"Blog" is short for "Weblog"—and a Weblog is a very

frequently updated Webpage, often a kind of public diary. One person can be

solely responsible for a blog, or several people can collaborate to produce

it, or it can be open to anyone to post messages. For some time, I have overseen

an institutional Weblog for the National Association

for Civic Education (NACE).

The conventional format is to post the newest entry at the top. Often, it is

wise to scroll down some distance to find a starting-point, and then read up

the page in chronological order.

I am interested in the public possibilities of personal blogs.

Can you write about yourself, but in a way that is valuable to others? I’m more

interested in a public diary than in a conventional, private one, because I’ve

always found it artificial to address myself in writing. I realize that the

audience for this blog is likely to be very small, but the structure of the

Internet insures that it will have visitors (even if they come accidentally

and never return).

Because this is a public document and I represent various institutions, I cannot

make judgments (even positive ones) about individuals here. This makes the blog

somewhat impersonal, but I don’t think it reduces its public value. So far,

my policy is to avoid names unless a given person is a public figure, or if

he or she appears frequently (in which case I use a first name only, to help

readers keep track).

I would welcome other people’s contributions, although I don’t expect them.

To contribute, email me and state clearly

that you want your comments to be posted here. I will decide whether to include

them.

— Peter Levine, January 20, 2003

I have been a member of The Institute

for Philosophy & Public Policy for just over ten years. Although

I am now involved with several other institutions, this is the one I care

most about. We had a regular staff meeting this morning. The Institute

has just produced a book entitled War

After September 11. It’s a good small volume of essays, and it appeared

in bookstores just six months after we conceived the idea. Today we discussed

creating a whole series of such "fastbacks" on the philosophical

dimensions of current issues. The next volume, we agreed, will concern

biotechnology.

I had a conversation and did some emailing today on the whole idea of

using mapping software to diagram the field of deliberative democracy

I now have a clearer idea how

this could be done, technically. I also agreed to go to Connecticut in

April for a conference on deliberation sponsored by the Democracy

Project of the Center for Values in Higher Education. And the proofs

of The Civic Mission of Schools arrived, looking fine.