Exploring Bipartisanship - ATA Episode 4

At a time when evidence of a deep divide shows up every day on social media and in the news, a growing number of national organizations are dedicated to promoting bipartisanship and civility. They offer legislators fresh ideas about working across the aisle; they say it takes a steady effort to build and strengthen bipartisan work. They say bipartisanship makes legislation more valuable and more likely to pass, and it can build trust among the public. NCSL’s podcast on bipartisanship, Across the Aisle, looks at the work lawmakers are doing on civility and bipartisanship.

“Civility is not just good manners, it's really being able to get something done,” says Beth Harwell, the former Republican Speaker of the Tennessee house and now with the National Institute for Civil Discourse. “And if I hear anything from the public right now, it's that they're hungering and thirsting for our elected officials to work out solutions.”

Also, we’ll look at what research shows about how bipartisanship helps bills pass, even for lawmakers in the majority who don’t seem to need it.