Thank you so much to the JA team for hosting this conversation. I've worked with the Civic Commons first as a project manager for the EfficientGovNetwork (http://theciviccommons.com/egn) and now as Director of Partnerships, but another hat I wear is as a city council person in a small suburb in NE Ohio and it is with that public servant hat on that I most often appreciate the potential of civil discourse: it can lead to better knowing what voters aka taxpayers aka residents want. If elected officials aren't in touch with and engaging with them, what's the point, right? So for me, the Civic Commons is no mere exercise to see if we can do *it* i.e., debate with civility. It's a pragmatic tool for policy making and governing - I hope!