How can citizens make a positive contribution to public and school planning when they are uninformed?
(return to the top of this page) As people meet together regularly to study public information, listen to cassette tapes or audio files with comments by officials and experts about issues, discuss ideas with their fellow Citizen Councilors, and make decisions as they respond to questions posed–they learn! This is done through the dynamics of the Socratic Method. The organization and society of which they are a part also learn exactly the same amount and everyone moves toward being better able to solve problems in the future. The process won’t tell anyone what is “right” or “wrong,” but it will tell what the people who are participating perceive is right or wrong, and it is 100% valid for them. Their role is to act as official advisors and a sounding board for public officials and planners and thus to help in the development of public policy. The process initiates some natural dynamics that tend to move organizations and governments participating toward solving their problems and adapt
