Want better democracy? Let’s talk
In this period of hardening political and social schisms, what’s hampering progress isn’t that we disagree, but how we do it — or worse, try to avoid it altogether. As part of initiatives at the Kennedy School, and Harvard University more broadly, to build more open and respectful communications across differences, a panel of HKS experts discussed the role of dissent in democracy at a John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum in January. “Given its mission, HKS can and must lead in addressing the deep divisions that exist in our societies today, and we must also strengthen our own norms, practices, and culture around candid and constructive conversation,” Professor Erica Chenoweth, who leads the School’s Candid and Constructive Conversations initiative, said in introducing the panel. |