V. The Process

a.) Stimulate Dialogue

Help inform Californians and to engage them in serious dialogue about the problems and opportunities facing our state and the public and private actions that need to be taken.

The Viewpoint Learning report, cited earlier, states that "The unorganized public today generally does not have the resources, time, institutional capacity or access to those in authority needed to change the conversation with leaders." Aiding the "unorganized public" to have a meaningful conversation with elected state leaders is our first priority.

At the core of California's present crisis is the absence of an adequate public dialogue about the choices before us. As noted earlier, this has led to a deep public disenchantment about the competence and credibility of elected public officials, especially in the State Capitol. Unless the disconnect between the citizenry and government is healed, there can be little optimism about the future of California.

There are public issues about which Californians are deeply, and perhaps irrevocably, divided. Abortion, the death penalty, gun control and the legalization of marijuana are currently issues where there is either no stable center of gravity in public opinion and/or deeply committed adversaries who will accept no compromise. By contrast, there are other issues, such as education, health, transportation and taxes, where there may be a center of gravity to public judgment. To say there is a "center of gravity" is not to claim a consensus or the total absence of conflict. But amidst conflict, a large majority of Californians may emerge who support practical, pragmatic solutions that don't adhere to either the extremes of the left or the right.

Common Sense California will seek out those issues that meet these twin tests: (a) the public sees them as high priority (e.g. education, transportation, taxes, etc. We may also choose to tackle issues that are of fundamental importance but where public recognition is not yet high) and (b) there seems likely to be a set of pragmatic solutions that can be discovered through dialogue and then win support from a large majority of Californians.

Common Sense California, on the basis of existing research (such as that provided by the Public Policy Institute of California) will develop a "Critical Agenda", a limited number of issues and opportunities vital to California in the next decade or two. We will then engage in two forms of dialogue with the public on such critical issues:

• Dialogues with Average Citizens. Under the leadership of professionally-skilled practitioners, we will engage a representative sample of Californians in well-designed dialogue about the issues and the choices before us as a state. These will not be simply another wave of public opinion polls where voters are called at home to respond for 20 minutes to a set of issues about which they may know very little. Rather, these will be dialogues quite similar to the ones referenced earlier and conducted by Viewpoint Learning. Notably, these will be discussions among groups of randomly selected Californians who are given information in advance of the dialogues so that they bring considered views to the process. The dialogues are intense interactions, a learning process that typically lasting several hours, that identifies where the "center of gravity" is in the minds of the participants. The result is not simply "public opinion," that may shift depending upon the nature of the headlines of the next day, but "public judgments," stable and considered views that are closely tied to deeply felt personal values.¹

  Participants in such dialogues would be drawn from a larger pool than those who voted in the last election. As a result, such dialogues give a better sense of the choices made by a more ethnically diverse and younger group of citizens than typically turns out to vote. By engaging such individuals in meaningful dialogue about public policy choices, we hope to attract them into greater civic engagement, including voting.

  It is extremely important to note that the results of these dialogues with the public will not be advisory to CSC as we go about our work. Rather, they will be controlling. It would be our firm expectation that Common Sense California would support the considered judgment of Californians resulting from the dialogue process. It is conceivable that the results of a specific dialogue would seriously conflict with the good conscience of the Board of Directors of CSC. In such an exceptional case, the Board would, nonetheless, publish the results of the dialogue but also publicly state its reasons for disagreement.

• Riding the Circuit. The Organizing Committee of Common Sense California also will reach out, on a regular basis, to a large number of respected leaders including key individuals from business, labor, agriculture, religious congregations, government, ethnic groups, youth groups, educational, non-profit, and media organizations in the various regions of California.

  With 100 active volunteers around the state, each committed to visiting 10 other key individuals each year, the Organizing Committee of Common Sense California could be in regular consultation with a "circuit" of 1,000 influential Californians and student groups. The purpose of such face-to-face meetings would be to:

  • Solicit current views about the pressing problems and opportunities facing the state
  • Share the results of previously conducted dialogues
  • Solicit assistance in undertaking action in support of "common sense" solutions
  • Enlist active support in reaching out to the media through letters to the editor, participation on radio interview programs, visits to editorial boards, and placing stories in organizational newsletters and websites.