Why Should We Talk About It? Political Dialogue on College Campuses

• In Event: Teaching Toward Transformative Citizenship on the College Campus: Democratic Education and Civic Praxis With Young Adults

Abstract

Should universities teach politically opposed students to learn from each other through dialogue? Critics assert that these conversations can blur important ethical distinctions and that protest, lawsuits, and elections are far more effective tools for advancing justice. Proponents of political dialogue suggest that it can improve and legitimize democratic decisions. Observations of university political dialogue programs and interviews with student participants reveal that these conversations may contribute a benefit that has not been highlighted by deliberative theory. What increased understanding may be best equipped to do is reveal the conceptions of the good that motivate views with which students disagree, which can cultivate acknowledgement of the people who hold those other views as legitimate co-creators of democratic society.

Author

• Rachel Lee Wahl, University of Virginia