Presenting at the Council of State Governments’ National Conference
New Orleans, Louisiana – The National Institute for Civil Discourse’s Executive Director Keith Allred presented to state legislators and experts at the Council of State Governments’ National Conference in New Orleans. Presenting a session titled Creating Common Good: Civil Discourse Strategies, Keith brought lessons from the Kennedy administration to show how teams can leverage the most from groups in their decision-making.
The Kennedy Administration’s approach to the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis served as powerful examples of where groups can fail or rise to the challenge of working across their differences. Keith Allred’s session was adapted from transcripts taken from the Kennedy white house’s deliberations before each of these major decisions and allowed lawmakers and their staff to learn from two of the most notable events of the cold war.
Participants were able to engage in a fruitful discussion of how they could avoid the same general mistakes that paved the way to a botched invasion in the Bay of Pigs. Keith demonstrated the dangers of group ‘stampede effects’ through insights from behavioral psychology. The range of outcomes, both positive or negative, widens with groups, and without effective leveraging, these same differences that can create robust decisions instead become incredibly damaging.
After the session, Keith spoke with PBS about his presentation and what Democracy asks of us during these times. Keith showed how the incredible lengths that America’s founders went to enact barriers to partisan majorities imposing their will on everyone else are a deep sign that our system of government requires us to engage our differences constructively. He noted that using anger and fear as electoral tools may be enticing, but “You just can’t govern effectively in our big diverse country taking that approach.”
NICD’s team then stuck around to chat with legislators interested in workshops in their states, and about the best ways to increase civility in diverse legislatures. It was rewarding and fun to present at this year’s national conference, and we are glad to share some tips for success with the many folks making a difference across the United States! Thank you to the Council of State Governments for having us!
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About NICD, the National Institute for Civil Discourse
NICD works to build the nation’s capacity to engage our differences constructively. In 2011, the University of Arizona created NICD after the Tucson shooting that killed six people and wounded another thirteen, including former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. In the weeks prior to the shooting, Congresswoman Giffords was already in discussion with the University of Arizona about creating a center that would focus on improving the quality of discourse. The galvanizing power of that event brought together founding honorary co-chairs George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton and an impressive bipartisan group of other leaders to honor Congresswoman Giffords’ vision.
Next Generation is one of NICD’s most important programs that creates and strengthens bipartisan relationships through mutual, trust-based, and effective communication in state legislatures around the country.
NICD offers Americans a variety of opportunities and resources to engage differences constructively at https://civildiscourseinstitute.org/.
