Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Why Would I Want To Talk To Them? An Exploration Of Perceptions Of Talking Across Political Divides, Melinda Burrell

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

Americans are increasingly reluctant to talk across the political divide, a problematic situation for a system predicated on a citizenry exploring a marketplace of ideas and arriving at policy consensus. This study seeks to illuminate this problem through a qualitative, exploratory study around the research question of how conservatives and liberals experience communicating across the political divide. Results are examined through a research framework that first posits the benefit of deliberative democracy (Habermas, 1996), then identifies two major challenges to such – the tendency to avoid uncomfortable political discussions (Eliasoph, 1998) and the emotional, identity-driven process of polarization (Iyengar and …