Apply Now: 2024 Deliberative Democracy Opportunities at the National Issues Forums Institute

The National Issues Forum Institute (NIFI) has launched the Deliberative Democracy Fellowship in 2024 to support the development of new Issue Guides for public deliberation and decision-making. The fellowship is open to individuals with experience in deliberative practices, offering a $5,000 stipend and additional support funds. NIFI is also hiring a Deliberative Fellowship Coordinator to oversee the program, assist fellows, and ensure the quality and relevance of the Issue Guides. The Coordinator role is a 12-month contract with a stipend of $13,500. Applications are due by August 28, 2024. Read more in the blog post below and find additional information here.

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​NIFI Deliberative Democracy Fellowship

In 2024, NIFI launched the Deliberative Democracy Fellowship to support and fund the development of new Issue Guides that provide a framework for public deliberation and public decision making. Fellows are welcome from a broad range of backgrounds and disciplines who have knowledge and experience with deliberative practices.

Submission deadline is August 28, 2024.

Fellows Term: One Year  (September – August) 
Eligibility: For the inaugural Fellowship year we are seeking two individuals who have previously facilitated the development of an Issue Guides. One Fellow will be connected to an academic institution and one Fellow will be community-based.

Fellows Responsibilities:
Each Fellow will be responsible for facilitating the process to generate one new Issue Guide during their term.

• Identify the Issue Guide topic (drawing from the annual NIFI Issue Guide Topics survey) 
• Assemble an Issue Guide Development Team (aka Naming and Framing team)
• Convene and coordinate the team meetings
• Facilitate and manage information gathering process (e.g. concern gatherings, surveys, etc)
• Delegate and manage the writing process
• Complete the writing process within their Fellows term

Compensation: Each Fellow will receive a $5000 stipend plus $1500 to support the information gathering processes. A total of $1000 is available to incentivize team member participation.

What is an Issue Guide?
An Issue Guide is a document that includes unbiased facts and research related to help participants gain a deeper understanding of the problem to be deliberated. The Guide outlines several values-based options for how to address the issue with costs and consequences to explore based on that approach. 

While issue guides can vary in length and complexity, the Issue Guide provides the necessary background and context for in-person or online deliberative forums and serves as the primary discussion guide for facilitators and participants through the deliberation. As such naming and framing the issue guide appropriately is a crucial step in successful deliberation.

Here are several hallmarks of a quality issue guide framework, from Julie Pratt’s A Guidebook for Issue Framing (2015):

• The framing reflects people’s starting points on the issue, using public-friendly concepts and language.
• The framework reveals what people hold valuable, and you understand the motivations that underlie different points of view.
• The statement of the problem matches up with the choices you developed. Each choice addresses that problem directly.
• The framing makes a strong case, or puts the “best foot forward,” for each of the choices, while at the same time acknowledging the downside and trade-offs involved.
• There is tension between and/or within the choices to facilitate true deliberation on the issue. 
• Potential actions are clearly defined for each choice and require multiple actors, e.g. individuals, organizations, businesses, and government. The potential actions feel reasonable and doable.

About NIFI:
Formed in 1981, National Issues Forums Institute (NIFI) is a network of civic, educational, and other organizations, and individuals, whose common interest is to promote public deliberation in America. It includes civic clubs, religious organizations, libraries, schools, and many other groups that meet to discuss critical public issues. Forum participants range from teenagers to retirees, prison inmates to community leaders, and literacy students to university students.

NIF does not advocate specific solutions or points of view but provides citizens the opportunity to consider a broad range of choices, weigh the pros and cons of those choices, and meet with each other in a public dialogue to identify the concerns they hold in common.

Apply for the Deliberative Democracy Fellowship here!

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Temporary Contract - NIFI Deliberative Fellowship Coordinator

The Deliberative Fellowship Coordinator is responsible for facilitating the new Deliberative Democracy Fellowship program developed by the National Issues Forum Institute (NIFI). In 2024, NIFI launched the Deliberative Democracy Fellowship to support and fund the development of new Issue Guides that provide a framework for public deliberation and public decision making. Fellows are welcome from a broad range of backgrounds and disciplines who have knowledge and experience with deliberative practices.

The Coordinator is responsible for overseeing the recruitment, training, and development of the Fellows Program and will support the inaugural cohort of Fellows through all aspects of the issue guide development process. This is a 12-month contract position that reports to NIFI’s (interim) executive director, with an expected time commitment of 15-20 hours a month. ​Find the full job description here.

Stipend: The Coordinator will receive a stipend of $13,500.

How to Apply: Send a cover letter and resume to Patty Dineen, NIFI Administrative Officer.​