Book contents
- Planet in Peril
- Reviews
- Planet in Peril
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Contents
- Fictional Vignettes
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction
- Part I Existential Threats: The Four Most Pressing Dangers Facing Humankind
- Part II Strategies and Obstacles: The Solutions We Need, and What’s Preventing Them from Being Realized
- Part III Sensible Steps for Today’s World: Powerful Measures We Can Implement Right Away
- 10 Do It Now: Five Points of Leverage
- 11 Constructive Moves on the International Front for the Next 25 Years
- 12 Breaking the Political Logjam
- 13 Lessons from the Green Movement: How to Build Lasting Change in the Absence of Full Consensus
- Part IV The Middle-Term Goal: New International Tools for the Late Twenty-First Century
- Part V The Long-Term Goal: Envisioning a Mature System of Global Governance for the Twenty-Second Century
- Endnotes
- Bibliography
- Index
12 - Breaking the Political Logjam
from Part III - Sensible Steps for Today’s World: Powerful Measures We Can Implement Right Away
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 October 2022
- Planet in Peril
- Reviews
- Planet in Peril
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Contents
- Fictional Vignettes
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction
- Part I Existential Threats: The Four Most Pressing Dangers Facing Humankind
- Part II Strategies and Obstacles: The Solutions We Need, and What’s Preventing Them from Being Realized
- Part III Sensible Steps for Today’s World: Powerful Measures We Can Implement Right Away
- 10 Do It Now: Five Points of Leverage
- 11 Constructive Moves on the International Front for the Next 25 Years
- 12 Breaking the Political Logjam
- 13 Lessons from the Green Movement: How to Build Lasting Change in the Absence of Full Consensus
- Part IV The Middle-Term Goal: New International Tools for the Late Twenty-First Century
- Part V The Long-Term Goal: Envisioning a Mature System of Global Governance for the Twenty-Second Century
- Endnotes
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Harsh political polarization between Left and Right not only poses a serious threat to the viability of democracies, but also undermines the ability of governments to respond to planet-level challenges in an effective and timely manner. The politicization of science has been one unfortunate side effect of this broader trend toward political tribalism. The chapter surveys several strategies for mitigating, or dialing down, the political gridlock that afflicts many democratic countries: organizing citizens to elect politicians who seek pragmatic compromise rather than partisan advantage; pursuing trust-building initiatives across the Left-Right divide; and adopting the tools of deliberative democracy as a way to combat the “fake news” epidemic afflicting political debates. Individual citizens have many avenues for making a direct impact on these problems through their own behaviors and choices.
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- Information
- Planet in PerilHumanity's Four Greatest Challenges and How We Can Overcome Them, pp. 169 - 184Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022