Election 2024: Towards More Civil Discourse [Podcast]

It’s no secret that Americans’ ability to engage in meaningful conversations across political, cultural, and ideological divides feels more strained than ever. In this episode, we discuss how to bring people together. Two words: civil discourse. Duke professor Abdullah Antepli is a nationally recognized expert in civil discourse. Recently he’s been teaching a course on the topic and is creating public forums for dialogue between people with opposing views.

Antepli leads Polis, Duke’s Center for Politics. He talks with Manoj Mohanan, interim Dean of the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke.

Conversation Highlights

Responses have been edited for clarity. 

What is civil discourse?

The invitation to civil discourse in no way should be construed as anti-difference. Difference is good. Difference is important, it’s essential for democracies to function. So, any kind of division, partisanship, polarization - is not a bad thing. It is only bad when it becomes toxic, when it becomes a source of bigotry, violence, exclusion, and unwelcome.

So, any invitation to civil discourse - it should not be anti-difference.

[Also,] civil discourse [is] not [an] invitation to flatten our differences or flatten our moral convictions. You are not inviting people to just focus on what we share in common. That also defeats the whole purpose.

If anything, civil discourse is at its best when it's done with people who have strong ideas, who have strong disagreements, who have commitments to particular strategies or moral commitments, [who] somehow find a way to air discuss these differences in constructive helpful ways. That's what civil discourse is.

How important is civil discourse?

If you look at any failed and deteriorated civilizations of the past, before they are threatened by their external enemies, often their deterioration and decline begin internally -- within their ability to understand and celebrate their internal diversity.

Our colleagues in the Duke Polarization Lab and others who are studying this say in some parts of America, in some policy topics like abortion, same-sex marriage, freedom of speech, the levels of polarization have reached an 1850s level, and we know what happened in 1860 [the Civil War].

So, [polarization in the U.S. is at an] untenable and unmanageable level.

Can exploring civil discourse in the classroom help?

I am hopeful because I've seen it with my students. I bring pro-life and pro-choice people together. And most often than not, they've never talked to one another. They assume their differences are completely disconnected morally therefore they feel very strongly.

But when you actually drill down and provide that safe space -- ethics and morality thrive in complexity and suffocate in simplicity, essentialism, [anything that is simply] black and white.

When you provide an opportunity for people to [consider questions like] where is [our] disagreement coming from? Why do [we] disagree and in what way? It’s not that these disagreements disappear, but if you understand where your opponent (your intellectual opponent or even your enemy) is coming from, it creates space in your heart and mind.

And your ability to air that disagreement comes from a place of knowledge, appreciation, some sort of understanding. And it never leads to violence. It never leads to and bigotry. That's why I've seen it work. That's why I'm hopeful.

On discussions with former Senator Richard Burr (R/NC) and Senator Maggie Hassan (D/NH)

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These conversations showed that people who otherwise would incredibly disagree on other issues, on abortion or immigration -- they found one particular topic of [overlapping interest]: healthcare. And they found an overlap and an intersection of interest where they can create a piece of legislation that will help people and that's what they are elected for. So, those two senators [showed us that] the art of compromise is alive and thriving. Public policy is the art of compromise because there are higher values, because there are higher, more pressing issues involved.

On civil discourse with family members (even at the holidays)

I would like to share with you what works in my life. If you have strong feelings and disagreements, if you feel incredibly troubled by how somebody can think so differently -- before you judge their decision or their ideas or where they stand on any given issue -- study them, study their ideas, try to see the world through their eyes. [Note: there’s] no obligation to agree with them or to endorse their ideas.

Instead of quickly judging people as appalling, give it a chance and ask, "Why is this important to you? Why do you feel so strongly about this?" [Try to understand] with a non-judgmental attitude. And see if some of the responses will slow you down in your judgment. It makes a difference.

• Listen to a previous episode which features the story of Abdullah Antepli and Ray Starling and how they struck up an unlikely friendship across the political divide.
• Read the episode transcript