Forget the warm fuzzies of finding common ground - to beat polarization, try changing your expectations

"More than 70% of voters in Colorado's Douglas County, conservative and progressive alike, voted "no" on home rule in June 2025. The ballot measure would have granted the county increased control over certain local matters such as building zoning, parking rules and sewer maintenance. Historically Republican, but home to a growing population of vocal Democrats, the county is a microcosm of American political divides - from book ban debates to COVID mask controversies."

"Does this divided county's bipartisan rejection of home rule mean that Coloradans have cracked the polarization problem? Alas, not really. It turns out both sides recoiled at the expensive and rushed nature of the election. It was hardly the heartwarming tale of opponents warming up to each other, which is often the civic solution good humans on both sides seem to be wishing for."

"You can sense that longing in a public radio headline announcing the "liberal urban gardener breaking bread with a conservative military-family matriarch." Or in Sarah Silverman's " I Love You, America," a TV series in which the comedian set out to high-five her way across a divided country. You see it in The Village Square, a nonprofit civic organization that describes itself as a "nervy bunch of liberals and conservatives" who promise bipartisan dialogue with disagreement but also "a good time.""

"As a philosopher who studies meaning-making, ethics and politics across traditions, I'd like to suggest that Coloradans don't need to hug it out or high-five their way forward. Rather, they can look to a variety of ethical traditions for insights about protecting each other even when they hate each other's views and values. On becoming fussy princesses For starters, in American democracy some tensions are a feature, not a bug."

More than 70% of voters in Colorado's Douglas County, conservative and progressive alike, voted no on home rule in June 2025. The ballot measure would have granted the county increased control over local matters such as building zoning, parking rules and sewer maintenance. The county, historically Republican but home to a growing population of vocal Democrats, reflects national political divides from book bans to COVID mask controversies. Bipartisan rejection stemmed largely from concerns about the measure's cost and the rushed nature of the election rather than a newfound accord across viewpoints. Civic longing for reconciliation appears in media narratives and local initiatives, but alternative ethical approaches can focus on protecting people despite deep disagreement.

Read at The Conversation