Combatting hyperpolarization took center stage at American University’s Sine Institute of Policy and Politics’ “Dialogue for Democracy” event on July 22, which focused on finding common ground between young Democrats and Republicans.
The event, moderated by Voice of America’s Virginia Gunawan, featured College Democrats of America national president Carolyn Salvador Avila and College Republican national committee chairman Courtney Hope Britt spoke on the panel. University president Jonathan Alger, Sine Institute founder Jeff Sine and acting provost Vicky Wilkins also attended the event.
“We’re seeing a degrading ability to talk with people across the aisle. We’re seeing our society become more partisan, more polarized,” Britt said. “And it’s great that more people are getting interested in politics, but we still need to do so in a productive manner.”
Britt and Avila started the panel by discussing the different ways they talk about politics with those around them before comparing their positions on prominent political issues such as the environment, college affordability and American exceptionalism.
“I think the whole essence of this event is coming together from different sides of the aisle and showing that we may not agree on everything, but we can still have respect for one another,” Avila said.
The Sine Institute is a “laboratory for university-wide collaboration” and “incubator for policy innovation” founded in 2018. The Dialogue for Democracy event took years of planning, Sine Institute Executive Director Amy Dacey said to The Eagle, who added that productive political dialogue is “the mission behind Sine.”
“In a nonpartisan way, you can bring different voices together to solve problems,” Dacey said. “We always say, convene, communicate, collaborate.”
AU College Democrats President Matthew Vigneau said to The Eagle he favored collaborative events that “bring us back to a productive political system.” However, he wished that the University’s chapters of College Democrats and Republicans were involved in the Sine event.
“I thought it would have been great if they had included us, but that did not happen,” Vigneau said. “We were not at all involved in the planning or the execution of this event.”
AU College Democrats are disaffiliated from the national College Democrats organization following accusations of bigotry and racism against the latter organization in 2020.
Britt ended the panel by expressing confidence in Generation Z to move America’s politics in a new direction.
“I one hundred percent believe in our generation’s ability to push us forward, push us past this growth in political polarization that we’ve seen,” Avila said. “We may not agree on how to get there, but we’re going to get there. And we’re going to get there together.”
In her closing address, Avila emphasized the importance of voters engaging in these conversations as the election nears.
“This is an incredibly exciting time to be in politics. There’s so many things changing, so many opportunities, so many ways to get involved” Britt said. “I think that this is an exciting moment – I hope we can capitalize on it. I hope we can continue this.”
This article was edited by Payton Anderson, Maya Cederlund, Tyler Davis and Abigail Turner. Copy editing done by Luna Jinks and Ella Rousseau.
