The vision: so what's this thing gonna look like?

Without having thought it completely through, it's a little early to start speculating on what this website would look like. The whole point of this summer's independent research is to approach this idea methodically: scan the literature, talk with those who have thought about online civic engagement, assess the potential market, and form a detailed plan.

However, when I try to explain the idea to others, I always come back to the same analogy: a voter's pamphlet that gives you the "quick and dirty" view of the issues at stake; the pros and cons and the supporters of each; the essence of the arguments. When I want to know more about a policy issue (and I often do as an MPA student and resident of Left Coast), I don't want to wade through policy reports, or even the executive summary of policy reports. I also don't want to Google or L-N the issue, even though I could probably find what I wanted to know in about fifteen minutes of hunting. Wouldn't it be nice to go to one place, and know that you are going to see concise, non-partisan phrasing of multiple viewpoints?

Better yet, what if the website was entertaining, interactive, and offered links to source materials for those that wanted to learn more? What if the website also partnered with existing organizations that specialized in continuing the interaction through deliberative dialogues, either online or at a local level? What if the online community that generated the content also gained from the experience of distilling multiple perspectives into neutral language?

That would be the type of place I would want to go back to, and perhaps even participate in.