Over the weekend of November 13 - 15, 317 Michigan citizens traveled to Lansing to discuss and debate the state’s problems and what to do about them. The participants were a statistical microcosm of the state in age, education, employment (and unemployment) and political persuasion. Participating in a “Deliberative Poll,” upon arrival, the participants filled out a questionnaire to determine what preconceived notions and opinions each held on a wide variety of issues directly related to Michigan’s problems and possible solutions. By the People, a civic engagement initiative launched by MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, organized the event, working in partnership with the Center for Deliberative Democracy at Stanford University. The project was supported by a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

Over three days and two nights, the participants, who had received background material in advance, debated the issues in small groups and in large conferences in which panels of experts, with often opposing viewpoints, fielded their questions and provided their insights. The topics included tax policy, funding for education (particularly middle school, in which the state lags behind), reviewing prison sentencing and incarceration rates to reduce the fiscal burden, reforming the health care system for state employees, transportation, the “brain drain,” the consequences of term limits on the legislature, public assistance, and the best ways to redesign the state’s economy away from its reliance on automotive and manufacturing and a toward high-tech, ecologically friendly economy.

On the final day, the participants were polled again, and the results showed a dramatic swing in attitudes and opinions in several major areas:

· Respondents were much more willing to support increases in the state income tax and sales tax to eliminate cuts in education and some other social services.

· Respondents were persuaded that cutting both the Michigan Business Tax and reducing small business taxes were among the best ways to attract and keep businesses, thereby creating jobs.

· Support for increased investment in a “green economy”, agriculture, and tourism also went up significantly during the weekend, as did support for a high-tech, knowledge-based economy.

National issues such as aid to education, immigration and transforming the economy to meet the 21st Century challenges were also featured in the documentary.

The weekend-long Deliberative Poll is the focus of a MacNeil/Lehrer Productions documentary report to be broadcast on Michigan PBS stations the evening January 18, and by other PBS stations across the country in the weeks following.