Politics, Dialogue and the Evolution of Democracy: How to Discuss Race, Abortion, Immigration, Gun Control, Climate Change, Same Sex Marriage and Other Hot Topics

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.

Kenneth Cloke is the Director of the Center of Dispute Resolution in Santa Monica, California. He is a mediator, arbitrator, consultant and trainer who specializes in resolving multiparty conflicts and designing dispute resolution systems for organizations. He holds BA and JD degrees from UC Berkeley, and PhD and LL.M. degrees from UCLA. He did post-doctoral work at Yale, is a graduate of the National Judicial College, and teaches at Pepperdine University, Southern Methodist University, USC and Saybrook University. He is the founder and first president of Mediators Beyond Borders. Learn more at www.kencloke.com.