The National Issues Forums (NIF) is a US-based, nonpartisan network of civic, educational, religious, and community organizations that convene citizens to deliberate about difficult public issues rather than simply debate them or take polls of opinion.
NIF forums use structured discussion materials and trained moderators to help participants weigh competing values, explore trade-offs, and look for possible common ground. - nifi.org 
# Origins NIF emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s from a series of conferences on the role of the public in domestic policymaking that brought together civic leaders, scholars, public officials, and activists. In 1981, a coalition of organizations created the Domestic Policy Association, which sponsored a nationwide series of public forums on pressing issues that soon became known as National Issues Forums.
The Kettering Foundation, later based in Dayton, Ohio, became a key research partner, exploring what it takes for democracy to work and supporting the development of deliberative practices used in NIF - kettering.org
# Relationship To Swedish Study Circles Researchers have noted that NIF adapts the Scandinavian study circle tradition to American civic culture. The Swedish study circle model uses small, voluntary, peer-led groups that meet regularly to study and discuss issues of shared concern, supported by national organizations that provide materials and training.
A widely cited analysis for the US Department of Education pointed to NIF (originally sponsored by the Domestic Policy Association in Dayton, Ohio) as one of the clearest examples of successfully transplanting the Swedish study circle model into American life. The same analysis also identified a union-based Study Circle Program among bricklayers as a parallel adaptation - eric.ed.gov
NIF forums retain core study circle characteristics such as small group size, shared responsibility for learning, and a focus on connecting public issues to participants’ lived experience, while adapting them to US traditions of town meetings and public hearings. This positions NIF as an important bridge between Swedish Study Circles and contemporary Deliberative Democracy in the United States.
# How NIF Forums Work
NIF forums are designed to be structured but informal conversations among everyday people, typically in groups of about 6–12 participants. Each forum is organized around an “issue guide” that frames a controversial public problem through several distinct options or approaches, each tied to underlying values and trade-offs rather than to partisan talking points. - nifi.org
A trained moderator or facilitator helps the group work through the issue guide without arguing for a particular solution. The moderator’s responsibilities usually include introducing the issue, encouraging quieter participants to speak, asking probing questions, helping the group weigh consequences of different options, and finally guiding a brief reflection on what participants learned and what tensions remain unresolved - politicalsciencenow.com
NIF forums are explicitly not debates in which one side tries to win. Instead, they are a kind of public reasoning exercise in which participants are invited to reconsider their initial preferences, listen to others’ concerns, and explore whether some shared public judgment might be possible even when disagreement persists. - ala.org - delibdemjournal.org
# National Issues Forums Institute (NIFI)
The National Issues Forums Institute (NIFI) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan foundation that coordinates the NIF network and supports the practice of public deliberation. Based in the Dayton–Miamisburg area of Ohio, NIFI publishes issue guides and related materials, encourages collaboration among forum sponsors, and gathers reports from moderators and organizers to better understand how citizens think about public problems. - nifi.org - colorado.edu - causeiq.com
NIFI also works closely with the Kettering Foundation, which conducts long-term research on citizen politics, democratic practices, and the conditions under which public deliberation can affect decision makers. Together they have supported what has been called a “35-year experiment in public deliberation,” using NIF as a field site for democratic innovation. - delibdemjournal.org - participedia.net
# Issue Guides And Topics
NIF issue guides are short booklets or digital publications that frame a public issue around a central question and present several approaches, each with likely benefits and costs. Over the years, guides have covered topics such as immigration, community-police relations, addiction, political polarization, food insecurity, education reform, energy policy, and the future of work. In many cases, guides are developed in partnership with other organizations, drawing on research, stakeholder interviews, and community conversations. - nifi.org - tandfonline.com - communityscience.astc.org
These materials are written in accessible language and often include short personal stories, data points, and questions for discussion, making them suitable for use in community centers, faith communities, schools, libraries, and workplace settings. This aligns them closely with Study Circles in Ohio Schools and other educational applications of the study circle model.
# Use In Education And Libraries
NIF has been widely adopted as a model for deliberative civic education. Political science instructors and social studies teachers have used NIF issue guides and forum formats in classrooms to teach civic literacy, critical thinking, and the “art of public deliberation,” sometimes under the explicit banner “National Issues Forums in the Classroom.” - cambridge.org - delibdemjournal.org
Libraries have partnered with NIF to host community forums as part of “libraries transforming communities” initiatives, positioning the library as a neutral convening space for local dialogue on difficult issues. The American Library Association has promoted NIF as a ready-made deliberative model for librarians who want to move beyond traditional programming and support democratic engagement. - ala.org
Higher education associations and student affairs organizations have also created campus issue guides based on NIF’s approach, using deliberative forums to explore questions such as campus climate, free speech, and the aims of higher education. - kettering.org
# Impacts On Participants
Research on NIF suggests that participation in forums can heighten interest in public affairs, deepen understanding of complex issues, and help people see themselves as more capable political actors. Participants often report that deliberation broadens their perspective, enables them to understand others’ concerns more sympathetically, and encourages them to construe their own interests in more public-spirited ways. - tandfonline.com - libjournal.uncg.edu
Studies have also explored how NIF participation can influence political efficacy and civic behavior, including greater willingness to attend meetings, contact officials, or join community efforts to address local problems. At the same time, researchers note that sustaining these effects requires ongoing opportunities for deliberation and pathways from talk into action, not one-off events. - etd.auburn.edu - issuelab.org
# Significance National Issues Forums occupies a distinctive place in the landscape of American public engagement. It links the communal, peer-led spirit of Swedish Study Circles with US traditions of town meetings and civic associations, while providing a practical toolkit of issue guides, moderator training, and research-backed methods. For communities, schools, libraries, and unions experimenting with Deliberative Pedagogy or Public Deliberation in Ohio, NIF offers both a historical example and a living network that continues to evolve in response to new public problems.