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Skills for Bridging the Divide Online Workshop
Jul 06 2020
Organizer: Braver Angels
There's a lot of stress these days among family members and friends who are divided politically, and the current polarized public conversation doesn't help. Please join us for a Braver Angels Skills for Bridging the Divide Workshop and learn skills for having respectful conversations that clarify differences, search for common ground, and affirm the importance of the relationship.
Do the first part by yourself at https://braverangels.org/online/online-skills-training/
Then on July 11, you will have a chance to practice skills with a partner while being guided in the use of these skills.
Location: Webinar
10'000 Hours/Getty Images
We must be willing to consider others' viewpoints if we're going to get through the pandemic together, write Levison and Fersh.
4 principles to guide us past our Covid crisis divisions
Jul 06 2020
Levison directs Minnesota's Office of Collaboration and Dispute Resolution, a government mediator. Fersh founded and remains senior advisor of Convergence, a nonpartisan group that incubates cross-partisan deliberations on pressing national policy questions.
<p>Several polls show that the public may be more aligned on managing the novel coronavirus than what is playing out in public debate. For sure, surges in Covid-19 infections in some states have exacerbated the partisan bickering over response measures. The country is experiencing fierce partisan debates on how much to open up the economy, the value of masks and who is responsible for and at fault for what.</p>
<p>Often in the past, the silver lining of a crisis is that it brings people together. So why isn't this crisis, especially now when our country seems so divided, uniting us as we might hope? And what can we do about it?</p>
<p>At this moment, many among us fear that our choice is uncomfortably stark: Either we all stay home and avert larger-scale loss of life but lose our livelihoods, or we all go to work and restore the economy but increase the number of lives lost. Conflicts like these lead us to think in "either/or" terms and often result in heated disagreement or gridlock. There is a better way to deal with the current debates and the myriad economic, health and other impacts from the pandemic that we will be addressing for years to come. </p>
<p>It is appropriate for the public and experts to have differing ideas about how to solve urgent and complex issues. The trouble arises when we stop believing we have shared goals and values — and when we lack the trusting relationships to bridge the divides. Conflict itself isn't a problem; the key for our democracy is how we deal with it.</p><p>We can all agree we need to honor the important goals of keeping people healthy and fostering a strong economy. The devil is in the details. As we all grapple with Covid-19, here are four guiding principles based on our experience leading multiple consensus building projects involving people with different backgrounds and points of view.</p><p><strong>Focus on shared goals and values. </strong> Although individuals and groups hold different positions, they are generally motivated by the same big picture goals (such as health and a strong economy) and core values (such as fairness, responsibility, freedom and compassion). The issue is not about different goals and values; it's about finding the right balance among them to address the current challenge. </p><p><strong>Put yourself in the shoes of others.</strong> To identify mutually acceptable solutions, understand the needs and interests of the other side. Ask open-ended questions and listen to others' viewpoints rather than immediately preparing a rebuttal. Consider the most reasonable arguments of the other side and don't overreact to messengers who are overly strident and not representative of the whole group.</p><p><strong>Devise integrative solutions</strong><em><strong>. </strong></em> Listen well to understand the other side's needs and then collaborate to develop creative solutions that include the most important needs of everyone involved. These solutions may require some give and take, but the goal here is not to find split-the-difference answers but rather "win-win" solutions that don't compromise fundamental principles. These solutions will not only be more acceptable to all parties but will often be stronger and more comprehensive. </p><p><strong>Give others the benefit of the doubt. </strong> Very few people get up in the morning wondering, "How can I make the world a worse place today?" Most people, most of the time, care about how to make the world better. To solve a problem with others, it is essential to look for and connect with the goodness in them. </p><p>Based on extensive experience bridging divides on complex and polarizing issues, we know the principles we recommend work. They are deeply needed now at the federal, state and local levels. For those who want assistance in deploying them, there are people throughout the country trained in mediation and related skills who can help.</p><p>With so much at stake today, we need to see the value of engaging differing viewpoints to solve challenging issues, recognize that we share values with most people with whom we disagree, and foster relationships in spite of differences. </p><p>This may be the only way to generate wise and durable solutions to our most pressing problems.</p>
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Darren Weimert/Barash Media
Meet the Reformer: Jenna Spinelle, fix-the-system podcast impresario
Jun 26 2020
In the somewhat fractured democracy reform movement, Jenna Spinelle is doing her part to bring some cohesion. She has developed The Democracy Group, a network of 11 podcasts focused on improving the American political system and increasing civic engagement. (The Fulcrum has recently agreed to feature some of the network's programs on our site, and the first will appear soon.) Spinelle — who hosts one of the podcasts, "Democracy Works" — has lived in central Pennsylvania for most of the past two decades and has worked at Penn State since graduating in 2008. She now teaches journalism and works on external communications for the university's McCourtney Institute for Democracy, where the podcast network is housed. Her answers have been edited for clarity and length.
What's the tweet-length description of your organization?
A network of podcasts about democracy, civic engagement and civil discourse.
<p><strong>Describe your very first civic engagement.</strong></p><p>I always went with my dad to vote as a kid, but the first real engagement was registering people to vote in the fall of 2004. I was a college freshman and struggling to find my place on the large campus. The registration drive was a great way to get to know people and meet friends that stuck with me through college. </p><p><strong>What was your biggest professional triumph?</strong></p><p>When "How Democracies Die" author Daniel Ziblatt told me during an interview that I had asked something no one had ever asked him before. He had done a ton of interviews for the book when I spoke with him.</p><p><strong>And your most disappointing setback?</strong></p><p>The moment not long after college when I realized that a career in journalism (at least full-time, anyway) was not going to be in the cards for me.</p><p><strong>How does your identity influence the way you go about your work?</strong></p><p>The job I have now as a podcaster working in the democracy and civic engagement space is the perfect mix of my skills and identity. I use my journalism skills to do interviews on my show, the marketing skills I've built over the past 10 years to expand our network's reach, and my previous experience in civic engagement to stay connected to the mission that's at the core of our network. </p><p><strong>What's the best advice you've ever been given?</strong></p><p>Never stop asking questions or lose your sense of curiosity about the way the world works. I heard this from several of my journalism school professors and try to pass it along to my own students today. </p><p>It's easier than ever to be distracted by our phones and find simple answers to every question we have — and curiosity gets lost in the process. One of my favorite things as a teacher is seeing those lightbulb moments when students connect the dots on two things that they might not have ever put together otherwise. </p><p><strong>Create a new flavor for Ben & Jerry's.</strong></p><p>The All-Nighter: vanilla ice cream with chocolate-covered espresso beans and a coffee-caramel swirl. </p><p><strong>What's your favorite political movie or TV show?</strong></p><p>It's not solely about politics but I loved "The Newsroom" on HBO. More recently, I enjoy "The Circus" on Showtime. I hope it finds a way to adapt to the new normal.</p><p><strong>What's the last thing you do on your phone at night?</strong></p><p>Check the hourly forecast to see if the weather will cooperate for an early morning run.</p><p><strong>What is your deepest, darkest secret?</strong></p><p>I've never been able to whistle. </p>
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Glenn Nye
Meet the reformer: Glenn Nye, working to reduce the D.C. dysfunction he lived through
Jun 19 2020
Not all former members of Congress become big-money lobbyists; some even devote new careers to fixing the system they were once part of. Glenn Nye, for example, lasted just one term as the centrist Democratic congressman for the Atlantic coastal communities of Virginia. He lost in the GOP wave of 2010 and advised several technology companies and investment firms before signing on three years ago to run the Center for the Study of the Presidency & Congress, a think tank working to break Washington's gridlock by incubating consensus-focused leaders for the executive and legislative branches. "I learned from the inside how our political system incentivizes dramatic partisanship," he says, and is now "sincerely hoping to be able to leave a better functioning political system than we found." His answers have been edited for clarity and length.
What's the tweet-length description of your organization?
Incentivizing civility and compromise to fix a deadlocked system.
<p><strong>Describe your very first civic engagement.</strong></p><p>My first civic acts involved public displays of support for families of military service-people deployed to the first Gulf War when I was in high school in Norfolk. I cast my first vote, cast absentee when I was in college at Georgetown, in the 1992 presidential election. </p><p><strong>What was your biggest professional triumph?</strong></p><p>Securing the enactment of a law that provided a tax break to small businesses hiring returning veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Working on military family issues and veteran issues tended to be an area where we could find bipartisan cooperation in Congress, despite efforts by some in both parties to polarize every issue.</p><p><strong>And your most disappointing setback?</strong></p><p>Failing to pass anti-<a data-linked-post="2636688309" href="https://thefulcrum.us/gerrymandering" target="_blank">gerrymandering</a> reform during my term in Congress has been a decade-long disappointment. I co-sponsored a bill to impose criteria on states to use independent commissions to draw congressional boundaries — but failed to convince too many colleagues to support it. My hope was revived seeing how successful efforts have taken root at the state level. Still hoping to translate that to a federal requirement some day.</p><p><strong>How does your identity influence the way you go about your work?</strong></p><p>Growing up in a military community teaches you to approach problems pragmatically, to get at the incentives that drive behavior. That is why my team focuses our political reform work on changing incentives in order to produce more cooperative and functional policy making.</p><p><strong>What's the best advice you've ever been given?</strong></p><p>My first decade after college was primarily overseas in the foreign service, which took me from the Balkans to Afghanistan to the Middle East. When my tour in Iraq within the U.S. Agency for International Development ended in 2017, I was deciding between running for office or studying public policy. "Run for office," my dad advised. "Even if you lose, you'll learn enough about politics, your community and yourself to be able to teach the course."</p><p><strong>Create a new flavor for Ben & Jerry's.</strong></p><p>The Ben & Gerrymander: raspberry and blueberry ice cream divided by oddly twisted pretzel sticks — and with a slight smoky flavor from a special backroom production facility.</p><p><strong>What's your favorite political movie or TV show?</strong></p><p>"The Distinguished Gentleman," the 1992 comedy with Eddie Murphy as a newly elected outsider congressman. It's a great parody on the rigged nature of campaign finance and influence.</p><p><strong>What's the last thing you do on your phone at night?</strong></p><p>Add new photos of our two sons on our family photo sharing app.</p><p><strong>What is your deepest, darkest secret?</strong></p><p>I am a big fan of the Katy Perry song "Firework." (This is just between us, right?)</p>
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