A new framework for understanding and combating polarization in contemporary democracies.
Political polarization occurs when a society divides into entrenched, hostile, and persistently antagonistic camps. Pernicious polarization, they explain, does not emerge on its own; it is created by political entrepreneurs who deliberately choose divisive strategies that exploit societal anxieties and democratic weaknesses to advance their own agendas. McCoy and Somer argue that these fissures can be transformed from sources of division into foundations for renewal. They outline two strategies for depolarization: active depolarization, which works to defuse divisive issues and reactivate shared bonds; and transformative repolarization, which—perhaps counterintuitively—strategically repolarizes society around reconstructive programs including reforms that will eventually foster unity rather than division.
Whether you're an IT specialist, a city planner, a human resources manager, or any other professional in local government, this book offers a wide array of prompts designed to stimulate innovative solutions, streamline operations, and ...
This volume assesses the strengths and weaknesses of deliberative democracy
This text takes a fresh look at the foundations of the field, and develops new applications in areas ranging from citizen participation to the democratization of authoritarian states to the global system
Interdisciplinary discussion of the ways in which the media is and can be used in the service of deliberative equality within the public sphere--and of the ways in which the media can function to both facilitate and inhibit deliberative
