The Public Policy Institute

The Center’s Public Policy Institute Program supports a community “participatory research” practice among academic institutions and other community members on relevant community issues. The Institute also provides seminar sessions on what is being learned about developing deliberative democracy in communities and organizations among the people in the state of Maryland, country and globally.

A two part seminar, “Communities Finding Common Ground for Action-Part I and II are offered at least once a year. Part one emphasizes convening and moderating deliberative forums and part two addresses how to engage all the voices at an early stage, when issues are just being framed and general direction is being thought of, rather than specific programs being defended.

This program area is also a non-partisan democratic network resource connection for the people of Maryland about the ideas, questions, and skills associated with what it takes to make a democracy work, as it should. Furthermore, it is particularly interested in developing understanding, through a variety of projects, about the following topics.

Citizens and Public Choices: People seem to be more responsible for the things they have participated in choosing.

Community Politics and Leadership: For a people to be a community and thrive they must be able to draw on the capacity of its residents, not only to make choices, but also to act together to address its problems.

Public and Public Schools: Communities also depend on their institutions, institutions like public schools.

Institutions, Professionals, and the Public: Democracies depend on community members making sound choices, healthy civil societies, and rich in public action.

Public-Government Relationship: Some officials have decided that they not only need to communicate with community member more effectively, but that they also have to develop practices that strengthen civic life and community.

The International and the Civil: There is an important international dimension to the Center’s work, though we do not operate in someone else’s country. Many of community members and Center faculty are from other countries and are interested in how we work to understand what democracy is and how this relates to their country’s politics.