{"id":11920,"date":"2020-10-20T11:01:54","date_gmt":"2020-10-20T15:01:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/?p=11920"},"modified":"2020-11-04T08:19:32","modified_gmt":"2020-11-04T13:19:32","slug":"q-how-can-i-have-a-civil-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/q-how-can-i-have-a-civil-debate\/","title":{"rendered":"Q: How Can I Have A Civil Debate?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Following the 2016 presidential election, psychologists and therapists across the nation noticed a spike in patients from both sides of the aisle who were experiencing post-election stress disorder, the unofficial name for the anxiety and depression brought on by activities such as communicating with people who hold politically opposing views.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s not surprising, says Associate Professor of Political Science Joseph Patten, given the preponderance of populist leaders whose rhetoric and platforms attempt to divide us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s destructive about populism is … this framing of politics as the establishment versus the people, but where only some of the people are really \u2018the people,\u2019\u201d says Patten. \u201cThese populist leaders are anti-pluralist, meaning they try to attract supporters by almost intentionally alienating others. So if you look at what\u2019s keeping the Democratic and Republican parties together … it\u2019s the negative partisanship; it\u2019s the hatred of the other.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, political tribes have become obsessed with demonizing the other, and that can be detrimental to our relationships and mental well-being when we hold differing political views from family and friends, says Patten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a study that shows that families who are unified about Trump\u2014either loving him or hating him\u2014spend at least an hour longer together on Thanksgiving,\u201d says Patten. \u201cSo that\u2019s where our dysfunctional politics has ultimately infected us: We\u2019re now dysfunctional too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With election season upon us and the holidays around the corner, there\u2019s never been a better time for a refresher on how to remain civil while discussing politics. Patten shared three tips that will help you maintain your relationships\u2014and sanity\u2014through election season and beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n

1. Don’t try to “fix” anyone.<\/h3>\n\n\n

\u201cWhat happens when somebody expresses an idea that\u2019s different from our idea is that we tend to naturally think something is wrong with that person and we must fix them,\u201d says Patten. Don\u2019t. Instead, go into every discussion with an open mind, willing to appreciate and even enjoy a different viewpoint.<\/p>\n\n\n

2. Agree to disagree.<\/h3>\n\n\n

It\u2019s important to be open to others\u2019 viewpoints, but we don’t need to compromise on our core principles says Patten. \u201cWe should all recognize that we have a social responsibility as developed humans to at least try to understand the viewpoints of others even when our views don\u2019t align … and to be OK with that,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s OK to have disagreements.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

3. Avoid dehumanizing language. <\/h3>\n\n\n

Because there are no social norms about political discrimination\u2014as there are for discriminating against people for their race or gender\u2014it\u2019s become acceptable to speak about others in politically dehumanizing ways. Avoid doing so because it facilitates the \u201cotherization\u201d of the person or group, says Patten. \u201cPeople are not … this label of a thing. They\u2019re not left wing or right wing; they\u2019re not snowflakes; they\u2019re not a basket of deplorables. … They\u2019re humans,\u201d says Patten. \u201cOnce you start talking about people in non-human terms, it makes it easier to use violence against them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n

The 10-Second Bonus Question: When Do I Avoid Talking Politics?<\/h3>\n\n\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t have a good political discussion with somebody whose intention is to be insulting or whose intention is to try to prove how stupid you are,\u201d says Patten. \u201cSo if somebody\u2019s coming in without good intentions, then you shouldn\u2019t have the conversation in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have a question for our faculty experts? Email magazine@monmouth.edu<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Political science professor Joseph Patten shares tips on how to keep political discussions civil this election cycle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":12100,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"image_focus":"","hide_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-currents"],"thumbnail":"\"\"","catString":"Currents","issue":"Fall 2020","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11920"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11920\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12583,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11920\/revisions\/12583"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}