NICD’s State Legislative Program works directly with state legislators to address incivility and hyperpolarization at the state level. The program offers a half-day workshop titled: Building Trust Through Civil Discourse. Other workshops range from 45 minutes to 2 ½ hours, and all programming is designed and delivered by state legislators for state legislators.
NICD is proud to be a partner with the State Legislative Leaders Foundation (SLLF) in their work to bring together state legislative leaders across the country through national-level events. All content is practical and intended to increase the collaborative abilities of participants, even in a world of polarized politics.
How to Bring a Workshop to Your State
We’ve held workshops in 23 states and met thousands of legislators around the country. Is your state next? Any legislator, local organization, or constituent can approach NICD or the Legislative Leadership in their state to encourage them to hold a workshop:
- For the legislature as an independent event during session or another convenient time
- As part of new member orientation after an election
NICD will provide program materials and guidance to any parties interested in bringing a workshop to their state and handle all matters of the planning process. If you are interested in helping to bring a workshop to your state, please email us or call 336-202-7043.
Program Offerings
NICD’s Legislative Program offers customizable breakout sessions, workshops, and programming that supports civility, bipartisanship, and leadership. Many of our offerings are now supported by the State Legislative Leaders Foundation (SLLF).
Breakout sessions and workshops are always led by a bipartisan team of Facilitators – current or former legislators from a nearby state. All options offer an engaging and bipartisan discussion that enhances understanding across the aisle and moves your state toward a more perfect union: Empathy Instead of Vitriol; Listening for Understanding Instead of Hearing to Overpower; Humility Instead of All-Knowing. We look forward to working with your state legislature to create the best path toward common ground.
Building Trust Through Civil Discourse Workshop (3 – 4½ hours)
We are polarized – liberals one side and conservatives on the other. We can agree on that. So, how can we bridge or close that divide – by getting to know each other beyond our partisan and ideological differences. In this session, we strive to do that. A bipartisan team of NICD Facilitators – current or former state legislators from nearby states – move the large group into breakout rooms for small group work. No more than 20 Democrats and Republicans from both chambers will share personal journeys, define the current state of civility, identify barriers and opportunities to leverage change, and create an action plan. In the last hour of the workshop, all legislators return together to report action plans and discuss their priorities.
Tips for Being an Effective Legislator: Building Relationships and Coalitions (6 – 8 hours)
Despite what candidates promise in their campaigns, they cannot solve any of their state’s problems alone. To be successful, they must convince a majority of colleagues in their chamber, a majority of legislators in the other chamber, and the governor that their proposal deserves to be a law. To do that, legislators must do two things: build relationships with their colleagues and put together coalitions to get their bills passed. In this session, we examine the importance of civility and relationships in historical and contemporary legislatures and participate in activities that encourage relationships and develop strategies for working together.
What Got You Here Won’t Get You There (1 – 1¼ hours)
Governing is very different from campaigning. In order to win an election today, candidates are expected to treat their opponent as the enemy. They are expected to have a position and opinion on every issue. They win by raising money, attacking their opponent and speaking in soundbites. However, seasoned legislators know that the very skills that make for an effective campaign are the opposite of the skills necessary to govern effectively. Once elected, legislators must work with “the enemy” to get bills passed. In the legislature, members are rewarded for hard work more than soundbites and expertise rather than general knowledge. To govern, new legislators must work within the rules and norms of the institution they ran against. This session is especially effective for newly elected legislators.
The Case for Civil Discourse: Founding Fathers (1 – 1½ hours)
The nation’s capacity to work across our differences respectfully and with civility has reached record lows. Analyses of the more than 13 million roll call votes cast since 1789 reveal that Congress is now the most polarized it has ever been. The American Founders recognized that differences escalating into dysfunctional partisan animosity was the chief reason every previous republic had failed. Building a republic robust to partisan animosity was the chief problem the Founders aimed to solve in framing the U.S. Constitution. The main reason the American system takes separation of powers further than any other is to prevent parties from imposing their will on everyone else.
The Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis (1 – 1½ hours)
This session explores how to employ the benefits of diverse perspectives within a legislature or a caucus without falling into interpersonal conflict. Drawing on research in group decision making, National Institute for Civil Discourse Executive Director Keith Allred leads this interactive, skills-building session. The conversation starts with a discussion of the Kennedy Administration’s decision to sponsor an incursion into Castro’s Cuba and the monumental blunder that it turned out to be. Just 18 months later, the same group of people confronted a daunting challenge in the Cuban Missile Crisis. This time, when the stakes could hardly have been higher, Kennedy managed disagreements within his administration quite differently with vastly superior results.
Leading with Civility -A Practical Approach (1 – 1½ hours)
Have you ever wondered what makes a great leader—one that can motivate and inspire others to achieve extraordinary results? Drawing on their long legislative experiences leading a state Senate or House, a member of the Legislative Program Leadership or the Advisory Board will explore the vital role civility played in the founding of America and its continued importance in today’s political environment. Whether a freshman legislator or a seasoned lawmaker, each participant will discover practical tools for civil discourse that form a blueprint for success in collaboration and legislating.
Getting to Yes: A Legislative Budget Building Exercise (1½ – 2½ hours)
The only way to get a bill passed in the legislature or an ordinance passed through city council is to get a majority of your colleagues to support it. There are no dictators in American politics. While coalition building is essential for a functioning democracy, it seems to have become a lost art of late. In this session, we will help participants rediscover the art of finding common ground by examining and practicing strategies for finding that “sweet spot” in negotiations where everybody gets something and nobody gets nothing. Participants will take part in an activity where they have to find consensus as members of the House and Senate Budget Conference Committee on a variety of contentious issues.
A Look from Plato’s Cave (¾ – 1 hour)
Leadership is never easy, especially when those being led want to go a different direction than their leaders. Using Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave,” this session examines the responsibility of leaders when those they lead, perhaps out of fear or ignorance, don’t want to follow. Should the leader leave them where they are familiar but in darkness or lead them out into a better place even if they are reluctant? We will examine what it means to lead and the “darkness” that may restrict all of us in our “caves.”
