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By the People JOINING THE CONVERSATION BROADCASTS PARTNERS EVENTS WHAT IS BY THE PEOPLE?
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American confidence in public schools has declined steadily since the 1970s. Read more about education issues that may factor into that sentiment in By the People's national education discussion guide.

The 2005 Deliberation Week conversations on healthcare centered on the rising cost of healthcare and the approximately 45 million Americans without health insurance.

By the People promotes civic engagement by supporting community group dialogues and offering tools to foster forums in locations around the country. Learn how you can connect with your fellow-citizens to discuss important issues of the day.

Part of the By the People mission is to better inform the public discussion on important issues of the day. In this section you will find resources from past By the People events. These backgrounders can guide a local community discussion. You may also use them for your own reading or research.

Fall 2005: Education and Healthcare Discussion Guides
These discussion guides served as a jumping-off point for our fall 2005 Deliberation Week conversations. Most participants in By the People forums received a copy of the backgrounders from their event hosts.

Fall 2004: National security and Economics Discussion Guide
This backgrounder, written by MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, prepared By the People participants for discussions prior to the presidential election of 2004. The backgrounder includes information on the war on terrorism, civil liberties, trade, taxes and outsourcing. The resulting conversation was the focus of a PBS special, "Time to Choose," anchored by Jim Lehrer. You may read the background book here in .pdf form.

Winter/Spring 2004: Security and Economics Discussion Guide
These background materials, touching on globalization and the war in Iraq, were prepared for By the People by the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University. This discussion guide was the basis for January 24, 2004 Citizen Deliberations and a series of local Deliberative Opinion Polls organized by By the People in 10 cities across the nation.

January 2003 National Issues Convention Discussion Guide
These background print materials, prepared by the Kettering Foundation for the January 2003 By the People National Issues Convention on America in the World present four different perspectives as a way of framing public discussion. Each approach shows a distinctive perspective on what our global priorities should be and what costs and tradeoffs we should be prepared to accept if we move in that direction. Each approach amounts to a scenario that describes what it might mean to be an American in this 21st century world.