The facilitator is not necessarily an expert on the topic at hand but is appropriately trained. Skills once gained can be applied to any issue. Often, a community begins with one pressing issue, learns how to engage in this work together, and then decides to look at a related issue. Building of civic capital. Deliberation is grassroots democracy in action, developing community capacity for citizens to deal with public issues of shared concern and solve their own problems.
Dialogue gives participants a mechanism for having an impact on an issue they care about.
Emergence of common ground in a neutral setting. It is not a facilitated process with a predetermined outcome, nor is there an expectation of consensus or group decisions toward action. Study circles are fundamentally collaborative education with a problem solving component. Public agreement or solutions to problems are not the goal but rather are potential outcomes that emerge through discussion and deliberation. Although there may be conflict and issues to be hashed out, there are no winners or losers.