You get a visit by someone you’ve never met. You’re invited on an all-expense paid trip to your country’s biggest city for a two-day meeting on natural gas policy. Oh, and if you show up you get a free cellphone!
It might sound sketchy. But it’s actually an innovative strategy that could help the African nation of Tanzania decide how to spend its expected windfall from new discoveries of natural gas.
The approach was developed in the late 1980s by James Fishkin, a professor at Stanford University. Fishkin has devoted his career to persuading leaders to consult their citizens before making difficult policy decisions. But he says you can’t just do a poll. CONT.
Nurith Aizenman, NPR