House Divided , livre ebook

National Issues Forums Institute - Tony Wharton

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Every American is affected by the divisions and outrage that prevent us from making progress on urgent problems. This issue guide is designed to help people deliberate together about how we should approach the issue. These are difficult questions, and there are no easy answers: Should we require more accurate, respectful discussion in the media and online, or would that stifle free speech? Should we reform politics and government to encourage compromise, or will that mean giving up on the changes we really need and want? Should local communities set policies in areas like health care and the environment, or would that risk the progress we've made and make further progress nearly impossible? Should we crack down on money in politics, or will people just find new ways to evade the rules?This issue guide presents three options for deliberation about difficult problems for which there are no perfect solutions. Each option offers advantages as well as risks. And each reflects different ways of understanding what is at stake, forcing us to think about what matters most to us. The research involved in developing this guide included interviews and conversations with Americans from all walks of life, as well as surveys of nonpartisan public opinion research, subject-matter scans, and reviews of initial drafts by people with direct experience with the subject.About National Issues ForumThe National Issues Forums (NIF) is a network of organizations that brings together citizens around the nation to talk about pressing social and political issues of the day. Thousands of community organizations, including schools, libraries, churches, civic groups, and others, have sponsored forums designed to give people a public voice in the affairs of their communities and their nation. For more information about NIF and for additional publications, see NIF's website at www.nifi.org.

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Publié par	National Issues Forums Institute
Date de parution	01 janvier 2019
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781946206435
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0120€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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One Way to Hold a Deliberative Forum

Ground Rules for a Forum
■ Focus on the options.
■ All options should be considered fairly.
■ No one or two individuals should dominate.
■ Maintain an open and respectful atmosphere.
■ Help the moderator keep the conversation on track.
■ Everyone is encouraged to participate.
■ Listen to each other.
Contents
A House Divided: What Would We Have to Give Up to Get the Political System We Want
Introduction
Option 1: Reduce Dangerous, Toxic Talk
Option 2: Make Fairer Rules for Politics and Follow Them
Option 3: Take Control and Make Decisions Closer to Home
Closing Reflections
A House Divided
What Would We Have to Give Up to Get the Political System We Want?

EVERY AMERICAN IS AFFECTED by the divisions and outrage that prevent us from making progress on urgent problems. This issue guide is designed to help people deliberate together about how we should approach the issue.
These are difficult questions, and there are no easy answers:
■ Should we require more accurate, respectful discussion in the media and online, or would that stifle free speech?
■ Should we reform politics and government to encourage compromise, or will that mean giving up on the changes we really need and want?
■ Should local communities set policies in areas like health care and the environment, or would that risk the progress we’ve made and make further progress nearly impossible?
■ Should we crack down on money in politics, or will people just find new ways to evade the rules?
Introduction
WE ARE HAVING TROUBLE making important decisions and solving problems in the United States. Americans find it harder and harder to even talk with one another, and it is damaging in multiple ways:
Major problems, such as the national debt, immigration, health care, and Social Security get kicked down the road again and again . The US national debt, for example, rose above $21 trillion in 2018. The inability of policymakers to agree on annual budgets has routinely led to government shutdowns. Yet we appear unable to confront these or many other urgent problems.
Too few Americans vote or participate in public life . The most recent numbers show that people in many other developed countries vote at higher rates than Americans, many of them much higher. While recent national elections generated interest, local election turnout is generally low. There are also indications, according to a 2018 study from the University of Maryland, that the rate of volunteering has declined.

Source: Pew Research Center, 2018

Source: The Democracy Project, democracyprojectreport.org , 2018
We have lost confidence in our national institutions . A survey by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center, in December 2017, found that only 18 percent of Americans said they trusted the government in Washington to do what’s right “just about always” or “most of the time,” a drastic decrease from even 15 years ago.
“American politics is a bicycle with a rusty chain, flat tires, and no brakes,” said Steve Chapman in the Chicago Tribune . “It’s broken, and it’s not taking any of us where we want to go.”
Perhaps equally disturbing to many people is that, rather than working together to solve problems, we often seem to be simply shouting at one another. It has produced an atmosphere in which political differences have even led to acts of violence.
How did we get here? There are many possible reasons. The internet has unleashed a torrent of anonymous rage that has spilled over into public life. More money than ever before is flooding into political campaigns. Round-the-clock cable coverage demands constant drama to fuel ratings.
“American politics is a bicycle with a rusty chain, flat tires, and no brakes. It’s broken, and it’s not taking any of us where we want to go.”
—Steve Chapman, the Chicago Tribune

©Calla Kessler/The Washington Post/Getty Images
Protesters march on the anniversary of the deadly Charlottesville demonstration in 2017 in which Heather Heyer was killed.
While people may differ over the causes, they agree on the effect: dysfunction. Six in ten Americans say “significant changes” are needed in the United States government, according to Pew Research. And an AP-NORC survey found that just 10 percent of Americans say they have a great deal of confidence in the political system overall; 38 percent say they have hardly any.
What should we do to get the political system we want? What should we do to revive our ability to work together on the most urgent problems?

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