Dialogue Not Debate: Building Political Discourse Skills in Future Generations of American Citizens

ABSTRACT Scholars and journalists alike have pointed out the poor state of political discourse in contemporary American politics. Younger generations echo these concerns, reporting that they choose to avoid engaging in political discussion because it is too partisan and riddled with rhetoric to be productive. While many offer little hope that the level of incivility evident across the nation will ebb anytime soon, we experimentally test a method for building political discourse skills that might serve to quell some of the coarseness that often pervades political discussions. The findings show that a relatively simple and short classroom intervention can affect both cognitive understanding of political discourse and improve the quality of discussion surrounding controversial issues.