The challenge
Deep partisan division and hostility make it hard for US voters to find common ground.
The case
In September 2019, Stanford's Center for Deliberative Democracy, with NORC at the University of Chicago and the nonprofit Helena, brought 523 registered voters from across the US to a hotel near Dallas. NORC recruited them at random, and a control group answered the same surveys without attending. Over four days, participants read balanced briefing materials, discussed more than 40 proposals on immigration, the economy, health care, the environment and foreign policy in moderated small groups, and questioned experts. Views moved toward the middle on all five areas and dislike of the other party fell sharply, while the control group barely changed. For example, support for making undocumented immigrants return to their home countries fell from 45% to 25%.
Why it worked
Balanced information plus structured, face-to-face talk with the other side reduces both policy extremes and personal hostility; it is costly and short-run attitude effects may fade, so scaling is the main challenge.
Sources
- Fishkin, J., Siu, A., Diamond, L. & Bradburn, N. (2021). Is deliberation an antidote to extreme partisan polarization? Reflections on 'America in One Room'. American Political Science Review, 115(4), 1464–1481.
- Stanford Deliberative Democracy Lab (2019). How polarized is America really? Findings from America in One Room.
- Ms. magazine (2019). This is proof: voters can agree on solutions to the country's problems.
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