Partisanship: Yes, We Can Agree

Most Americans can find common ground

Some speculate that polarization in the American public is driving the polarization in Congress. However, there are strong reasons to believe that the polarization in Congress primarily comes from other sources.

Source: “Common Ground of the American People: Policy Positions Supported by Both Democrats and Republicans.” Program for Public Consultation, School of Public Policy, University of Maryland, July 2021.

by Scott Paine, Florida League of Cities

If one merely reads or watches the leading stories in the news or follows politically engaged folks on social media, one might be excused for imagining that we, the American people, are as deeply and distantly divided as the opposite sides of the Grand Canyon. Regardless of the topic, it seems as though Americans immediately line up on opposing sides that resist all efforts at reconciliation.

While there is some undeniable truth to this image, I feel a need to push back against it.

Yes, on the hot button issues of the day, we persistently and consistently divide along a set of fault lines. The most popular of these, in media circles, is partisanship. Survey after survey reveals that the distributions of Republican and Democratic opinions on all sorts of contentious issues are mirror images of each other, with those who profess not to align with either party somewhere in between. But we also divide by where we live (urban/suburban/rural), education, race/ethnicity, gender, age and region of the country, just to name a few.

Given this all-too-familiar refrain of division, it may come as a surprise to discover that most of us agree about many important policy ideas.

A series of 35 surveys conducted over five years, with over 90,000 respondents, reveals that more than two-thirds of Americans, regardless of party, agree on many specific policy measures across a range of policy areas. Those areas include prescription drugs, health insurance, immigration, social security reform, tax reform, food assistance programs, federal jobs programs and campaign finance reform. Some of these policies are more popular with the right, others with the left, but partisans of both parties support them by sizable majorities. (For more information on these surveys, see below.)

I’m not suggesting that there is agreement about every element of these policy debates, only that there is solid, bipartisan agreement among voters about many meaningful policy choices Congress could make.

I’m not sure whether this finding naturally leads to the question “Why so much emphasis on division?” or “How can that be, given the polarized state of American politics?” I’ll deal with both.

Long before social media, the various existing media understood that controversy draws an audience. Samuel Adams famously declared the death of several colonists the “Boston Massacre.” Most of them had been involved in a confrontation with a beleaguered, outnumbered and poorly prepared squad of Red Coats. His flair for the sharp-tongued critique of British actions made its own not insignificant contribution to the growth of revolutionary fervor in Boston.

Party-supported newspapers of the 19th century were filled with inflammatory (and often false) stories about the other party’s candidates and officials. Even as something like modern journalism began to gain sway, news outlets didn’t abandon dramatic headlines and scandal-mongering stories.

And the public loved it. We still do.

Even mainstream journalism thrives on controversy; it’s what attracts an audience. That we see this same phenomenon on steroids in social media should come as no surprise. It’s where we react with a click, and “clickbait” generates engagement and shares. The surprise is that Americans agree on lots of important public policy options, at least when given the opportunity to understand the policy, not merely told which side is their side.

As I scan the policies supported by at least two-thirds of Americans of both the Republican and Democratic stripe, I begin to detect some patterns. I’m not making any strong statistical claim here. I’m just sharing what seem to be some of the value claims most of us agree with and that underly many of these policies on which there is widespread agreement.

▸ Elected officials should be accountable to the people who elect them.

▸ Individuals, communities and our nation have the right to reasonable measures of self-protection.

▸ People and organizations with a great deal more resources than most should contribute a bit more to the common good.

▸ When the government acts on behalf of Americans as a group, it may exercise powers that others (businesses, private individuals) cannot.

▸ People make mistakes and often ought to get a second chance.

▸ Policies based on outdated assumptions should be changed, though changes should be made, when possible, to give people and businesses time to adjust to them.

▸ Government should incentivize at least some private behavior to achieve public goods.

These are my perceptions; you might come away with different ideas. But I think that each of these, based on the evidence, tends to speak to some values and beliefs about government that, even today, most Americans across the political landscape share … if only they get a chance to think about what they value and believe, not just what the voices on their side of the aisle say.

I think there’s a lesson here for local leaders.

We can, of course, frame everything we do in terms that resonate with the partisan divide of our day. This approach will mobilize supporters and detractors; we will have chummed the political water for partisans, and we’ll undoubtedly attract a feeding frenzy of them. The raging conflict that ensues will make our city halls and streets reverberate with the same passionate (and largely unproductive) antagonisms that we see play out in the talking heads of Washington and in the posturing for the next election cycle at the state and federal level.

Alternatively, confident that most of our residents, regardless of partisanship, share some common values about how people should be treated, how government should work and what government should work on, we could frame our actions in terms of one or more of these values. This approach is likely to excite less opposition which, in turn, will mean that our actions will excite less attention. If we’re hungry for notoriety, that’s a disappointment. However, if we long for progress on the important issues in our community (and for a little peace and quiet for our private selves), this approach is likely to yield considerable satisfaction.

In this period of divisions, we desperately need to be reminded that we have a common destiny. A healthy local economy will be better for most of us, regardless of partisan leaning. For residents and law enforcement officers alike, safe streets and neighborhoods will allow most of us to enjoy life more and longer. Having compassion for humans in their weaknesses will help us hear and understand the needs of those who struggle and help us discover more effective ways to provide them with a second chance. That approach will be better for them and, in a variety of ways, better for us, too.

If we embrace our duty to promote the public good, meaning that which is good for the public as a whole, we will be less tempted by the small number of people who don’t want to play by the rules. We’ll be more clear-minded about how to weigh the competing claims before us. We’ll make better decisions.

And we’ll sleep better at night.

Which essentially all of us agree would be good.

Scott C. Paine, Ph.D., is Director of Leadership Development and Education for FLC University. He previously worked at the University of Tampa as Associate Professor of Communication and Government and served for eight years on Tampa's City Council. He can be contacted at spaine@flcities.com. Go to drscottpaine.com to read his regular blog.

REPUBLICATIONS AND DEMOCRATS AGREE

Selected policies on which 66% or more of Republicans and Democrats surveyed agree:

“Raise taxes on various tobacco products”

"Allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices”

“Make changes to the patent system to allow generic drugs to get on to the market more quickly”

Source: “Common Ground of the American People: Policy Positions Supported by Both Democrats and Republicans.” Program for Public Consultation, School of Public Policy, University of Maryland, July 2021.

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