Assignment
This assignment will ask you to reflect upon what you have learned about public policy and deliberation for public speaking. It will include reflections on the online lesson content as well as the related Keyword entries on Deliberation, Public Policy, Causes, and Making Policy.
Deliberation
A. The Keywords entry on Deliberation draws a distinction between deliberation and debate. In your own words, explain the similarities and differences between the two.
B. Review the four "Keys to Effective Deliberation" outlined near the end of the Deliberation Keywords entry. Think of a time that you were in an argument with someone in which one of these four criteria (openness, process, inclusion, or fairness) was not respected by either you or the person you argued with. How did a failure to adhere to that principle influence the argument? How would the argument have looked different if this principle were followed?
C. Think about a topic or situation that people commonly treat as a topic of debate in public and political conversations. How would reframing that topic as a matter of deliberation change how people talk about it?
D. Consider the differences between digital and face-to-face deliberation and debate contexts. Explain some similarities between digital and face-to-face deliberation and/or debate
E. Which setting (digital or face-to-face) do you think is more productive and why? Or do you think it depends? If so, on what?