The Program for Public Consultation (PPC), part of the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, was established to develop the methods and theory of public consultation and to conduct public consultation surveys at all levels of government.  Public consultation is the effort to give members of the public tools to get informed on public policy issues and to provide input to government. 

On a regular basis, PPC develops public consultation surveys on key issues before government. In a public consultation survey, respondents are briefed on an issue, evaluate pro and con arguments on the policy options under consideration, and make their recommendations.  The content of surveys is developed with input from experts on all sides of the policy issues to ensure that the briefings are accurate and balanced and that the arguments are strongest currently being made.  The content of the surveys is fully transparent. 

Public consultation surveys are then fielded at all levels of government—national, state and local—with large representative samples of the public.  The findings and are analyzed and reported to government officials and the media. 

All research by the Program for Public Consultation is archived by The Digital Repository at the University of Maryland (DRUM).

PPC has partnered with Voice Of the People (VOP), a nonpartisan organization that seeks to re-anchor our democracy in its founding principles by giving ‘We the People’ a greater role in government. VOP furthers the use of innovative methods and technology to give the American people a more effective voice in the policymaking process.

VOP works with the Program for Public Consultation to develop policymaking simulations to enable individual citizens to get informed on key issues before government, to hear arguments and offer their recommendations to their Congressional representatives. VOP sponsors policymaking simulation surveys of large national samples of voters and delivers the findings to Congress, the Executive Branch and the media.

Voice of the People has identified more than 200 policy positions on a wide range of issues supported by majorities of Republicans and Democrats. Visit www.vop.org/common-ground to learn more.

Program for Public Consultation at the University of Maryland
700 Pennsylvania Avenue SE #2083, Washington, DC 20003