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MARTHA L. MCCOY
Study Circles
Democracy needs a place to sit down.
—Hannah Arendt
Helping to Strengthen Local Democracy
In Portsmouth, New Hampshire, public dialogue and collaborative decision making are becoming a hallmark of community life. Over the past several years, community groups and the city have engaged hundreds of residents in “study circles”—small group discussions that take place across the entire community. In the process, people have found their voice, the community’s decision-making process has become more democratic, and people have begun to solve critical issues. Through the circles, Portsmouth has addressed bullying in schools, school redistricting, community-police relations, and priorities for the city’s ten-year plan.
Portsmouth’s study circles began in 2000, when 200 sixth-graders from Portsmouth Middle School and 75 adults discussed bullying and other school safety issues. These circles led to new school policies and a decline in bullying.
A year later, a member of the school board who had taken part in the circles recommended the same process to address a school redistricting issue. Prior attempts to resolve the schools’ enrollment and space problems had failed in the wake of bitter public argument. This time, the public had an opportunity for a productive conversation aimed at seeking better answers. The final report from the circles provided new direction for the redistricting plan and resulted in only 65 students being relocated.
In 2002, the city planning board endorsed study circles to generate citizen input for the city’s master plan. The program unfolded in stages, involving more than 400 residents in its two years. In the first stage, participants defined what “quality of life” meant to them and recommended ways to sustain it. In the second phase, they identified issues affecting quality of life, discussed what they could do, and made recommendations to the planning board. When the revised plan was released, it was clear that the city had incorporated advice from the circles.
Today, Portsmouth Listens—a study circle organization that involves a range of community groups—is considering how to make deliberation an ongoing part of public life. Table 1 contains examples of action and change that have already occurred from study circle programs in the community.
Changes in individual behavior and attitudes |
A participant in a study circle on school redistricting who had consistently opposed tax increases saw the cramped conditions in three schools, heard the concerns and commitment of parents and teachers, and publicly supported a $1.7 million plan for school improvements that entailed a tax increase. |
New relationships and networks |
After circles on racism, the deputy chief of the police department commented that now when an issue or question comes up, it is easier for someone from the NAACP to simply call him or another officer rather than go through formal procedures. |
Institutional changes |
After the circles on school safety, new plans included the following student recommendations: cameras on buses, a peer mediation program, and increased adult supervision at school events. Since the plans have been implemented, school bullying appears to have declined. |
Changes in public policy |
After playing a leading role in organizing study circles on Portsmouth’s ten-year master plan and meeting with participants, the planning board used input from the circles to learn residents’ priorities. Resulting changes to the plan included approval to purchase ten acres of green space for conservation and rezoning to gear waterfront residences and studios to artists’ needs. |
Table 1. Examples of Action and Change from Study Circles in Portsmouth, New Hampshire
The Basics
In the study circle process, facilitated, small-group dialogue is at the heart of a community-wide initiative for public dialogue and community change. Community organizing coupled with large-scale small-group dialogue creates opportunities for everyone to have a voice, and links the dialogue to sustained changes in people, in institutions, and in policies.
The Study Circles Resource Center helps communities develop their own ability to organize this process. Many leaders and citizens are drawn to study circles because they provide what’s usually missing in community life. Because the study circle approach combines multisession small-group deliberation with large-scale community change processes, it helps individuals and communities make significant progress in all the “streams” of work approached through dialogue and deliberation—exploration, conflict transformation, decision making, and collaborative action.
Figure 1. The Study Circle Process
In a large-scale study circle program (see figure 1), many people meet in diverse study circles over the same period of time. All the study circles work on the same issue and seek solutions for the whole community. At the end of the round of study circles, people from all the groups gather in one place to prioritize action ideas that come out of the study circles and begin implementation work. Study circle programs take place in a number of settings—neighborhoods, cities and towns, states, school districts, schools, and college campuses—to address a wide range of social and political issues, such as racism, poverty, police-community relations, education, and growth and sprawl.
Table of Uses
About the Author
Martha L. McCoy ([email protected]) is executive director of the Study Circles Resource Center (SCRC), the primary project of The Paul J. Aicher Foundation, and is president of the foundation. She has made important contributions to the fields of deliberative democracy, community problem solving, and racial justice. One of McCoy’s greatest passions is to create close links among these fields. Under her direction, SCRC has helped more than 400 communities organize large-scale study circle programs.
Where to Go for More Information
REFERENCES
Organizing Community-wide Dialogue for Action and Change. A step-by-step guide to organizing study circle programs, www.studycircles.org//en/Resource.39.aspx.
Scully, P., and M. McCoy. “Study Circles: Local Deliberation as the Cornerstone of Deliberative Democracy.” In The Deliberative Democracy Handbook, edited by J. Gastil and P. Levine, 199–212. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2005.
ORGANIZATION
Study Circles Resource Center—www.studycircles.org