Third Way: Ending The Polarization Of The Parties
John Lund
Braver Angels, founded in 2016 after the presidential election, is an organization that seeks to open conversations between liberals and conservatives – “reds” and “blues” – in order to combat some of the extreme polarization that is continuously encroaching on our democracy. The organization consists of local groups in almost every state that meet with the purpose of discussing with, and truly listening to, those with differing political views. Braver Angels specifically calls out one of the largest issues we face in current American politics – the polarization of our political groups, both between and within the two political ideologies.
This extreme polarization was more evident than ever on the January 6th riot at the Capitol, a day that will go down in history books as the first – and hopefully the only – storming of our nation’s Capitol building. This event only occurred because of the polarization that, while had been existing for decades, increased dramatically just before and during Trump’s presidency. The question now though, in the months following the riot, is what exactly contributed to this polarization, and how we can strive to end it from here.
Group Polarization
Group polarization is a psychological phenomenon that happens during group discussions, in which the group forms a more polarized and extreme view than the views or attitudes of the individual members of the group. This occurs for several reasons. One reason is that groups are likely to stigmatize or ostracize those who deviate from the social norm, which includes deviating from the ideas of the group. This can cause people who might have initially been more moderate or neutral on a view to adopt the more polarized view, in order to fully assimilate as part of a group and avoid social ostracization. Another factor contributing to group polarization is the discussion of already-shared attitudes. When someone already has a belief towards a certain subject, their belief or view is likely to become stronger and more fixed once it has become affirmed by others in the discussion.
Political parties are guilty of falling prey to both of these factors that cause group polarization. First, as almost anyone who has a political view slightly different than the view that their mainstream party holds can attest to, other members of that political party can be very aggressive to this person for their deviation. This is seen in a social media conversation between citizens of the Bay Area, in which one commenter states that they are “too much of a moderate conservative to be accepted by conservatives”. This clearly points to the breakdown that exists even within the parties, as both parties have become so polarized to one side that moderates do not even feel as if they have a home or fit in anywhere. As to the second factor, our country continues to have the same discussions regarding gun control, equal rights, and healthcare, to name a few, resulting in people from both parties just becoming more entrenched in their party’s mainstream view as no new points are made and the arguments continue to circle with no resolutions.
The Democratic Problem
While it is tempting to place all the responsibility of the problem of polarization on the opposing party by pointing fingers at conservatives and blaming Trump, the Democratic party must also be held accountable for its role in political polarization and the effects that it has on our democracy. In fact, Democratic congresspeople placing the blame for all the issues on their Republican counterparts is one of the factors that continues to drive this polarization. One example of this is at play right now in the House of Representatives, as Democrats are currently trying to establish a commission to investigate the Capitol riot that happened on January 6th. Since the Republican representatives were dragging their feet on joining the commission, Pelosi – backed by several other Democrats – has threatened to create a committee consisting solely of Democratic representatives to perform this investigation. While this is a needed commission, as this riot was a demonstration of domestic terrorism, creating a committee at the exclusion of Republican representatives would only serve to contribute to the polarization issue that was likely a large factor in the riot originally. The Democratic party, and particularly the notable members that the rest of the party takes cues from like Nancy Pelosi, need to act in more bipartisan groups in order to try and decrease some of this polarization. In this instance, a bipartisan group of representatives can only occur if Pelosi and the Democrats are willing to compromise with the Republicans, something that is neither party’s strongest suit.
Another issue of the Democratic party that contributes to polarization between the parties is the polarization within the party. What was once a moderate liberal party unified on most fronts is now two separate wings continuously battling each other for what the party should stand for and what sorts of legislation it should attempt to pass. The progressive-left wing of the party led and backed by people like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders, pushes hard for legislation and acts that, not only will the moderates of the Democratic party not support, but would never pass with Republican voters.
For example, Markey and AOC’s Green New Deal in 2019 was incredibly controversial both within the party as well as between the parties. Although the Democratic party is a staunch supporter of environmental regulations, the Green New Deal pushed for too much quickly and was practically impossible to achieve. Not only did Republican representatives speak out against it, but the deal also deterred many Democratic representatives, including those on the New Democrat Coalition’s climate change task force. When the progressives of the Democratic party push for progressive legislation that aligns with their agenda but not that of the more moderate party platform as a whole, this causes a division within the Democratic party. This can end up splitting the Democratic vote in half, which means that no Democratic legislation will pass, which is extremely detrimental in the current 50-50 senate. The more progressive and far-left pieces of legislation also alienate the Republican party even further, causing them to become more polarized to the right in response to the left polarization. The Democratic party needs to return to its unified, moderate roots in order to decrease the polarization within its party, and only then can it decrease the polarization between the two political ideologies.
Open, Bipartisan Conversations
Both parties right now should be focused on trying to end the polarization that we are seeing in America, as it will only continue to grow and become even more harmful. Braver Angels appear to have found one of the best solutions for this – open discussion. This discussion can and needs to occur both within Congress and Washington D.C. as well as state and local governments and among regular citizens. This notion of the importance of discussion is echoed by Senator Mitt Romney, who believes that one way to end the party polarization is through weekly bipartisan senate meetings. He is currently a member of such a group, called G-20, which consists of both Democrats, Republicans, and even an Independent who meet every other week. While their main goal is filibuster reform, as progressive Democrats are calling for its abolishment, it is not their sole focus. This is an example of a bipartisan group where the members are seeking to find bipartisan approaches and agreements to issues that are traditionally are either left or right, such as minimum wage and immigration. If G-20 is successful with filibuster reform, it could serve as an example for the rest of Congress as to how to successfully negotiate bipartisan ideas and legislation.
Hopefully, if G-20 is successful and Congresspeople start to develop more bipartisan groups and approaches, the public will take note of this and do the same. The best way to delve into these conservations is through “polite listening essentially and abiding by debate protocol”, as one of the social media commentators who has attended some Braver Angels meetings stated. Debate protocol consists of allowing one person to make their argument before the other person responds with their own argument, followed by time for each person to make their rebuttals. The most important aspect of this protocol is that there are no interruptions allowed, something that the presidential debates seem to no longer follow. With this thought process in place, it allows each person to truly listen to what their opponent is saying and to try and understand their thoughts. This formulates more open conversations that will allow for questions, rather than insults. The current American perspective on politics seems to be simply ignoring those who disagree or shouting over them a different opinion. If people were to attempt to follow this sort of debate protocol and practice true active listening instead, there would be much better conversations about the different issues that each side stands for.
With that being said, not even a debate-styled conversation can bridge the gap of polarization if people do not learn how to compromise. When each party stands staunch in their firm beliefs, it is impossible to both effectively communicate as well as pass legislation that will help the country. Compromising is essential for these conversations. For example, for issues such as the environment, while the Green New Deal was far too progressive and thus automatically excluded any Republican viewpoints, environmental legislation that considers efforts to stop climate change, as well as the Republican’s push for keeping some fossil fuel jobs for the economy, would be much more likely to pass, thus benefitting both parties more. The average American needs to be reminded of this necessity to compromise as well in their day-to-day conversations. No one will change their colleague’s mind about politics simply by repeating their point over and over during a workplace lunch, but by conceding to some points that their colleague makes and acknowledging how those could work together with what they think is important would make for a much more productive discussion.
America’s democratic system is currently destroying itself through the extreme polarization that both political parties are active participants in. There are ways to combat this polarization and unite our nation once more, but in order to do this, we all must be cognizant of the roles that we have played in this polarization and must become better and more active listeners of those on the opposite political spectrum.
