The Transpartisan Effect
Transpartisan Note #57
by A. Lawrence Chickering and James S. Turner
Our country’s partisan divide impacts the way we do business, whether we work in commercial, nonprofit, academic, or government programs. The following short article, written with fellow public policy analyst A. Lawrence Chickering, explores one of the many facets of this impact when examined from the “Transpartisan” perspective.
We see “The Transpartisan Effect” all around us. It plays in our national politics, on the world stage, and in our local communities. Our weekly notes point to one place or another where events strike us as examples of the effect of people working together beyond the left/right partisanship that so intoxicates our entertaining media and political comedy/drama.
This week we post Issue #2 of The Transpartisan Review containing a more detailed introspection of how we, our colleagues and contributors see the forces behind the daily events we write about each week.
The articles in the Review include:
THE TRANSPARTISAN EFFECT
We say Trump receiving votes of only 27% of the age-eligible electorate points toward a transpartisan effect. The 44% did-not-vote category — Transpartisans — hold the key to moving policy formation forward.
A REPUBLIC — IF YOU CAN KEEP IT
Ralph Benko, Forbes online columnist, proposes a national citizens’ league that would employ ‘soft power’ to improve the quality and legitimacy of our system of governance.
RUSSIA IS NOT OUR ENEMY
Jack Matlock, former US Ambassador to Russia, thinks our preoccupation with alleged Russian campaign tampering obscures far more important issues of our relationship with that superpower. Risking war, he says, over mere differences in perspective creates a risk of stumbling into unimaginable devastation.
TAXATION IN THE AGE OF DIGITALIZATION
Edgar Feige, economics professor, restates his proposal to replace the income tax with a miniscule user fee on all bank transactions, making taxes simpler, fairer, more productive, and less burdensome. At a stroke the fee eliminates loopholes, special interest lobbying, and deficit spending.
UNITED AND DIVIDED: WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
Lynne Twist Philanthropist and Lawry Chickering Transpartisan Review executive editor report on a Living Room Conversation, founded by Joan Blades (MoveOn.org co-founder), bringing together three ‘conservatives’ and three ‘progressives’ on a transpartisan journey, learning from five celebrated civil society experiments accomplishing extraordinary success in work with the most ‘difficult’ populations.
NOT JUST AN ABSTRACTION ANYMORE: THE MATRIX VALIDATED
Michael Briand, Transpartisan Review editor, reports a new study showing how useful the transpartisan matrix can be. Neither Trump nor Clinton voters would have to alter their positions significantly for a more pragmatic majority point of view to emerge.
The Transpartisan Review is a place for all of us to discuss these vital matters. We invite you to share your questions, thoughts, and reactions in the comment thread found here.
This is Note #57 in a series of transpartisan explorations of current issues, written, in part, to promote the Transpartisan Review , a digital journal of politics, society, and culture. Issue #2 now available to download for free.
