Unlikely Coalitions: Can They Bring Our Country Back Together?
As we get closer to election day, people are feeling the stress of a polarized society. The division seems more palpable the closer we get to November 7, with many of us feeling more fear and anxiety as we approach that date. Some feel that we are so far apart — even living in different realities — that bridging the divide seems impossible. So how can we bring our country back together again?
Democracies work best when we follow norms; norms are agreed-upon ways we conduct ourselves in our society. Two basic norms that have helped preserve our democracy are tolerance and forbearance. Tolerance is about accepting the beliefs, feelings, or behaviors of another group or culture as legitimate, even when they differ from one’s own and even when you may not necessarily agree with them. Forbearance is showing restraint under adversity, patience under provocation. Tolerance is a mindset whereas forbearance requires restraint, a behavioral action.
When tolerance and forbearance are weak, democracy deteriorates. The challenge facing our democracy is not only the weakening of our democratic norms, it is extreme partisan polarization — which not only erodes our democracy, but can destroy it. Tolerance and forbearance can help in reducing polarization: When leaders are more tolerant and practice forbearance, they are more likely to view their adversaries as legitimate partners and less tempted to resort to political violence. But when societies become deeply divided and parties become wedded to their worldviews coupled with polarized groups rarely interacting, people become less tolerant and less likely to practice forbearance.
Strange Bedfellows Combat Anti-Democratic Forces
How can we turn the tide given the climate that our nation is facing today? The antidote to polarization is the coming together — most importantly with strange bedfellows. History has taught us that the way to combat anti-democratic forces is joining forces and developing coalitions with opposite groups. This was demonstrated clearly during the 1930s when authoritarian influences were taking hold in Europe. The countries that were able to hold on to their democracies and not fall prey to dictatorships were the countries that formed coalitions against authoritarians. How can we apply this to what is taking place currently in the United States?
Coalition building usually involves the coming together of like-minded groups. Interfaith groups which bring together religious organizations of different faiths to combat religious intolerance is an example of a coalition. Other groups are civil liberties groups defending the rights of Americans. All these groups are important but they are not enough to defend our democracy. The coalitions that are necessary and which become more powerful in defending our freedoms are what we might think of as strange bedfellows, those groups that may hold opposing views from one another. They are coalitions built on groups coming together who may even view the other as an adversary, groups such as Braver Angels, which brings Republicans and Democrats — Reds and Blues as they are called — together, whose purpose is to share opposing views and work together to reduce polarization. Other powerful partnerships might be business leaders coming together with progressive Democrats, both of whom have good reason to oppose an unstable and undemocratic government.
Building coalitions with unlikely partners is not necessarily easy. To build successful coalitions will require a willingness to deeply listen to one another and a sincere desire to understand one another at a deeper level, setting aside cherished beliefs and issues that we care about and coming together in a healing capacity for the greater good. This does not mean that we all need to think alike — what it does mean is that we are working toward finding common ground. In so doing we are building a true democracy that cannot be destroyed.
Working within a political forgiveness framework helps train individuals and leaders from all walks of life interested in societal healing to develop important skills in coalition building, especially with groups who would not normally come together. Can you imagine what it would be like to bring together Bernie Sanders supporters with evangelicals and secular feminists, or rural Republicans with urban Black Lives Matter supporters, all willing to listen to one another, develop a greater understand of one another and work together finding common ground? Now that would be a force to be reckoned with, opening channels of communication and crossing the divide that could emerge between these groups. This is what political forgiveness teaches us, recognizing the humanness in everyone and moving forward together with dignity and respect.
