Dr. Carolyn J. Lukensmeyer, founder and president of AmericaSpeaks, is an innovator in deliberative democracy, public administration, and organizational development. Concern about the deep partisan divide in Washington and the growing disconnection between citizens and government across the country led Lukensmeyer to launch AmericaSpeaks in 1995. Her goal was to develop new democratic practices that would strengthen the citizen voice in public decision-making. Under Lukensmeyer's leadership, AmericaSpeaks has earned a national reputation as a leader in the field of deliberative democracy and democratic renewal.

Prior to founding AmericaSpeaks, Lukensmeyer served as consultant to the White House Chief of Staff from November 1993 through June 1994. She also served as the deputy project director for management of the National Performance Review (NPR), and from 1986 to 1991, Lukensmeyer served as chief of staff to Governor Richard F. Celeste of Ohio.

Dr. Lukensmeyer's Comments Before the Pepperdine Conference

For more than a decade AmericaSpeaks has pioneered a tool of deliberative democracy known as the "21st Century Town Meeting." Lukensmeyer explained her work and the importance of engaging citizens in governance.

Dr. Lukensmeyer shared her concurrent "unbelievable optimism" and "unbelievable pessimism" for American democracy. From her point of view, an authentic, real connection to the general interests of the public on the part of elected officials no longer exists - except during the election season.

She elaborated by stating that a "loss of agency" affects the American system, meaning that ordinary people no longer feel that they can make a difference. Therefore, Dr. Lukensmeyer has focused her work on reviving a "We the People" spirit in American governmental institutions.

Part of her work is the 21st Century Town Meeting, which attempts toconnect a representative sample of local participants to community political leaders through interactive issue deliberation. Participants at these events discuss important public policy issues at small-group table sessions, and then prioritize policies through an electronic keypad that relays information to large screens where real-time results are displayed before a full assembly.

The meetings are designed around five principles: large scale; access to political decision makers as part of the process; a sample representation of the population; transparency; and timely, concrete results.

During voting, choice themes are distilled, results are reported back, and often public leaders will have the opportunity to speak and listen to deliberation on-site.

Her recent projects include 21st Century Town Meetings for the city of Washington, D.C.'s budgeting process, and a "Voices & Choices" forum on the declining economic health of Northeast Ohio. Dr. Lukensmeyer has also undertaken complex coordinated events, such as the post-Katrina New Orleans program that connected a "diaspora" of hurricane victims in five cities via satellite.

Dr. Lukensmeyer concluded her remarks by citing current challenges facing deliberative democracy. In particular, she desires to see the study and practice of deliberative democracy become a more unified social movement, sharing a strategy and an ethos of collaboration. Only then, said Lukensmeyer, can deliberative democracy transform the public's deep distrust and attenuated sense of control.

• The Materials used by Dr. Lukensmeyer during her Presentation