In their new book, Democracy and Disagreement (Belknap Harvard, $27.95), Princeton professor Amy Gutmann and Harvard professor Dennis Thompson make a persuasive argument that moral conflict is inevitable in politics. They propose a number of ways in which public discussion might be attempted.
The subject of their book, unfortunately written in a somewhat stodgy, academic style, is "the substance of deliberation--the theoretical principles that should guide moral argument and their implications for actual moral disagreements about public policy."
Because they believe that a deliberative perspective sometimes justifies bargaining, negotiation, force, and even violence, they conclude that "deliberation is the most appropriate way for citizens collectively to resolve their moral disagreements not only about policies but also about the process by which policies should be adopted."
Too often, the authors believe, in today's world of democratic politics, we tend to communicate through TV sound bites, by engaging in character assassination, and attempting to resolve political conflicts through "self-seeking bargaining (that) too often substitute(s) for deliberation on the merits of controversial issues."
In a book that stretches to a sometimes numbing 400-plus pages, Guttman and Thompson argue that when citizens morally disagree about public policy, they "should deliberate with one another, seeking moral agreement when they can, and maintaining mutual respect when they cannot."
All this sounds like the best of all possible worlds, yet one wonders if political discourse can -- in the situation that confronts us all at the doorstep to the 21st century -- realistically take a step back, calm down, and turn to reason in the discussion over steps necessary to keep us from plunging over the edge.
I suspect that this book will create some thoughtful arguments, but that things won't necessarily be altered in the big picture. However, the ideas proposed in these intelligent but sometimes overwhelming pages deserve attention and consideration.
Can civility make a comeback? It sounds like a good idea, but chances for its return -- if it ever really existed on the public policy stage -- seem slim.
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