AmericaSpeaks

{{short description|Non-profit organization from 1995-2014}}

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.{{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}} 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. 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",{{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 }} as well as large-group intervention (LGI) to influence organizational change.{{Cite book |title=Encyclopedia of Management Theory |date=2013 |publisher=SAGE Publications |isbn=9781412997829 |volume=1 |location=Thousand Oaks, California |pages=425}} 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.{{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}} 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.{{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}}

The group was founded as a nonpartisan nonprofit organization by activist and author Carolyn Lukensmeyer.{{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}} When its closure was announced in 2014, AmericaSpeaks claimed that it had engaged 180,000 people across 150 projects.{{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}} 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.{{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}} 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.{{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}} In Chicago, AmericaSpeaks worked with the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission (NIPC) to facilitate discussions around its Common Ground planning process.{{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 }} Other projects included bringing together 4,500 stakeholders to discuss the redevelopment of ground zero in New York City.{{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}}