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{{short description|Non-profit organization from 1995-2014}} |
{{short description|Non-profit organization from 1995-2014}} |
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'''AmericaSpeaks''' was a [[Washington, D.C.]]-based [[non-governmental organization]] that operated from 1995 to 2014. Its mission was to engage citizens in discussing and influencing public decisions and serve as a counterweight to [[Special interest groups in the United States|special interest groups]].<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Lukensmeyer |first1=Carolyn J. |last2=Brigham |first2=Steven |date=March 2005 |title=Taking Democracy to Scale: Large Scale Interventions-for Citizens |journal=The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science |volume=41 |issue=1 |pages=47–60 |doi=10.1177/0021886304272656}}</ref> It introduced the concept of the "21st Century Town Meeting", a format that attempted to take the traditional [[New England town meeting]] to a larger scale through the use of modern technology.<ref name=":0" /> Widely cited as an example of [[deliberative democracy]], its methodology relied on mini-publics, defined as "the randomized selection of citizens to discuss public matters in small groups",<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Šaradín |first1=P. |title=Challenging Citizens: Democratic Innovations at the Local Level. Central and Eastern European Perspectives on International Relations |last2=Soukop |first2=M. |last3=Zapletalová |first3=M. |last4=Zogata-Kusz |first4=A. |last5=Ganowicz |first5=E. |date=2023 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |chapter=Democratic Innovations in Three Countries |pages=37–51 |doi=10.1007/978-3-031-43674-1_4|isbn=978-3-031-43673-4 }}</ref> as well as large-group intervention (LGI) to influence organizational change.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |title=Encyclopedia of Management Theory |date=2013 |publisher=SAGE Publications |isbn=9781412997829 |volume=1 |location=Thousand Oaks, California |pages=425}}</ref> It applied the concept of expert publics, recognizing that members of the general public can develop knowledge and expertise through their own experience of an issue or problem.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lees-Marshment |first=Jennifer |title=The Ministry of Public Input. Palgrave Studies in Political Leadership |date=2015 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn= 978-1-349-43719-1|location=London |pages=87–113 |chapter=Collecting Public Input |doi=10.1057/9781137017789_4}}</ref> At the same time, the organization worked closely with policymakers to define the scope and choices to be discussed, arguing that the data collected would be directly relevant and more likely to influence outcomes.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lees-Marshment |first=Jennifer |title=The Ministry of Public Input. Palgrave Studies in Political Leadership |date=2015 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=London |pages=114–138 |doi=10.1057/9781137017789_5}}</ref> |
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{{Multiple issues| |
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{{advert|date=February 2017}} |
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{{More footnotes|date=May 2010}} |
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The group was founded as a [[Nonpartisanship|nonpartisan]] nonprofit organization by activist and author [[Carolyn Lukensmeyer]].<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gross |first=Thomas |date=2014 |title=[REVIEW] Bringing Citizen Voices to the Table: A Guide for Public Managers |url=https://dx.doi.org/10.5325/gestaltreview.18.1.0065 |journal=Gestalt Review |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=65–69 |doi=10.5325/gestaltreview.18.1.0065 |via=EBSCOHost}}</ref> When its closure was announced in 2014, AmericaSpeaks claimed that it had engaged 180,000 people across 150 projects.<ref>{{Cite web |title=AmericaSpeaks Closes Down | Participedia |url=http://participedia.net/en/news/2014/01/14/americaspeaks-closes-down |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170523111535/http://participedia.net/en/news/2014/01/14/americaspeaks-closes-down |archive-date=2017-05-23 |access-date=2014-02-11}}</ref> Forums organized by AmericaSpeaks included "Our Budget, Our Economy" (2010), a public deliberation about the [[National debt of the United States|national debt]] involving 3,000 people in 19 communities across the United States.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Levy |first1=Dena |last2=Orr |first2=Susan |date=January 2014 |title=Balancing the Books: Analyzing the Impact of a Federal Budget Deliberative Simulation on Student Learning and Opinion |url=https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15512169.2013.859084 |journal=Journal of Political Science Education |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=62–80 |doi=10.1080/15512169.2013.859084 |via=EBSCOHost}}</ref> In 2007, AmericaSpeaks worked with city government officials to conduct a series of town meetings on rebuilding [[New Orleans]] following Hurricane Katrina, involving citizens who had been displaced via telecasts and online.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=D'Agostino |first1=Maria J. |last2=Kloby |first2=Katherine |date=2011 |title=Building Community Capacity to Engage Government: Reflections of Nonprofit Leaders on Post-Katrina New Orleans |journal=Administration & Society |volume=43 |issue=7 |doi=10.1177/0095399711413733}}</ref> In Chicago, AmericaSpeaks worked with the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission (NIPC) to facilitate discussions around its Common Ground planning process.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ramasubramanian |first=L |title=Geographic Information Science and Public Participation. Advances in Geographic Information Science |date=2010 |publisher=Springer |location=Berlin; Heidelberg |chapter=Chicagoland’s Search for Common Ground |pages=105–118 |doi=10.1007/978-3-540-75401-5_7|isbn=978-3-540-75400-8 }}</ref> Other projects included bringing together 4,500 stakeholders to discuss the redevelopment of [[World Trade Center site|ground zero]] in [[New York City]].<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Polletta |first=Francesca |title=Inventing Ties That Bind |date=May 20, 2021 |publisher=University of Chicago Press; Chicago Scholarship Online |chapter=Four Publics, Partners, and the Promise of Dialogue |doi=10.7208/chicago/9780226734347.003.0004}}</ref> |
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'''AmericaSpeaks''' was a [[Washington, D.C.]]-based [[non-profit organization]] from 1995-2014 whose mission was to "engage citizens in the public decisions that impact their lives." AmericaSpeaks' work was focused on trying to create opportunities for citizens to impact decisions and to encourage public officials to make better informed, lasting decisions. [[Carolyn Lukensmeyer]] was the President and Founder of AmericaSpeaks. Partners of the organization have included regional planning groups, governmental bodies of varying size and scope, and organizations from across the globe. Issues discussed by AmericaSpeaks have ranged from [[Social Security (United States)|Social Security]] reform, to the redevelopment of [[World Trade Center site|ground zero]] in [[New York City]] and rebuilding [[New Orleans]] after [[Hurricane Katrina]]. |
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== Outcomes == |
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Critics of AmericaSpeaks have pointed out the biases inherent in how specific topics were presented to forum participants; the lack of transparency in how decisions were made; and skepticism that the time and effort invested by participants would not matter in the end.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Gastil |first1=John |author-link=John Gastil |title=Hope for Democracy: How Citizens Can Bring Reason Back into Politics |last2=Knobloch |first2=Katherine R. |date=2020 |publisher=Oxford Academic |chapter=A Political Life Transformed |pages=7–16 |doi=10.1093/oso/9780190084523.003.0002|isbn=978-0-19-008452-3 }}</ref> |
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America''Speaks'' was founded in 1995 by Carolyn Lukensmeyer. During its time as an active organization, AmericaSpeaks engaged over 130,000 people in numerous large-scale forums across all 50 states and the [[District of Columbia]].<ref name="americaspeaks.org">http://www.americaspeaks.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.viewPage&pageId=483&parentID=471&nodeID=1{{Dead link|date=May 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> America''Speaks'' aimed to bring citizens together to deliberate and discuss critical policy issues in America with conclusions from these meetings then brought to the attention of policy-makers allowing them to hear citizen input on government-related issues. |
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In January 2014, America''Speaks'' closed its doors.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://participedia.net/en/news/2014/01/14/americaspeaks-closes-down |title=AmericaSpeaks Closes Down | Participedia |access-date=2014-02-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170523111535/http://participedia.net/en/news/2014/01/14/americaspeaks-closes-down |archive-date=2017-05-23 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Deliberative democracy]] researcher [[John Gastil]] critiqued the approach of AmericaSpeaks after its closing.<ref>{{Cite news |others=44:33 - 48:55 |date=August 16, 2020 |title=John Gastil and Katherine Knobloch on Citizen Initiative Review |work=Democracy Paradox Podcast}}</ref> |
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== 21st Century Town Meeting == |
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AmericaSpeaks’ 21st Century Town Meeting framework's goal was to create engaging, meaningful opportunities for citizens to participate in public decision making. This process attempts to update the traditional [[New England]] [[town meeting]] to address the needs of today's citizens, decision makers and democracy. Unlike most of New England's town meetings, however, it is not a formal legislative body, and therefore none of the decisions made by participants are binding. |
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The 21st Century Town Meeting marks a departure from traditional [[public participation]] methods, such as public hearings. The 21st Century Town Meeting focuses on discussion and deliberation among citizens rather than speeches, question-and-answer sessions or panel presentations. The purpose of these meetings is to gather diverse groups of citizens who will participate in round-table discussions (10-12 people per table) and deliberate in depth about key policy issues. Each table discussion is supported by a trained facilitator to keep participants on task and participants receive discussion guides that present further information about the issues under consideration. |
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Special technology collects individual table discussions and the results are compiled into a set of collective recommendations. Each table submits ideas using wireless [[groupware]] computers and each participant can vote on specific proposals with [[keypad polling]]. These two pieces of technology allow for real-time reporting and voting. Results from discussions are presented to participants within minutes and polling results within seconds. The entire group votes on the final recommendations to submit to decision makers. Before the meeting ends, results are put into a report, which is distributed to participants, decision makers, and the [[news media]]. |
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===21st Century Summit=== |
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The 21st Century Summit was created to help organization leaders tap into the collective wisdom of their constituents and stakeholders through large-scale meetings. During discussions, participants identify shared priorities and develop recommendations on essential policies and plans. At the meeting, AmericaSpeaks attempts to help attendees explore key issues, weigh critical trade offs, and deepen their connection and commitment to next steps. AmericaSpeaks has more than a decade of experience with engaging large numbers of members, employees or stakeholders – 50 to 5,000 at a single meeting – in a strategic, outcomes-oriented discussion.<ref>http://www.americaspeaks.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.viewPage&pageId=735&parentID=472&nodeID=1{{Dead link|date=May 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> |
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== Notable examples == |
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AmericaSpeaks meetings address local, state and national decisions. |
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===Voices & Choices=== |
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AmericaSpeaks partnered with the [http://www.futurefundneo.org Fund for Our Economic Future] to organize a series of town meetings and public forums across northeast Ohio to enable thousands of people to come together to create a strategic plan for revitalizing the region's economy. One of the largest public deliberations convened, Voices & Choices combined a variety of approaches for mobilizing the region's citizenry, including one-on-one interviews, online forums and two large-scale 21st Century Town Meetings. Over 20,000 participants identified the region's strengths, identified and prioritized its most important challenges and brainstormed solutions.<ref>http://www.americaspeaks.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=page.viewpage&pageid=585&grandparentID=473&parentID=688{{Dead link|date=May 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> |
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===Unified New Orleans Plan=== |
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AmericaSpeaks partnered with the Unified New Orleans Plan to bring together nearly 4000 New Orleanians in two large-scale public meetings to develop and review elements of a citywide-plan for recovery.<ref name="americaspeaks.org"/> |
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Community Congress I (October 28, 2006) was held in the Morial Convention Center. AmericaSpeaks did not assist with the outreach for this meeting. The agenda for the meeting was to brief attendees on the state of city recovery. The first Community Congress drew attendees who were 75% white, and 40% of whom had incomes above $75,000, while the pre-Katrina demographics the city were 67% African-American and only 2% of New Orleanians had incomes above $75,000. The meeting was criticized for its unrepresentative participants and for some of its conclusions, which included backing a smaller footprint, and advising that funding should be concentrated on already recovering neighborhoods [http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-6/116210217168170.xml&coll=1]. |
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Community Congress II (December 2, 2006) and Community Congress III (January 20, 2007) were both held simultaneously in [[New Orleans]] and other American cities with the large numbers of Katrina evacuees ([[New Orleans diaspora]]). AmericaSpeaks partnered with the Unified New Orleans Plan to design, recruit participants and implement these meetings. When polled at the meetings, the participant groups closely approximated the pre-Katrina demographics of New Orleans: In pre-Katrina New Orleans, 67% were African-American and 37% had household income under $20,000; at Community Congress II, 64% were African-American and 25% had household income under $20,000; at Community Congress III, 55% were African-American and 24% had household income under $20,000. Renters, however, were significantly underrepresented - prior to [[Hurricane Katrina]], 54% of the population were renters, while they made up only 29% of the participants [http://www.unifiedneworleansplan.com/uploads/UNOP_Prelim_COMPLETE_LowRes-16593.pdf]. The meetings connected New Orleanians at home with friends and neighbors who have not yet made it home through the use of Internet [[webcast]] technology or [[closed circuit television]]. Unfortunately, ambiguously worded scenarios at the second Community Congress, particularly those that pertained to "areas of greatest need," caused some of the discussion results to be disregarded [http://www.nola.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-19/116876311870470.xml?NZNPMT&coll=1&thispage=3]. |
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===Our Budget, Our Economy=== |
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The AmericaSpeaks: Our Budget, Our Economy event was politically neutral, which they tried to accomplish by assembling a diverse [http://usabudgetdiscussion.org/about-2/our-funders/ group of funders], a diverse [http://usabudgetdiscussion.org/about-2/national-advisory-committee/ National Advisory Committee], and selecting participants that were demographically representative in terms of race, age, income, and political orientation. Despite this, the event received criticism from both the right and the left. Dean Baker, a left-leaning blogger, wrote that Our Budget, Our Economy materials would "guarantee" large cuts to Social Security and Medicare, while [http://video.foxnews.com/v/4262098/tax-hikes-needed-to-cut-debt Fox News reported] that the event was slanted toward raising taxes. There was also support for the national discussion, including [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/craig-newmark/americaspeaks-town-halls_b_617303.html this post from Craigslist founder Craig Newmark], as well as a [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/archon-fung/public-deliberation-the-l_b_627983.html piece from Harvard Professor Archon Fung]. |
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== See also == |
== See also == |
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* Nobel, P. (2005). Sixteen acres: architecture and the outrageous struggle for the future of Ground Zero. (pp 103–106). New York: Metropolitan Books, Henry Holt and Co. |
* Nobel, P. (2005). Sixteen acres: architecture and the outrageous struggle for the future of Ground Zero. (pp 103–106). New York: Metropolitan Books, Henry Holt and Co. |
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== External links == |
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* [http://www.deliberative-democracy.net Deliberative Democracy Consortium] |
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* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jA8xIVZAok8&eurl= Video highlights of 21st Century Town Meeting with the Unified New Orleans Plan, December 2006] |
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* [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/craig-newmark/americaspeaks-town-halls_b_617303.html Craig Newmark Post Announcing America''Speaks'': Our Budget, Our Economy] |
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* [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/archon-fung/public-deliberation-the-l_b_627983.html Archon Fung Post supporting America''Speaks'': Our Budget, Our Economy] |
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[[Category:Deliberative groups]] |
[[Category:Deliberative groups]] |
Revision as of 06:09, 30 April 2024
AmericaSpeaks was a Washington, D.C.-based non-governmental organization that operated from 1995 to 2014. Its mission was to engage citizens in discussing and influencing public decisions and serve as a counterweight to special interest groups.[1][2] It introduced the concept of the "21st Century Town Meeting", a format that attempted to take the traditional New England town meeting to a larger scale through the use of modern technology.[2] Widely cited as an example of deliberative democracy, its methodology relied on mini-publics, defined as "the randomized selection of citizens to discuss public matters in small groups",[3] as well as large-group intervention (LGI) to influence organizational change.[4] It applied the concept of expert publics, recognizing that members of the general public can develop knowledge and expertise through their own experience of an issue or problem.[5] At the same time, the organization worked closely with policymakers to define the scope and choices to be discussed, arguing that the data collected would be directly relevant and more likely to influence outcomes.[6]
The group was founded as a nonpartisan nonprofit organization by activist and author Carolyn Lukensmeyer.[1][7] When its closure was announced in 2014, AmericaSpeaks claimed that it had engaged 180,000 people across 150 projects.[8] Forums organized by AmericaSpeaks included "Our Budget, Our Economy" (2010), a public deliberation about the national debt involving 3,000 people in 19 communities across the United States.[9] In 2007, AmericaSpeaks worked with city government officials to conduct a series of town meetings on rebuilding New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, involving citizens who had been displaced via telecasts and online.[10] In Chicago, AmericaSpeaks worked with the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission (NIPC) to facilitate discussions around its Common Ground planning process.[11] Other projects included bringing together 4,500 stakeholders to discuss the redevelopment of ground zero in New York City.[4][1]
Outcomes
Critics of AmericaSpeaks have pointed out the biases inherent in how specific topics were presented to forum participants; the lack of transparency in how decisions were made; and skepticism that the time and effort invested by participants would not matter in the end.[12]
See also
References
- ^ a b c Polletta, Francesca (May 20, 2021). "Four Publics, Partners, and the Promise of Dialogue". Inventing Ties That Bind. University of Chicago Press; Chicago Scholarship Online. doi:10.7208/chicago/9780226734347.003.0004.
- ^ a b Lukensmeyer, Carolyn J.; Brigham, Steven (March 2005). "Taking Democracy to Scale: Large Scale Interventions-for Citizens". The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science. 41 (1): 47–60. doi:10.1177/0021886304272656.
- ^ Šaradín, P.; Soukop, M.; Zapletalová, M.; Zogata-Kusz, A.; Ganowicz, E. (2023). "Democratic Innovations in Three Countries". Challenging Citizens: Democratic Innovations at the Local Level. Central and Eastern European Perspectives on International Relations. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 37–51. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-43674-1_4. ISBN 978-3-031-43673-4.
- ^ a b Encyclopedia of Management Theory. Vol. 1. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications. 2013. p. 425. ISBN 9781412997829.
- ^ Lees-Marshment, Jennifer (2015). "Collecting Public Input". The Ministry of Public Input. Palgrave Studies in Political Leadership. London: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 87–113. doi:10.1057/9781137017789_4. ISBN 978-1-349-43719-1.
- ^ Lees-Marshment, Jennifer (2015). The Ministry of Public Input. Palgrave Studies in Political Leadership. London: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 114–138. doi:10.1057/9781137017789_5.
- ^ Gross, Thomas (2014). "[REVIEW] Bringing Citizen Voices to the Table: A Guide for Public Managers". Gestalt Review. 18 (1): 65–69. doi:10.5325/gestaltreview.18.1.0065 – via EBSCOHost.
- ^ "AmericaSpeaks Closes Down | Participedia". Archived from the original on 2017-05-23. Retrieved 2014-02-11.
- ^ Levy, Dena; Orr, Susan (January 2014). "Balancing the Books: Analyzing the Impact of a Federal Budget Deliberative Simulation on Student Learning and Opinion". Journal of Political Science Education. 10 (1): 62–80. doi:10.1080/15512169.2013.859084 – via EBSCOHost.
- ^ D'Agostino, Maria J.; Kloby, Katherine (2011). "Building Community Capacity to Engage Government: Reflections of Nonprofit Leaders on Post-Katrina New Orleans". Administration & Society. 43 (7). doi:10.1177/0095399711413733.
- ^ Ramasubramanian, L (2010). "Chicagoland's Search for Common Ground". Geographic Information Science and Public Participation. Advances in Geographic Information Science. Berlin; Heidelberg: Springer. pp. 105–118. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-75401-5_7. ISBN 978-3-540-75400-8.
- ^ Gastil, John; Knobloch, Katherine R. (2020). "A Political Life Transformed". Hope for Democracy: How Citizens Can Bring Reason Back into Politics. Oxford Academic. pp. 7–16. doi:10.1093/oso/9780190084523.003.0002. ISBN 978-0-19-008452-3.
Further reading
- Meyers, L. (2003) ILR organizational change experts get ideas from NYC-Ground Zero town hall organizer Ithaca: Cornell Chronicle.
- Rossant, J. (2005)Putting Global Concerns to a Vote BusinessWeek.com
- Warner, C. (2007) Unified N.O. Plan gaining steam New Orleans: Times Picayune.
- Krupa, M. (2006) Survey backs plan for smaller footprint New Orleans: Times Picayune
- Unified New Orleans Plan Community Congress II Preliminary Report
- Williamson, A. (2007) Citizen Participation in the Unified New Orleans Plan Harvard
- Cupka, M. (2008) Where Americans speak out about the issues AmericaSpeaks.com
- Brigham, S. (2006) Taking Democracy to a Regional Scale in Hamilton County. The Handbook of Large Group Methods: Creating Systemic Change in Organizations and Communities. (pp 231–245). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
- Leighninger, M. (2006). The Next Form of Democracy: How Expert Rule Is Giving Way to Shared Governance and Why Politics Will Never Be the Same. (pp 48, 66, 143-147). Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press.
- Epstein, P., Coates, P., Wray, L., Swain, D. (2006). Results that Matter: Improving Communities by Engaging Citizens, Measuring Performance, and Getting Things Done. (pp 28–29, 166-169, 200-201). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
- Nobel, P. (2005). Sixteen acres: architecture and the outrageous struggle for the future of Ground Zero. (pp 103–106). New York: Metropolitan Books, Henry Holt and Co.