June 9, 2008
Congressman Lee Hamilton’s advice to the consensus-starved
Retired Congressman Lee Hamilton says Americans are starved for consensus and that, building consensus is straightforward. Here’s his advice.
- Work cooperatively, not confrontationally.
- Look at your colleagues as colleagues, not political adversaries.
- Agree on facts before you apply your ideology to policy.
- Take ample time to understand different views and deliberate on where you’re going.
- Search for areas of agreement, and do not exaggerate areas of disagreement.
- Get people focused on the national interest, not on partisan advantage.
- Decide from the get-go that you’re going to reach an agreement, not use disagreement to score political points.
Keep these points in mind when you evaluate leaders and news sources, and when you plan your own approach to potentially contentious discussions.
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