The National Issues Forums began to take shape in 1981 amid concern about the low level of civic literacy among Americans. Not only did the average person lack an understanding of the issues that our elected leaders were struggling with, we had little opportunity to express our informed opinions to those in influence.

A group called the National Consortium for Public Policy Education (NCPPE) decided to change all that. Their plan was to create a Domestic Policy Association (DPA) that would develop a process for national dialogue on domestic policy issues, and a way to bring the results of such discussions to the attention of America’s decision makers.

The first step was to assemble leaders from national and local organizations interested in public policy education. They decided the new association should exist as a grassroots non-advocacy group that gathered around a common agenda of the issues of greatest concern.

The NCPPE’s next step was to consult leaders from community-based institutions who were experienced in developing issue education programs. This group contributed the approaches that had worked in similar programs, and suggested resources to create the necessary network to support the new program.

The program needed be framed around sound educational materials and invite diverse groups of Americans to discover through deliberation the values we hold in common.

Lastly, the DPA’s new Steering Committee developed the deliberation issues for the association’s inaugural year—retirement and social security, inflation, and jobs and productivity.

The new program was a success, and in 1989 became the National Issues Forums Institute.