Politics, Dialogue and the Evolution of Democracy

In the U. S. and around the world, we are mired in political conflicts that are filled with bitterness, hatred, prejudice and personal attacks, leading to increased stereotyping and discrimination, divisive language and antagonistic, hate-filled conversations that diminish our ability to work together to solve problems that increasingly impact all of us. The problem is, we haven’t figured out yet how to discuss political ideas and beliefs in ways that lead to learning, collaboration, empathy, mutual understanding, and problem solving. Doing so raises difficult questions, such as: How do we discuss what we believe in without becoming biased and adversarial? How do we learn to talk to each other about difficult and dangerous topics? What makes politics so contentious, and how do we transform political conflicts? How do we design, organize, and facilitate dialogues about these contentious issues without degenerating into pointless diatribes? What higher order skills and capacities are required for democracy to succeed? What are the limits of democracy, and in what directions is it evolving? What can interest-based approaches to conflict teach us about how to engage in political conflicts constructively? Explore these questions and more in this profoundly necessary and timely book.