Let’s Start Practicing Civil Discourse

Let’s Start Practicing Civil Discourse by George Wolfe | InterMix:

• Mediation is a process that can be used to resolve disputes between parties in conflict. The approach stipulates certain ground rules that can also be applied to our daily conversations with friends, colleagues, rivals and strangers. If these simple rules are observed and practiced when we engage in interfaith dialog, personal conversation and group discussion, rhetoric that can lead to misunderstanding and conflict is minimized. Our problem-solving efforts will then be far more constructive, increasing our chances of finding common ground. What follows is a list of mediation ground rules that I have modified to fit the forums of personal and public discourse.

See discourse ground rules.

'via Blog this'

Conflict within groups and its cures: concerns for the "Super Congress"

NCDD- National Coalition for Dialog & Deliberation: Community News Blog
Group Decision Tip: Causes of Conflict, and Cures

• In principle, the cause of most conflict is misunderstanding. The parties don’t have the same facts, same experience, same perspective, and don’t fully appreciate how someone else could see it differently.
• A second cause of conflict is fundamental difference of values. This is where the parties understand the facts and each other but they simply have different values. For example, one person believes in Jesus as savior, another does not. Each person’s beliefs are deeply rooted and not easily changed.
• Third, parties are in conflict because of some outside issue, something that has nothing to do with the immediate issue at hand. The conflict might be because of some incident between the parties that happened years ago and has never been dealt with or because of a mental disorder, an irrational fear, or an addiction that is influencing someone’s judgment or behavior. An outside issue is preventing one or more key people from seeing or acting clearly.
• Practical Tip: When conflicts arise, work first to develop shared understanding. Talk, listen, express truth, learn, be open-minded, let go, ponder, talk some more.
• If differing values are the cause, identify the values you have in common. Identify your common goals. See how you believe in similar things but have different ways of acting on them. Document and work on the things you agree on and let go of the rest, for now.
• If a debilitating outside issue is at play, peace will only come about if the issue is dealt with. If it is your issue, deal with it, seek help, do the personal work. If the issue is not dealt with by the parties, an outside authority must be invoked to make and enforce a decision.
• Group Decision Tips are written by Craig Freshley. At his site, www.groupdecisiontips.com, you can access a complete archive of all his Tips, comment, and view others’ comments.

As we follow the deliberations over the national deficit by the "Super Congress" committee of 12 congress members, we can be mindful of the potentiality of conflict within the group, what may cause it, and what may be done to alleviate it.  Of course, we may keep these things in perspective in our own private and public deliberations as well.

The Handbook of Conflict Resolution

International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution (ICCCR) at Teachers College, Columbia University
In the Media

• Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, Volume 7, Issue 1, Pages 263-266, Published Online: 10 Dec 2007, Book Review: Constructive Conflict Resolution, Wendy S. Pachter
• Deutsch, M., Coleman, P.T. & Marcus, E. C. ( Eds. ). The Handbook of Conflict Resolution: Theory and Practice . San Francisco , CA : John Wiley & Sons , 2006 .
• It is difficult to imagine a social issue that is more central to human interaction or that offers greater possibilities for creatively constructive or devastatingly destructive outcomes than social conflict. Conflict between individuals in families, schools and communities; ethnic, religious or other groups; organizations such as corporations and labor unions; nations; or across these levels is at the heart of many issues studied by SPSSI members. Professor Deutsch, the senior editor of The Handbook of Conflict Resolution, has devoted approximately 60 years to the study of social processes related to conflict and its resolution, as well as to the education and development of psychologists and others who advance our understanding of, and ability to constructively intervene in, conflicts of many varieties and in many contexts. The second edition of The Handbook of Conflict Resolution: Theory and Practice (hereafter, The Handbook) is both a breathtakingly comprehensive application of the resources of psychological (particularly social psychological) science and theory to understanding and managing conflicts, and a tribute to the vast range of theory, research, and applications developed as a result of Professor Deutsch's contributions. The second edition of this book is enriched by the inclusion of some wonderful and stimulating new chapters by experts in fields other than psychology, as well as by revisions of many of the original chapters. The scope and size of The Handbook preclude discussing individual chapters (of which there are 37), so this review focuses on the book overall. Read more...

The entire book review of The Handbook of Conflict Resolution may be accessed online for a fee; or, your local public or academic library may be able to provide you it as well.  Again, the title of the review is "Constructive Conflict Resolution", by Wendy S. Pachter.

The handbook is published by John Wiley and Sons (2006).

"Politics and Polarization" session at the CADR annual conference

Public Conversations Project (PCP): words that matter...
Politics and Polarization

• At the Center for Alternative Dispute Resolution's June annual conference, which drew mediators and other dispute resolvers from around the country, PCP's Mary Jacksteit presented a well-attended session entitled "Politics and Polarization: Are We Relevant?" Jacksteit offered several of PCP's core practices as tools for countering destructive divisiveness, invited participants' thoughts and insights into other relevant conflict resolution concepts, and led a discussion about how to go mainstream.

This is the most I could find on this conference session; if anyone has further details or media, please comment here.

Compromise in Washington is more important now, than perhaps at any time in American history

Public Agenda: Compromise: A Political Dirty Word?

• February, 2005
• Progress occurs in America when consensus builds around a set of compromises or trade-offs. That seems to be an important characteristic of how democracy works.
• Too often, compromise is portrayed in politics as either selling out your cause or a tactic employed by politicians who don't really have any cause at all. We need to recognize the value that consensus building and compromise have played in the past, and that these processes for coming to understanding are part of our nation's core values.
• It is difficult to say if the decrease in certain groups' willingness to embrace compromise on difficult issues is feeding the political system's increasing contentiousness, or vice versa.  Regardless, America needs leaders who recognize this tension and seek constructive ways to create dialogue between firmly held, divergent positions - and who seek new opportunities to create solutions capable of winning broad public support.

Although this article was published in 2005, it is just as relevant today.  In fact, due to our current national crises, such as the issues of the national debt, climate change and corporate personhood, political compromise in Washington is more urgently needed than perhaps any time before.