Democratic Practices and Inclusive
Excellence
Stephan Hiroshi GilchristOffice of Equity, Diversity, and
Inclusion
What brought you to this presentation?
What is Democratic Practice?
1. Engages diverse perspectives, explores concerns and
assumptions, transforms conflict and disagreement, and
works collaboratively to find creative solutions and
constructive change
2. It is a set of principles and practices that guide how people
interact and work together every day to improve their
community and to create a more just society
3. Involves informed community members
4. Involvement in decision-making by those most likely to be
affected by the outcome
The Democracy Imperative
Democratic Practices
• Systems Thinking• Dialogue• Deliberation• Conflict Transformation
Systems Thinking
Systems thinking is a way of understanding reality that emphasizes the relationships among a system's parts, rather than the parts themselves. It can help you design smart, enduring solutions to problems. Systems thinking gives you a more accurate picture of reality. It encourages you to think about problems and solutions with an eye toward the long view.
Pegasus Communication
Dialogue• Dialogue is about bringing together many voices,
many stories, many perspectives, many experiences with a goal to increase understanding about others and ourselves. It is a safe and honest facilitated discussion aimed at providing an opportunity to tell your story, listen to others and build understanding. Jen Murphy, George Mason University’
• Dialogue is a foundational communication process leading directly to personal and organizational transformation. It assists in creating environments of high trust and openness, with reflective and generative capacities. One might think of dialogue as [an]…approach in the development of the following organizational disciplines: continuous learning, diversity, conflict exploration, decision making and problem solving, leadership, self-managing teams, organizational planning and alignment, and culture change. Linda Ellinor, The Dialogue Group
dialogue video
Debate Dialogue
Unwavering commitment to one’s own views and ideas
Open to hearing and understanding other perspectives
Trying to convince others to see the situation from your perspective or to agree with you
Asking questions to understand other people’s point of view
Combative, where participants attempt to prove the other side wrong
Collaborative, where participants work together toward common understanding
Assuming there is a right answer, and you have it.
Assuming that there are multiple perspectives and that integrating these perspectives provides a more effective solution
Listening to find flaws and counterarguments.
Listening to understand and find meaning
Critiquing others’ views and ideas. Reexamining all views, ideas, and assumptions –including one’s own
DeliberationDeliberation is a process that brings people together to study an organizational, community, social, or political issue. It asks it’s participants to identify possible solutions, consider the advantages, disadvantages, and trade-offs for each choice, and make decisions about how an issue should be addressed. Dialogue provides the comprehensive and shared understanding needed for quality deliberation and effective decision making to occur. The Democracy Imperative
Open Space Video
Conflict TransformationConflict is…foremost a potential occasion for growth in two critical
and interrelated dimensions of human morality. The first dimension
involves strengthening the self. This occurs through realizing and
strengthening one’s inherent human capacity for dealing with
difficulties of all kinds by engaging in conscious and deliberate
reflection, choice, and action. The second dimension involves
reaching beyond the self to relate to others. This occurs through
realizing and strengthening one’s inherent human capacity for
experiencing and expressing concern and consideration for others,
especially others whose “situation” is different from one’s own.
Conflict confronts each party with a challenge…or adversity to
grapple with. This challenge presents…the opportunity to clarify…
their needs and values, what causes them satisfaction and
dissatisfaction. Bush and Folger
Skills and Knowledge
1.Intercultural communication
2.Conflict transformation
3.Deep listening, self-reflection, empathy,
flexibility, curiosity
4.Self-awareness of one’s own cultural biases,
assumptions, and preferences
5.Understanding shared human needs and interests
6.Gather relevant data for dialogue and
deliberation
What Is Democratic Practice?
1. What would a democratic work environment look like where you work currently?
2. What are the qualities that are needed?Example: trust, transparency, reciprocity
3. What would democratic structures and processes look like?Where would decision be made, by whom, how?What happens if there are different perspectives?
4. How are decisions made currently?
Resources• National Coalition on Dialogue and
Deliberation• The Democracy Imperative• Wisconsin Institute for Public Policy and
Service• Cooperative Extension Systems Thinking
Team• Cooperative Extension Conflict
Management Team• Colleagues in Cooperative Extension• Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
608-262-3049