Evidence
Ask: What can be checked, dated, and traced?
Separate observations, estimates, disputed claims, and unknowns. Follow summaries toward original records.
Assembly Table
Turn one question through four lenses.
Each lens asks a different kind of question. The aim is not to force balance between unequal evidence; it is to keep kinds of reasoning visible.
Values
Ask: Which principles are in tension or alignment?
Name dignity, liberty, fairness, safety, stewardship, or other public values without using them as proof of factual claims.
Tradeoffs
Ask: Who gains, who carries costs, and what might follow?
Include the status quo, implementation burdens, opportunity costs, unintended effects, and reversibility.
Process
Ask: Who decides, by what authority, and with what review?
Verify current jurisdiction and procedure through the responsible body's official sources.
Frame the table before using it.
A four-lens conversation works best after the group names the scope, source date range, decision context, and what it is not deciding today.
Bound the question
Use one actor, scope, time horizon, and practical outcome.
Separate claim types
Distinguish fact, interpretation, value, and proposal before evaluating them.
Turn every lens
Give each mode time instead of letting the conversation jump from headline to solution.
Close without manufacturing consensus
Record learning, agreement, difference, source needs, next owners, and review points.
Privacy in the room
Civic Prism 250 does not request names, attendance, political opinions, affiliations, voting history, discussion notes, audio, or participant profiles. The app is a shared structure, not a record of the people around the table.
For current election information, public notices, deadlines, legal requirements, or jurisdiction-specific procedure, leave the app and consult the responsible authority's current official source.