Democracy and division: Can democratic innovations reduce polarization?
Local bridge-building efforts are also connected and supported by national or international organizations like the Sustained Dialogue Institute, Braver Angels, Listen First Coalition, and others.
Many of these processes name racism as a central factor, spoken or unspoken, in polarization and division. Others simply aim to provide a 'safe space' for participants to address all kinds of racial, religious, political or other differences.
A new wave of initiatives are using these practices as part of online platforms that can allow bridge-building on a national or international scale.
Organizations like Soliya were among the first to pioneer this sort of "virtual exchange."
Our research shows that the majority of Americans (66 percent) are looking for better ways to understand people with different political views than them, and 2021 promises to be an active year for these kinds of initiatives. A national engagement effort called America Talks, supported by USA Today, the Civic Health Project, the ListenFirst Coalition, Public Agenda and The Fulcrum, aims to involve thousands of people in one-on-one virtual discussions on June 12 and 13. To facilitate discussion across divides, participants answer a few short survey questions and are then paired so they have a chance to talk with someone who is politically different from them. America Talks is based on similar initiatives in Europe, such as My Country Talks.