Bright Blue has been building relationships with think tanks across the pond. Over these pages, four experts tell us what Tory policy can learn from their research
Several months ago, I was grateful for the opportunity to deliver a major address in Stamford, Connecticut, just outside New York City, on the enormous consequence of the current lack of civility in politics and its impact on consensus-building and problem-solving. My remarks were part of a speaker series exploring the importance of civility in multiple spheres of American life. It was 5:30 in the afternoon, at a public library, and close to 300 people showed up – which speaks volumes about the dimension of despair Americans feel about the direction of their government.
In my remarks, I asked the question, what exactly is significant with respect to the concept of “civility” in politics – and why is it indispensable in restoring our political institutions? To begin with, unequivocally and absolutely, our use of words can be powerful and critically important in setting the tone for our national discourse. I can’t tell you how many people who approached me from all over America have expressed their disappointment with my decision not to run for a fourth term in the Senate, and how fed up and angry they are about the harsh rhetoric and the partisan bickering that’s fueling legislative deadlock in Washington, D.C.. These individuals I’ve encountered are fearful that the current dysfunction that’s preventing Washington from solving America’s most challenging problems will continue as a permanent culture. They ask me, why is it so bad in Washington? How did it get this way? And can it be fixed?
Regrettably, we’ve reached a point where it seems the campaigning never stops, and the governing never begins. And that reality is not lost on the American people, who have assigned Congress an all-time, record low approval rating – begging the question, as one of my former colleagues asked, who exactly is the roughly 10% who believe Congress is actually doing a good job?
So indisputably, words are a critical component of civility. Indeed, every day in the United States Senate, we address each other as “my good friend”... or “my esteemed colleague” – and that’s a worthy practice. And yet, for all of these apparent niceties, Congress has still proceeded to become the least productive since 1947!
Clearly, then, we are missing what is the second key component to civility in politics – and that is a willingness to listen to and work with those with whom we disagree, and to respect differing views; to acknowledge you don’t have a monopoly on all of the good ideas; and to accept that you won’t typically get 100% of what you seek, and therefore attempt to work through the differences.
As I’ve told people, I didn’t leave the Senate because I know longer love it, but precisely because I do. I want to bring my insiders experience and knowledge to bear as a megaphone for those on the outside who are thirsting for a voice to coalesce their frustration, and a plan on how to change the system so it can achieve the extraordinary potential the American Founding Fathers envisioned. Civility, above all, is the one, essential mechanism for distilling the vast diversity of ideologies and opinions in modern America, Britain and around the world, so that we might arrive at solutions to the challenges we face. And that is the standard to which we must hold elected officials accountable if they are to produce the kind of results we expect, and deserve.
