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Skills for Bridging the Divide Workshop with Braver Angels

The Center for the Political Future is partnering with Braver Angels for this month's Listen In Session.

Learn skills for having respectful conversations that clarify differences, search for common ground, and affirm the importance of the relationship. This workship does the following:


  • Provides knowledge about what it takes to have constructive, non-polarizing conversations between people who disagree politically.
  • Gives you the chance to practice these skills to have these conversations
  • Motivates you to have these conversations with people in your social network

You will practice listening and speaking skills in a pair with someone of your own political persuasion - red or blue. "Reds" lean conservative and tend to vote Republican. "Blues" lean liberal and tend to vote Democratic. If you fall somewhere in the middle, you can choose a side for purposes of practicing the skills.

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Democracy 2.0 Requires a Commitment to the Common Good

Democracy 2.0 Requires a Commitment to the Common Good

From the sustained community organizing that followed Mozambique's 2024 elections to the student-led civic protests in Serbia, the world is full of reminders that the future of democracy is ours to shape.

The world is at a critical juncture. People everywhere are facing multiple, concurrent threats including extreme wealth concentration, attacks on democratic freedoms, and various humanitarian crises.

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Democracy 2.0 Requires a Commitment to the Common Good

Democracy 2.0 Requires a Commitment to the Common Good

From the sustained community organizing that followed Mozambique's 2024 elections to the student-led civic protests in Serbia, the world is full of reminders that the future of democracy is ours to shape.

The world is at a critical juncture. People everywhere are facing multiple, concurrent threats including extreme wealth concentration, attacks on democratic freedoms, and various humanitarian crises.

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Someone submitting a purple ballot.

Both parties could benefit from backing Independent candidates in tough races—reducing polarization, increasing leverage in Congress, and reshaping U.S. politics.

Getty Images, Gwengoat

Democrats and Republicans Should Each Support Some Independents

The Democratic Party sent a strong message to President Trump and the Republican Party in the 2025 elections, but ironically one part of their overall strategy forward should be to support Independents in House and Senate races where the chances of victory for a Democratic candidate are low.

Double irony: Republicans should employ the same strategy. Triple irony: If both parties pursue this strategy, then this would both serve their self-interest and be in the best interest of the country overall.

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A Bend But Don’t Break Economy

AI may disrupt the workplace, but with smart investment in workforce transitions and innovation, the economy can bend without breaking—unlocking growth and new opportunities.

Getty Images, J Studios

A Bend But Don’t Break Economy

Everyone has a stake in keeping the unemployment rate low. A single percentage point increase in unemployment is tied to a jump in the poverty rate of about 0.4 to 0.7 percentage points. Higher rates of unemployment are likewise associated with an increase in rates of depression among the unemployed and, in some cases, reduced mental health among their family members. Based on that finding, it's unsurprising that higher rates of unemployment are also correlated with higher rates of divorce. Finally, and somewhat obviously, unemployment leads to a surge in social safety spending. Everyone benefits when more folks have meaningful, high-paying work.

That’s why everyone needs to pay attention to the very real possibility that AI will lead to at least a temporary surge in unemployment. Economists vary in their estimates of how AI will lead to displacement. Gather three economists together, and they’ll probably offer nine different predictionsthey’ll tell you that AI is advancing at different rates in different fields, that professions vary in their willingness to adopt AI, and that a shifting regulatory framework is likely to diminish AI use in some sectors. And, of course, they’re right!

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