Ballots for kinder politics

In elections worldwide this year, voters are sending a message that civility can matter more than party or policy.

The Monitor's View

The presidential debates between Joe Biden and Donald Trump should, in theory, help voters better understand the policy differences between each candidate. Yet just as important is deciding which candidate will better help Americans bridge those differences.

Civility has long been the oil in the mechanics of democracy. It enables people to step out of political bubbles with humility, compassion, and a touch of humor. Take, for example, the lesson a former member of Parliament from Britain’s Conservative Party learned this week.

Back when he was in office, Matthew Parris rarely had a kind word for his political colleagues across the aisle. He spent Monday walking through his old district with the two young candidates who hope to represent it after Britain’s July 4 election. He found them both thoughtful, energetic, and sincere – equally admirable. That startled him.

“A day on the stump, and talking to two decent human beings who aspire to represent us, I see how pinched my us-and-them attitude to politics was,” Mr. Parris wrote in The Times. “Just sometimes, ... a nod towards the humanity of our candidates might be in order.” 

Mr. Parris captured the effect of what Scott Shigeoka, a fellow at the University of California, Berkeley, calls “heart centered curiosity.” His research on healing political and social enmity centers on dissolving fear and hatred through selflessness, generosity, and empathy. Learning to see the good in others, he told the John Templeton Foundation, is about “changing our own mindsets and behaviors and the ways that we interact with each other in the world, rather than trying to change someone else.”

American voters are weary of division. Some 80% disapprove of politicians denigrating their opponents, according to a survey conducted jointly by Florida Atlantic University and Mainstreet Research in February. Some primary results have captured that aversion. In a New York City Democratic primary on Tuesday, for example, one of the most combatively progressive members of Congress lost his bid for reelection. Voters found his centrist challenger more trustworthy.

Voters in India had a similar response. In recent national elections, they rejected the ruling party’s hateful messages against Muslim minorities and ushered in an era of cooperative governance. They demanded “the return of decency, civility and mutual respect,” observed Apoorvanand Jha, a University of Delhi professor, in Al Jazeera.

“Politics is about honesty, about justice, about mercy, about generosity,” said former Tory member of Parliament Rory Stewart in a speech last November. “Happiness, being well ... involves being able to discuss together our shared values, find through dialogue a common purpose. ... It’s not a selfish activity. It’s not an activity primarily about power. It is an activity of community.”

By its ballots, a global community of voters is sending a message to aspiring leaders: True power starts with seeing the good in others, even those with whom they disagree.