Given the attention that Hillary Clinton is getting from the press, it is worth noting her prescription for reducing partisan gridlock dovetails well with research on how superordinate/shared goals leads to cooperation and common ground.

When asked for her prescription for partisan gridlock, Clinton sees an opportunity not unlike what Obama saw in 2008. ­“People are stereotypes, they are caricaturized,” says Clinton. “It comes from both sides of the political aisle, it comes from the press. It’s all about conflict, it’s all about personality, and there are huge stakes in the policies that are being debated, and I think there’s a hunger amongst a very significant, maybe even a critical mass of Americans, clustered on the left, right, and center, to have an adult conversation about how we’re going to solve these problems … but it’s not for the fainthearted.” For now, Hillary’s strategy is to sail above these conflicts, mostly by saying nothing to inflame them. “I have a lot of reason to believe, as we saw in the 2012 election, most Americans don’t agree with the extremists on any side of an issue,” says Clinton, “but there needs to continue to be an effort to find common ground, or even take it to higher ground on behalf of the future.”

Of course, diagnosing the issue and actually solving it are two very different things as we haven't seen a reduction in partisanship during Obama's presidency, so somehow her prescription may have to change if we are to expect a different outcome from a hypothetical Clinton presidency.  Chris Christie has a similar view of the importance of "getting things done" over partisanship, and also has a track record of transcending gridlock as governor of New Jersey.  In coming months, we will try to highlight quotes concerning overcoming gridlock from all potential 2016 candidates, especially as they relate to psychological research on incivility.

– Ravi Iyer

Years of research in social psychology and a read of human history tell us that one way to combat incivility in politics is to focus on shared goals.  Democrats and republicans can agree about rewarding people who build businesses and not rewarding patent trolls.  Given that, this is certainly an area where cooperation over shared objectives, as opposed to competition, can breed civility.

From this Politico article: 

But just as Democrats and Republicans came together to pass the 2011 Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, which brought the most comprehensive change to our nation’s patent laws in 60 years, we again are working in a collaborative, bipartisan way. Our legislation will make it harder for bad actors to succeed, while preserving what has made America’s patent system great.
 

We can only hope that in other areas such as reducing the deficit, improving our nation’s healthcare, improving the economy, and promoting peace, we can also focus on our shared goals, as opposed to our conflicts.

– Ravi Iyer

↵Research suggests that seeing members of your party and the opposite party get along can have a positive effect on partisans.  Given that, one of CivilPolitics.org's goals is to highlight cases where members of opposite sides of the aisle interact positively, to counteract the many stories of them interacting negatively.  A most striking case of positivity across the aisle was reported by Politico today, where Tea Party firebrand Ted Cruz gave genuine praise to President Obama in a recent speech:

“I want to commend President Obama for two different things. Number one, I want to commend President Obama for listening to the bipartisan calls to submit to the constitutional authority of Congress. That was significant, it was the right thing to do and I’m glad he did so,” Cruz said in a detailed foreign policy speech at the Heritage Foundation’s 4th Annual Jesse Helms Lecture Series.

“And secondly, once the issue came to Congress, that gave the American people a chance to speak up,” he added
 

Given their respective roles in each party, it is heartening to see such words.

– Ravi Iyer