of 8-12 people, the platform can accommodate an unlimited number of groups simultaneously.
To ensure that we remain nonpartisan and effectively illustrate all sides of every relevant issue, all platform media and materials are thoughtfully curated by a carefully assembled panel of notable professors and professionals in the democracy and deliberation fields with topic specific expertise. The result is an experience that will change how participants view each other and their own ability to have thoughtful and productive conversations on important issues facing their communities. Our technology leverages the comfort of Zoom-like platforms, enabling participation easily and safely from home, work, or a school campus and can also be applied to in-person settings. Our data shows that deliberation not only produces more informed, empathetic, and optimistic citizens, it also demonstrates that, when given the facts, the best arguments from all sides, and the opportunity to speak with a diverse group of peers, Americans can find common ground and respect for differing opinions on an otherwise divisive issue.
We are currently hosting deliberations discussing The Electoral College. We have successfully deliberated this topic amongst students middle-school aged through professional graduate school students.