Keywords:
affective polarization, political polarization, crossed disagreement, early detection, intervention.Copyright (c) 2022 Neftalí Villanueva Fernández Villanueva Fernández, Manuel Almagro Holgado
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to explore a
tension and a desire. The tension is the one
we find between our ability to change our
mind, a crucial component of almost any
conception of progress, and the tendency we
apparently show to cling to the core beliefs
of the political identity we identify with in
a particular context. In order to adopt more
inclusive positions and become better citizens,
we would like to be able to detect and
replace our prejudices. And yet, we are dragged,
sometimes against our better judgment,
toward positions that we inherited from those
with whom we share the things we care
about. Throughout this paper we wonder
how it is possible to intervene on this tension
in order to retain necessary aspects for both
tendencies. In particular, we explore how it
is possible to intervene on this apparent problem
by fulfilling a desire: we want to combat
bad discourse with more discourse. The
intervention strategies devised to counteract
the negative effects of the rise of polarization
that we develop are aimed at improving the
quality of democratic deliberation. Deliberating
with those whom we disagree with
seems to us to be an essential democratic
ideal. In this sense, there is no progress without
disagreement.
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