A Visible Consensus (Pardon the Pun)

Posted by on December 13, 2019 at 12:07 PM

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In researching what Bridge Alliance member organizations have been focused on lately, two themes emerged:

Americans agree on a lot
Videos and images are a good way to show that agreement

Thus, we discovered there was a lot of visible consensus. For instance, RepresentUs got another assist from Hollywood; this time with Michael Douglas carrying the torch on behalf of the 87% (!!) of Americans who want their representatives to pass the American Anti-Corruption Act. Meanwhile, Convergence released its own video discussing how they build consensus among stakeholders with seemingly irreconcilable differences.

After watching the above videos, check out Public Agenda’s new report “Divisiveness and Collaboration in American Public Life: A Hidden Common Ground Report.” As the name implies -- and in keeping with the theme of the week -- this report highlights, using various charts, agreement among Americans from all parts of the political spectrum. Among their findings:

83% of Americans think divisiveness and gridlock in America is a big problem
Nearly ¾ think there is more common ground than is normally portrayed by the media and political leaders
92% agree that it is important to reduce divisiveness in America

Finally, while not technically about consensus-building, we would be remiss if we didn’t share these inspiring photos from Cities of Service’s Love Your Block program. In total, they have ten photos of resident volunteers beautifying their neighborhoods (Tip: Check out the 4th photo from Hartford, Connecticut for your daily dose of adorableness).

As always, thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

Bridge Alliance Education Fund

Think we missed a big news story involving a Bridge Alliance member? Email us at [email protected] and we'll make sure to get the story out on social media.

Bridge Alliance Members in the News:

Participatory Budgeting Project - The Huffington Post - Chicago Residents Get To Decide How City Funds Are Spent

92nd Street Y - Fox Business - Giving Tuesday 2019 raised nearly $2B in donations

National Vote at Home Institute - Washington Post - Why don’t Marylanders vote?