National Issues Convention

The National Issues Convention was a nationally publicized forum associated with James Fishkin’s work on public opinion and democracy. Five hours of the convention were broadcast live on PBS and C-SPAN, bringing its proceedings to a national audience. The book places it in the context of proposals for deliberative democracy: an effort to make public judgment more than a snapshot of opinion by creating conditions for people to consider public questions together.

Context and Democratic Purpose

James Fishkin’s earlier work, Democracy and Deliberation and The Voice of the People: Public Opinion and Democracy, provides the intellectual context for the convention. The event attracted considerable national attention, and its live broadcast made a substantial portion of it available beyond those attending in person. Its importance in the account is not simply that people expressed views, but that a public forum could give deliberation a visible place in democratic life.

From the Convention to Deliberation Day

The convention is linked to a further proposal developed by Bruce Ackerman and Fishkin: Deliberation Day. In the version described in the book, the event would be spread over two days, with employers required to give workers one of those days off. The proposal translates the convention’s deliberative premise into a more ambitious institutional design, making time for civic discussion part of the structure of democratic participation rather than leaving it to individual circumstance.

Significance in the Book

The convention is presented as one example in a wider inquiry into how groups can form better judgments. Its broadcast demonstrates the reach of a public deliberative event, while the related Deliberation Day proposal raises the question of how democratic institutions might give deliberation more room. The account does not provide a detailed transcript or describe particular exchanges at the convention; its emphasis is on the event’s public visibility and its connection to a broader program for deliberative democracy.