Forum Materials for Constitution Week

August 24, 2022

Celebrate Constitution Week with a National Issues Forum

As Americans commemorate the adoption of the U.S. Constitution on September 17, the National Issues Forums Institute is connecting with a wide range of partners to promote opportunities for deliberative forums on campuses, in classrooms, and in communities on issues with close ties to the study of the Constitution. This ongoing initiative known as With the People will encourage deliberative forums around the country during Constitution Week from September 16 to September 22.

To support these efforts, the National Issues Forums Institute will provide complimentary discussion guides on a wide range of public issues:

Elections: How Should We Encourage and Safeguard Voting?
Policing: Ensuring Equal Justice and Fair Treatment
Free Speech and the Inclusive Campus
Immigration in America
Youth & Opportunity: What Should We Do for Future Generations to Thrive?
A New Land: Historic Decisions from the Spring of 1787

In addition to nonpartisan, multi-perspective discussion guides, NIFI will provide complimentary support materials to help those who are organizing these deliberative discussions:

Guides for moderators and convenors
Slides for use in online forums
Post-discussion questionnaires
"Constitution Connectors" guides that provide Constitutional context for forums on elections, free speech, and immigration

This Constitution Week initiative is based on the idea that democracy is strengthened when citizens, institutions, and governments find ways to work with one another on public issues that impact our lives. Learn more at www.nifi.org/en/with-the-people. For questions, please contact us at info@nifi.org.

Let us know what you are doing

Do you have news or events related to the deliberative public forums work you do? We'd love to be able to share what you're doing. Please send information to Patty Dineen.

If you are planning to hold a forum or workshop, please post a few details in the Events area of the National Issues Forums (NIF) website by logging in and clicking here.

Connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube for real-time updates and unique perspectives from the social media community.

Support public deliberation

Would you like to make a difference in how people talk about public issues in our society? There are three ways to support our work: donate to the National Issues Forums Institute (NIFI), the Taylor L. Willingham Legacy Fund, or the Elizabeth "Libby" Kingseed Teaching With Deliberation Memorial Award. Click below to learn more and to donate.

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About Deliberation in National Issues Forums

National Issues Forums issue guides are designed to stimulate public deliberation, which is a way of making decisions together that is different from discussion or debate. The purpose of deliberative forums is to inform collective action. As citizens, we have to make decisions together before we can act together, whether with other citizens or through legislative bodies. Acting together is essential for addressing problems that can't be solved by one group of people or one institution. These problems have more than one cause and therefore have to be met by a number of mutually reinforcing initiatives with broad public participation.

About the National Issues Forums Institute

The National Issues Forums Institute's mission is to promote the use of public deliberation in schools, colleges, civic organizations, and religious institutions in the United States. The institute's board members are volunteers drawn from leaders in government, colleges and universities, libraries, civic organizations, the media, and medicine. For more information visit www.nifi.org.