Hope Unraveled book tour creates ripples in Texas
Monday, March 20, 2006
(The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation)Last week, Texas Forums, the LBJ Presidential
Library, the University of Texas at Dallas, and
KERA Dallas Public Radio hosted Rich Harwood
for speaking events in Austin and Dallas,
Texas. Rich was in the Lonestar State speaking
about Hope Unraveled: The People's Retreat
and Our Way Back (Kettering Foundation
Press, 2005).
Taylor Willingham of Texas
Forums, which promotes deliberation as a way to
bring people together around public issues,
reports that there have been a number of
positive "ripples" coming out of last week's
events. She notes in particular that:
- There was an eight-fold increase in
the number of participants in their most recent
forums;
- Texas Forums' e-mail list has doubled; and
- Texas Forums' statewide partners have substantially strengthened their relationships
National Issues Forums is supported by the Kettering Foundation, which also published Hope Unraveled. Texas Forums has been using Hope Unraveled to help add depth to their deliberative forums around Democracy's Challenge.
If you are interested in beginning your own discussions around the people's retreat from politics and public life, and what you can do as an individual and with others in your community to begin reclaiming the public's role in democracy, here are some things you might consider:
- Purchase copies of Hope Unraveled
from Amazon.com to read and
discuss;
- Use The Harwood Institute's Hope
Unraveled discussion guide to think about
the book and its implications for your own
work; and
- Download copies of the National Issues Forum book "Democracy's Challenge" from the NIF Web site to start a community-wide discussion on this important topic.