DCI Deliberation and Pathway Guides
Below are the Deliberation and Pathway Guides that the DCI has used in its Deliberative Forums and D Teams since the Fall of 2020 through the Spring of 2024. We will be adding our 2024-25 guides soon. Updated guides and guides for different lengths of time are listed under each topic. Feel free to check any and all of the guides out; just keep in mind they are designed not as standalone documents but as background for deliberative discussions that are guided by trained deliberation facilitators. We highly recommend participating in the DCI’s Deliberation Facilitation Training Program or a similar training opportunity if you plan to use one of our guides. All of the guides have been written by the DCI’s staff and fellows, and some are designed to complement other guides. If you use a guide for one of your own deliberations, please provide attribution to the Deliberative Citizenship Initiative (with a link to deliberativecitizenship.org) and email dci@deliberativecitizenship.org to tell us about your event. We’d love to hear about it!
| Local Legacies of Slavery: How do we understand and address the legacies of slavery at Davidson College and in the broader north Mecklenburg community? | Deliberation Guide (2020; 90 min) Pathways Guide (2022) |
| Policing, Safety, and Justice: What should be the focus of police policies and reforms? | Deliberation Guide (2020; 90 min) Pathways Guide (2020) |
| The COVID-19 Pandemic: What should be our priorities moving forward, and how should we achieve them? | Deliberation Guide (2021; 90 min) Pathways Guide (2021) |
| Reforming the Supreme Court: How should we change America’s “least dangerous branch” of government, if at all? | Deliberation Guide (2021, 60 min) Pathways Guide (2021) |
| Environmental Challenges of the 21st Century: Which are the most important and what should we do about them? | Deliberation Guide (2021; 90 min) Pathways Guide (2021) |
| Economic Mobility: How can the American dream be more achievable for everyone? | Deliberation Guide (2022; 90 min) Pathways Guide (2021) |
| Our Housing Future: Needs, Goals, and Solutions | Deliberation Guide (2021; 90 min) Pathways Guide (2021) |
| Gender and Sexuality: What policies best respect our different beliefs and identities? | Deliberation Guide (2021; 90 min) Pathways Guide (2021) |
| The Future of Democracy: What kind of political community do we want, and how can we create it? | Deliberation Guide (2021; 90 min) Pathways Guide (2021) |
| Free Speech and Inclusion: Are they in conflict or are they complementary? How should they be effectively supported on college campuses? | Deliberation Guide (2021; 90 min) Pathways Guide (2021) |
| Guns in America: How Shall we Balance Concerns about Gun Rights and Gun Risks? | Deliberation Guide (2022; 120 min) Pathways Guide (2022) Deliberation Guide (2024; 60 min) Pathways Guide (2024) |
| Abortion: Should Roe v. Wade be overturned? What kind of public policy should we have? (Version 1) Abortion: How should we address the ethical, legal, and policy questions related to abortion? (Version 2) | Deliberation Guide (Version 1) (2022; 120 min) Pathways Guide (Version 1) (2022) Deliberation Guide (Version 2) (2023; 120 min) Pathways Guide (Version 2) (2023) |
| Abortion Deep Dive Series on Should Roe v. Wade be overturned? What kind of public policy should we have? | Deliberation Guide 1 (2022; 120 min) Deliberator Guide 2 (2022; 120 min) Deliberation Guide 3 (2022; 120 min) Pathways Guide (2022) |
| College Admissions: How Should Applicants’ Backgrounds Be Taken into Account, If at All? | Deliberation Guide (Version 1) (2022; 120 min) Pathways Guide (2022) Deliberation Guide (Version 2) (2023; 120 min) Deliberation Guide (Version 3) (2024; 60 min) Pathways Guide (2024) |
| College Admissions Deep Dive Series on How Should Applicants’ Backgrounds Be Taken into Account, If at All? | Deliberator Guide 1 (2022; 120 min) Deliberation Guide 2 (2022; 120 min) Deliberation Guide 3 (2022; 120 min) Pathways Guide (2022) |
| Climate Change: What Climate Policies, If Any, Should We Pursue? | Deliberation Guide (2023; 120 min) |
| Climate Choices Deep Dive Series on Climate Policies, The Responsibility to Pay, and the Responsibility to Pay | Deliberation Guide 1 (2022; 120 min) Deliberator Guide 2 (2022; 120 min) Deliberation Guide 3 (2022; 120 min) |
| Immigration: Who Should We Welcome? What Should We Do? | Deliberation Guide (2023; 120 min) |
| Social Media: How Should We Engage and/or Regulate It, If At All? | Deliberation Guide (2023; 60 min) Deliberation Guide (2023; 90 min) |
| Parents and Schools: Who Should Teach Our Children about Race, Gender, and Sexuality? | Deliberation Guide (2023; 60 min) |
| Election Deep Dive Series on Election Accessibility, Election Fairness, and Election Security | Deliberation Guide 1 (2022; 120 min) Deliberation Guide 2 (2022; 120 min) Deliberation Guide 3 (2022; 120 min) Pathways Guide (2022) |
| The Challenge for Democracy: To What Extent Should the United States and Other Democratic Countries Defend and Promote Democracy Around the World? | Deliberation Guide (2023; 60 min) Pathways Guide (2023) |
| Speech, Harm, & Offense: Can speech harm, and what is the relationship between harm and offense? What do our answers mean for autonomy and dialogue about contentious topics? | Deliberation Guide (2023; 120 min) Pathways Guide (2023) |
| Book Censorship: In what contexts should we censor books, if ever? Who gets to decide? | Deliberation Guide (2023; 120 min) Pathways Guide (2023) |
| Artificial Intelligence: How Should We Relate to it as Individuals, Communities, and Policymakers? | Deliberation Guide (2024; 60 min) Pathways Guide (2024) |
| Public Education and School Vouchers: When should parents be granted vouchers to pay for private schools, if ever? | Deliberation Guide (2023; 120 min) Pathways Guide (2023) |
| Grades and Standardized Tests: How should student learning and excellence be assessed and measured, if at all? | Deliberation Guide (2023; 120 min) Pathways Guide (2023) |
| Campus Protests: How should universities and colleges handle protests and promote a healthy exchange of ideas on their campuses? | Deliberation Guide (2024; 120 min) Pathways Guide (2024) |
| Lessons Learned from COVID-19: How should we prepare for the next pandemic, if at all? | Deliberation Guide (2025; 120 min) Pathways Guide (2025) |
| Defensive Democracy: How can we best protect democratic values and institutions from internal and external threats? | Deliberation Guide (2024; 120 min) Pathways Guide (2024) |
| Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: How effective are DEI practices in promoting equality, justice, and belonging in the workplace, the education sector, and society more broadly? | Deliberation Guide (2024; 120 min) Pathways Guide (2024) |
| Free Expression at Davidson: Rights and Responsibilities during an Uncertain Time | Deliberation Guide (2025; 120 min) Pathways Guide (2025) |
| Income and Wealth Disparities: Should we address them, and if so, why and how? | Deliberation Guide (2024; 120 min) Pathways Guide (2024) |
| The Opioid Epidemic: How can institutions of health and government best respond to the opioid epidemic? | Deliberation Guide (2024; 120 min) Pathways Guide (2024) |
| Religion in Public Life: What role should religion play in the public sphere and government policies? | Deliberation Guide (2025; 120 min) Pathways Guide (2025) |
| Lessons of War, Prospects for Peace: What should we say about the legacies of World War II in the Asia-Pacific region? | Deliberation Guide (2023; 120 min) Pathways Guide (2023) |
| Davidson College Honor Code: How can we establish a more robust culture of academic integrity at Davidson? | Deliberation Guide (2024; 120 min) |
