Dissent as part of deliberation

We've been talking in class about the value of deliberation for democracy, and ways that journalism either supports or thwarts thoughtful deliberation.

I thought this article, on the efforts of officials to keep demonstrators away from the political conventions in Boston and New York this summer, made some good points along this line:

Many ordinary citizens seek similar insulation in their own lives. They want to be protected from contradictory views or voices. Radio and cable audiences prefer outlets and pundits that confirm rather than challenge their own views. Media moguls pander to this anti-democratic drift by offering up partisanship and polemic in larger and larger doses.

As a result, we are increasingly polarized in our ideologies. Ads that attack rather than inform are the weapon of choice for political campaigns. We regard those with differing views not as fellow participants in a democratic adventure but as enemies to quash. Rather than listen and respond, we prefer to silence by intimidation and isolation or to crush with raw political power.

Our national conventions once were robust and riveting affairs, with gavel-to-gavel coverage on network television. Now, scripted and predictable, they have come to symbolize a tendency among too many Americans toward shutting up and shutting out viewpoints other than our own.

If that tendency endures, our democracy cannot. We should not fear dissenting views but embrace them as opportunities to improve our own positions and to display our confidence in the give-and-take of democratic discourse.

Without disagreement, even discord, political discourse is mere noise and prattle. A people talking only to themselves and shouting at all others gurgles with an awful sound: the death rattle of democracy.

Here are some potentially interesting political links:

Political sites:
George Bush Web site
John Kerry Web site
Ralph Nader Web site
Republican National Committee
Democratic National Committee

Non-partisan sites
Factcheck.org
Spin Sanity
Vote Smart
Opensecrets.org
Center for Public Integrity