Q. Isn't the whole idea of an ordinary citizen representing people the reason we have elected officials in the first place?

A. Sure. Let's put aside cynicism for a moment though and cover how a Citizen Advisor would be different than an elected official:

For the Citizen Advisor, this isn't their 'day job'. The Citizen Advisor would not make their living from this process and worry about re-election.

Elected officials are supposed to speak for their constitutes on all issues being discussed. A Citizen Advisor would only speak on an issue with which they had intimate knowledge from their own life.

Q. I'm not sure if I like ordinary citizens being picked for this. Shouldn't I have a say on who is chosen?

A. When any Administration picks an advisor, do you have a vote on it? So, for example, if an academic advisor is picked from Harvard, do you know for sure that the Harvard advisor is any better than a possible candidate from Yale, Stanford, a state University, etc.? The Administration picks the advisors they see fit.

Citizen Advisors would be selected in the same fashion....people the Administration felt could best help on an issue. The only difference now with a Citizen Advisor is that advisory role is extended beyond the normal pool of candidates to include people directly affected by the issue.

Q. Yeah, but the every-day citizen can't even balance their own checkbook. Why should we listen to what they have to say?

A. Have you seen the state of our country lately? There is a lot to be said for common sense from the common person. Experts speak in terms of reports, findings, statistics. Let's not be naive...that information is needed. But you tend to look at things a little differently when your life is affected by an issues, rather then just reporting numbers on an issue.

Q. So, what? Would every policy meeting be bogged down and become a town hall meeting? How will anything get done then?

A. No, this would not be a town hall meeting. Citizen Advisors would be only one or two out of many who would attend a meeting or partake in a discussion. Unlike a town hall meeting, this wouldn't be about hearing the grievances and opinions of ordinary citizens, but just a chance for the ordinary citizen to add their voice to the chorus.

For example, take the Work/Family Balance issue. Traditional policy-related meetings on this topic might include participants from the Labor Department who would report on the number of working families there are in America; maybe a CEO from a company that offers a 'family friendly' work environment; maybe a scholar who has studied challenges parents face and the effects these challenges present to both businesses and families; maybe an economist that could say how much child care costs the average family and how much it costs the economy when parents are forced to miss work to take care of their children when child care falls through.

If a meeting like this occurs, say maybe there are 10-15 participants who bring some sort of expertise to the meeting. Why not include 1 or 2 ordinary parents at the meeting)? Let that parent(s) be the Citizen Advisor who can articulate what they are facing on this front.

Q. Isn't this more of a product of local government?

A. In trying to research whether government currently uses anything like a Citizen Advisor, a few local government examples were found. In these instances, citizens are called upon to serve along side experts to offer advice on a particular issue. Perhaps the federal government, particularly an administration that is looking to shake-up the way normal Washington politics functions, can adopt something like the Citizen Advisor.

Examples to take from:

The Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board

http://www.srs.gov/general/outreach/srs-cab/srs-cab.html

http://www.ci.modesto.ca.us/council/cag/

"The City of Modesto believes citizen feedback is essential to providing and maintaining quality services to the Modesto community. Our citizens are our top priority! To meet their expectations, citizen advisory groups, called boards, committees and commissions, are formed to assist the Modesto City Council in making policy decisions that impact the community. These citizen-driven groups research, study and discuss specific issues with both short and long-term implications, forwarding their recommendations to the city council."