The Democracy Symposium was held on February 16, 2002 in Williamsburg, Virginia.
The aim of the symposium was to vet the near-final version of the National Initiative proposal. Senator Mike Gravel sent invitations to organizations, professors, media, elected individuals, and anybody else he could think of. The people who chose to participate were generally in favor of a National Initiative but attempted to explore devil’s advocate positions and offer constructive criticism. The discussion was moderated by Senator Mike Gravel. The Democracy Foundation ultimately accepted many of the suggestions aired, but Senator Gravel also defended many of his design decisions.
You may may browse to:
- Submitted papers
- Audio recordings
- The Democracy Symposium website (now frozen) used to publicize the symposium
You may further trace the development of the National Initiative by inspecting the intermediate May 1, 2002, draft as published in the National Initiative Newsletter 1(4). Also refer to the interview with Ted Becker published in National Initiative Newsletter 1(5).
Taking feedback from the conference into consideration, a final draft on the amendment and act was published on September 17, 2002.