by jpitney | Aug 27, 2020 | Congress, Coronavirus, Debate, Deliberation, House of Representatives
Susan Ferrechio at The Washington Examiner: New House rules permitting lawmakers to vote both by proxy and remotely, without ever coming to the Capitol, were intended to allow Congress to function more safely during the coronavirus outbreak. But some lawmakers have...
by jpitney | Aug 5, 2020 | Civility, Coronavirus
The Deseret News: Practicing civility will create the best environment for persuasion. Studies show story-telling and open-minded conversations are powerful tools that connect two parties on a neurological level. A presumption of decency is as useful as anything in...
by jpitney | Jul 28, 2020 | Coronavirus, Social Media, Vaccine
At STAT, a bipartisan message from Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D. (R-TN), California State Senator Richard Pan, M.D. (D), and Max G. Bronstein, founder of the Journal of Science Policy & Governance: We must also invest in grassroots public outreach...
by jpitney | Jul 23, 2020 | Civility, Coronavirus, Deliberation
Shaun Cammack at The Deseret News: When the stakes are high, like during a pandemic, we often click into a tribal psychology that identifies the problem, or problematic persons, and desires to eliminate them. It’s the kind of “us versus threat” response that kept...
by jpitney | Jul 14, 2020 | Congress, Coronavirus, Deliberation, Technology
Marci Harris, Claire Abernathy, and Kevin Esterling at Brookings: The chaos surrounding Congress’s switch to remote work in response to the COVID-19 pandemic laid bare weaknesses of Congress’s technical procedures and infrastructure, from its inability to hold...
by jpitney | Jul 9, 2020 | civic virtue, Coronavirus, Tocqueville
Nicholas Romanow, who just became a citizen, writes at The Bulwark: The political philosophers, historians, and sociologists who argue that a kind of rugged individualism is at the heart of the American character aren’t entirely wrong, but the familiar caricature of...
