2019
January
14
Monday

Monitor Daily Podcast

January 14, 2019
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Embattled on many fronts, French President Emmanuel Macron has a suggestion for his compatriots: Let’s talk. So he’s kicking off the “The Great National Debate.”

It’s an ambitious, two-month experiment in participatory democracy in which the French can air their deep frustrations over policy and propose solutions in town hall debates, online, or in entries in local “grievance books.” Today, in a lengthy open letter, Mr. Macron encouraged comment on four topics: taxes, green energy, citizenship, and state bureaucracy. He also said the discussion will allow the building of a new “contract for the nation” and “transform anger into solutions.”

That anger has been most visible in sustained and sometimes violent public protests that grew out of a now-withdrawn fuel tax. Macron’s initiative has plenty of critics, who argue its scope is unclear and note the red lines around certain topics. One headline read: “Macron hopes debate can quell French unrest. So did Louis XVI.” A poll last week indicated 41 percent of citizens would participate, while 40 percent would not. But at the very least, Macron is making a high-stakes offer to listen. And, notes Bernard Sanannes, head of the Elabe firm that conducted the poll, “one of the main lessons from the Yellow Vests [protesters] is that there’s a demand of the French public to have their opinions heard.”

Now to our five stories, on democracy in bumpy action, the changing expectations of young adults, and progress against suicide.


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Today’s stories

And why we wrote them

As a cabinet member, the attorney general should align with the president, experts say, while protecting the Justice Department from  interference. That balance may be tough to strike.

Mark Duffy/UK Parliament/AP
Members of Parliament gathered near Commons Speaker John Bercow (r.) during Prime Minister's Questions at the House of Commons in London Dec. 19. The Brexit debate is slated to pause for a vote Jan. 15.

Brexit has posed endless challenges. A key one is whether Britain's venerable democratic system can handle the stresses the debate is putting upon it.

A deeper look

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff
Katie Brownfiel (l.), a student at The College of William and Mary, walks on the Williamsburg, Va., campus. Ms. Brownfiel says she is close to her parents and texts them often. Many young adults are choosing to delay full immersion in what has traditionally been considered "adulthood."

Many parents of young adults are puzzled by their slow roll toward adulthood's traditional markers. Rarely have aspirations changed so dramatically in a generation.

Points of Progress

What's going right

The statistics are encouraging in many countries, though not the United States. We asked our reporter to look at what's driving progress, especially among young people. 

SOURCE:

The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington

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Jacob Turcotte/Staff

Can learning more about a pest turn disgust into admiration? Termites, it turns out, play a significant role in ecosystems, but most people wouldn’t know it.


The Monitor's View

Reuters
In Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron talks to mayors of rural areas about citizen requests for government action on Jan. 14.

In the anti-elite politics and protests of today’s democracies, leaders are eager for new ways to gauge public opinion. Many of the old ways – elections, polling, referendums, even Twitter – just seem inadequate to shape consensus.

In Ethiopia, for example, a new prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, holds “listening rallies” before crowds, seeking advice. “Change can only come,” he tells them, “if we are only able to change ourselves.” Mexico’s new president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, takes questions during hourlong press conferences – every workday starting at 7 a.m. and live on YouTube. Such style of leadership – or is it listenership? – reflects a certain self-reflection.

Now France’s beleaguered president, Emmanuel Macron, offers his own model. On Monday he kicked off a two-month national dialogue in response to weeks of “yellow vest” protests against his economic policies.

The French are being encouraged to express opinions at the local level with the help of mayors, either in town hall meetings or in online questionnaires. The topics up for discussion: the environment, democracy, public services, and taxes. Mr. Macron will attend the first meeting on Tuesday in Grand Bourgtheroulde.

“We’ll show we’re a people which is not afraid of talking, exchanging, debating,” he wrote in a letter to the public. “This is how I intend to turn anger into solutions.”

Macron himself is famous for breaking the political mode in 2017 by defeating France’s entrenched parties. His victory was a symbol of Europe’s anti-elite movements of both the left and right. Now even he, after proposing a fuel tax that sparked grass-roots protests in November, is being forced to find what he calls a new “contract for the nation.”

He faces a high wall of distrust. One poll shows few in France believe the “grand débat” will be independent enough to lead to useful solutions. The poll also indicates about 40 percent of people will participate.

The mood is similar to that in many American companies where workers demand fewer bosses and more equality and consultation – or simply bosses who ask questions before giving answers.

To come up with blueprints for solutions, a group or society must first build bridges of mutual understanding. Techniques like “listening tours” help in pushing people to take a long-term perspective and be willing to show empathy. They are often inclusive and do not define a winning argument from the start. An invitation for deliberation can change the way people talk.

Macron’s grass-roots national dialogue – in response to grass-roots protests – is noble in concept. Yet it’s unclear what it might unleash. “In trying to bring fresh air into our democracy, it could quickly degenerate into a free-for-all,” warned the French daily Le Figaro. With patience and reflection on the part of the French, however, good ideas can float to the top.


A Christian Science Perspective

About this feature

When today’s contributor was on the verge of committing suicide, the idea that we are all designed to express God’s joyful, vibrant nature proved lifesaving.


A message of love

Richard Vogel/AP
Carrie Brown, a teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District, joined a citywide teacher strike Jan. 14. Tens of thousands of LA teachers went on strike Monday – their first strike in 30 years – after contract negotiations failed in the nation's second-largest school district. The teachers’ demands include smaller class sizes, more support staff, and better pay. (Watch for Monitor coverage this week.)
( The illustrations in today’s Monitor Daily are by Jacob Turcotte and Karen Norris. )

A look ahead

Thanks for starting your week with us. Tomorrow congressional reporter Jessica Mendoza looks at the role of Rep. Steve King of Iowa, whose strident anti-immigrant stance is a source of growing discomfort to many in the GOP.

More issues

2019
January
14
Monday
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