海角大神

In the early 1800s, things weren鈥檛 looking particularly good for the American experiment in self-governance. Coming to Washington with differences of opinion natural to a vast new land, early legislators lived and ate in boarding houses that became entrenched voting blocs. Thomas Jefferson wrote that these men came to work 鈥渋n a spirit of avowed misunderstanding, without the smallest wish to agree.鈥�

Apparently neither human nature nor legislatures have changed much since.

Jefferson鈥檚 solution was to bring lawmakers to the White House in diverse groups for good dinner and conversation. Two hundred years later, The Village Square takes a page from his book when we invite politically diverse citizens to break bread at our 鈥淒inner at the Square鈥� series or 鈥淭ake-out Tuesday鈥� town meetings.

The Village Square was formed in 2006 by good friends Allan Katz, Tallahassee city commissioner, and Bill Law, Tallahassee community college president, who found themselves on opposite sides of a contentious referendum on a proposed coal plant. Given the sour and partisan tone of the ensuing debate, they lamented the lack of a shared civic space where people could air their differences of opinion. So they created one.

The village square is hardly a new idea; it鈥檚 as old as the republic. America鈥檚 Founders built a country on the notion that political foes must become reluctant partners in engaging conflicting ideas to govern. From this sprang the quintessentially American town hall, where neighbors advance the broad range of thinking that is the lifeblood of healthy democracy.

Technology and the rise of tribalism

Fast-forward a couple centuries of breathtaking technological innovation, which has created a world of information literally at our fingertips, and we鈥檙e increasingly choosing to associate only with our 鈥渢ribe鈥� rather than bravely disagree face to face. Bunkered up at home with information sources that serve as a virtual amen chorus for everything we want to believe, we can鈥檛 seem to tolerate the people we used to share town meetings with.聽

In 鈥淭he Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-minded America is Tearing Us Apart,鈥� Bill Bishop documents how, in nearly all aspects of life, we鈥檝e become less connected to those who don鈥檛 share our views 鈥� in the churches we go to, the clubs we join, the neighborhoods we live in.

No longer engaging across the aisle with neighbors, there鈥檚 little to mitigate the human tendency toward tribalism. Once we鈥檝e demonized each other, the simple act of talking is tantamount to negotiating with evil.聽

Breaking bread to break barriers

To counter the trend, The Village Square engages people socially around civic issues 鈥� bringing neighbors back in relationship with each other across ideological difference. People aren鈥檛 built to reexamine the basics of their positions unless they feel some sense of friendship and common purpose with those suggesting they do so. (A skim of anonymous comments online shows how we behave when no relationship exists.)

This central premise of ours is supported by compelling experimental evidence gathered by Jonathan Haidt in his book 鈥淭he Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion.鈥� 聽

Unfortunately, asking citizens to engage personally in the civic life of their community is like asking them to eat their broccoli. We know it鈥檚 good for us, but we鈥檇 rather have a slice of chocolate cake 鈥� the televised 24/7 partisan smackdowns a remote click away.

How it works

To address this challenge, our irreverently named programs are part civic forum, part entertainment. Each event is casual (the stage is set up to feel like the facilitator鈥檚 living room) and involves sharing food. As we begin, we give out two 鈥渃ivility bells,鈥� ask that the audience avoid tribal 鈥渢eam clapping,鈥� and share a quote to inspire our better angels. We welcome fluid audience participation and always try to laugh. 聽

From here our formats vary widely 鈥� ranging from huge community dinners with a panel and social time, to 20 elected officials moving from table to table in 鈥淪peed Date your Local Leader,鈥� to a barbecue competition between a Republican and Democratic commissioner.聽

On the 10th anniversary of the 2000 presidential ballot recount in Florida, we hosted Florida Supreme Court justices and both attorneys who represented candidates Al Gore and George W. Bush in 鈥淔lorida Recount Reunion: Same Month, Same State, Same City, Same People. Friendlier.鈥� We have a series called 鈥淔aith, Food, Friday: Improbable Conversations for People of Faith and No Faith at All (because talking politics wasn鈥檛 hard enough).鈥� And we鈥檝e given an Angry Mob Playset聽 as a door prize.聽

Democracy reclaimed

The ultimate measure of our success is in the potential of good relationships formed 鈥� the Planned Parenthood and Roman Catholic Church leaders who became friends, the liberal rabbi and conservative pastor who don鈥檛 agree on much but now stay in touch, the 175 guests who may approach future interactions differently after 30 Muslim families unexpectedly brought a beautiful spread of food to one of our catered events. When we host elected leaders at our forums, they can feel the wind has shifted, and the bar is set higher.

This fall, Village Squares in Sacramento, Calif; Kansas City, Mo.; and Fort Lauderdale, Fla., will join current Florida locations in Tallahassee and St. Petersburg.

Since we first imagined The Village Square, we have repeatedly returned to the same conclusion: We can鈥檛 wait around for Washington to lead on this. It鈥檚 in our hometowns, where we carpool to softball games and borrow cups of sugar, where we can most easily have the conversations democracy requires of us.

Liz Joyner is a cofounder and executive director of The Village Square, a nonprofit devoted to civil discourse across the partisan divide on matters of local, state, and national importance. Learn more at .