Citizen Democracy, Welcome to the Conversation!

This Meetup Group is for people who believe that democracy begins with conversation. It's for people in the NoVa and DC metro area interested in Citizen Democracy as a way for citizens to engage in collaborative discussions to expand and develop their own thinking about topics of social and political concern. Ever wonder if we could move beyond set ways of responding to social issues? Ever feel frustrated by the limited range of possibilities that enter into discussion for dealing with complex political and social topics? Well, this group focuses on using the power of collaborative democratic discussion to explore and develop contrasting approaches to complex social or political issues. If you'd like to engage your thinking ability as a citizen--and see how you might discover more by interacting creatively with others--please come join our group.

This group is dedicated to the exploration of more diverse possibilities for us as a democratic society. We want to explore divergent views and contrasting possibilities, so we are open to all political perspectives. Are you more interested in collaborative conversations than polarizing partisan debates or simple sound-bite arguments? Are you frustrated by simplistic answers to complex social or political realities? Would you like to stretch your mind, to think more creatively about the ways that we, as a society, might approach emerging areas of public concern--without being hemmed in by the past or the status quo? Are you interested in conversations where you and your conversation partners can help each other think and discuss issues as fully engaged citizens? Do you feel that we citizens can be more than "followers"--that citizens can take the lead in thinking about what we might do as a society? If you respond positively to these questions, this Meetup Group might be for you.

This Meetup springs from my work with the Interactivity Foundation, a small non-partisan non-profit that is dedicated to helping citizens use collaborative conversations to explore more possibilities for complex policy areas (www.interactivityfoundation.org). The Foundation enables us to meet typically around a meal and refreshments in a relaxed setting. No special background or set of knowledge is required for our meetings. Just the generosity of spirit to talk and think with others as we explore new possibilities for our society today. I hope you'll join our conversations!