Newsletter #407 — December 8, 2025 

Guy Burgess and Heidi Burgess

Big Picture Newsletter Series - Post 8

As we argued in our articles on the Great Reframing and Power-With democracy, the key to escaping the dystopias of political dysfunction, authoritarianism, and political violence is the mobilization of a "massively parallel" movement to build a 21st-century democracy that truly lives up to its ideals. Such a democracy, we argued, rests on a Grand Bargain – one in which we agree to work together to resist the forces of tyranny, chaos and violence, in exchange for the freedom to live life as we choose, provided that we help guarantee those same rights to others.

The viability of such a Grand Bargain, of course, depends upon the details. What, exactly, are the rights it grants to citizens and what obligations accompany those rights? For democracy to succeed, the terms of this bargain must be broadly accepted across society's many divides. It cannot be seen as lofty rhetoric that merely sugarcoats the efforts of one political coalition to impose its will on another. This is what we call power-over democracy — the kind of democracy that inevitably leads to the kind of hyper-polarized, all-out struggle for power that we now have.

The Grand Bargain would avoid this by underwriting an array of norms and institutions that people rely upon to protect their most vital interests, while simultaneously providing wise, fair, and reasonably efficient mechanisms for handling the innumerable disputes that characterize modern society. Without such a unifying vision of how to build a society that truly serves the interests of all citizens, partisan pro-democracy rhetoric will do little more than provide yet another battleground for our divisive politics. 

What's desperately needed is a broadly-based effort to refine and articulate a vision for a revitalized 21st-century democracy that most everyone would be willing to support. We need to show people that there really is a viable, and much more attractive, alternative to today's us-vs-them politics — an alternative that demonstrates that there really are better ways of addressing today's most divisive issues. In short, we need to specify the terms of the Grand Bargain.

Doing this will not be easy. There are a lot of tough issues that have to be addressed (including many that are seldom publicly discussed). Still, by working together in a spirit of mutual respect, compromise, and creativity, we are confident that we can find a much more positive way forward.

The purpose of this discussion guide is to help frame such a discussion by highlighting the broad issues that, in one way or another, have to be addressed. In upcoming newsletters in the Big Picture series, we will put on our "mediator hat" and offer some specific suggestions for addressing these issues. Today, however, we simply want to pose the questions with the request that we collectively try to imagine ways of addressing these issues that will appeal to both our own communities and to communities with opposing beliefs. We are also interested in hearing your suggestions for refining and improving the questions. So send us your reactions, and we will find a way to highlight them as part of a continuing discussion of this critically important topic.

Now, the questions:

Fairness Principles — Are there fundamental moral principles that are widely supported across our political divides (principles that we can use to guide our decisions on the more detailed questions posed below)?

• Could one such principal be the golden rule (and its many counterparts in other religious traditions? In other words, can Can we agree to treat each other in the way in which we would like treated?

The Promise and Limits of Cultural Freedom — How should a healthy and culturally diverse democracy handle the deep differences that exist between communities with differing moral beliefs (regarding issues such as abortion, family structure, and gender identity)?

• Under what circumstances is it appropriate for the government to favor some beliefs and  behaviors over others (in public education or anti-discrimination programs, for example)?
• In enjoying cultural freedom, what obligations do citizens have to protect the rights of people with differing beliefs to enjoy that same freedom?
• What rights do parents have to raise their children in accordance with their moral beliefs, and what limits exist on those rights?
• What freedom of association rights allow communities to require that all members comply with certain moral beliefs, and what are the limits on those rights?
• In cases involving disputes (such as abortion) where one group feels morally obligated to oppose the beliefs and behaviors of another, how should those conflicts be addressed constructively? 

Economic Freedom, The Invisible Hand, and the Invisible Fist — How can democracies be structured to manage marketplaces in ways that encourage and reward those who add value to the economy (the invisible hand) while constraining those who profit through exploitation and by claiming the value produced by others (the invisible fist)?

• How can democracies limit the concentration of wealth and power, while still incentivizing hard work and innovative ideas?
• How might we reorient our images of social status so that we honor all people who add value to society — not just the wealthy and those in prestigious positions?
• How can democracies reintegrate into the economy those who have been left behind by the new technologies and increased productivity that accompanies economic competition?
• Similarly, how can democracies find valued positions in the economy for previously marginalized groups and new immigrants?
• What role should democracies play in assisting citizens who are victims of misfortune (poor health, natural disasters, and economic disruptions, for example)? What are the obligations of those being assisted?

Procedural Effectiveness, Efficiency, and Equity — How can democracies be structured so that they are able to successfully perform their essential civic functions.

• How can we set up a transparent and nonpartisan electoral process that gives voters meaningful choices while also guaranteeing that their votes will be fairly counted?
• How can we assure that all citizens enjoy the equal protection of the laws — protections that effectively limit corruption and "lawfare"?
• How can we protect young people by preventing short-term disputes from being resolved in ways that unfairly pass the costs onto future generations?
• How can we reform the communication media so that they reliably provide voters with trustworthy information on all sides of public issues?
• How can we de-escalate ongoing political conflicts and establish effective prohibitions against inflammatory hate-mongering tactics directed at both the right and the left?
• How can we assure that public decisions are made on the basis of reliable information and in ways that fairly balance competing priorities?

Defense against Internal and External Threats — How can democracies defend themselves from internal and external actors who seek to profit by deliberately undermining democratic institutions and their ability to perform the functions highlighted above?

Getting from Here to There — Given how far we are from a working consensus on how to reach the above goals and the momentum behind hyper-polarized politics-as-usual, can we imagine a strategy for getting from where we are to where we want to be on any or all of these questions?  

Clearly, these are very hard questions, and the answers, themselves, are likely to be contested. We will be sharing our thoughts on how to address many of these questions in coming newsletters, but we very much hope to hear your thoughts as well. 

Please Contribute Your Ideas To This Discussion!

In order to prevent bots, spammers, and other malicious content, we are asking contributors to send their contributions to us directly. If your idea is short, with simple formatting, you can put it directly in the contact box. However, the contact form does not allow attachments.  So if you are contributing a longer article, with formatting beyond simple paragraphs, just send us a note using the contact box, and we'll respond via an email to which you can reply with your attachment.  This is a bit of a hassle, we know, but it has kept our site (and our inbox) clean. And if you are wondering, we do publish essays that disagree with or are critical of us. We want a robust exchange of views.

Contact Us

About the MBI Newsletters

Two or three times a week, Guy and Heidi Burgess, the BI Directors, share some of our thoughts on political hyper-polarization and related topics. We also share essays from our colleagues and other contributors, and every week or so, we devote one newsletter to annotated links to outside readings that we found particularly useful relating to U.S. hyper-polarization, threats to peace (and actual violence) in other countries, and related topics of interest. Each Newsletter is posted on BI, and sent out by email through Substack to subscribers. You can sign up to receive your copy here and find the latest newsletter here or on our BI Newsletter page, which also provides access to all the past newsletters, going back to 2017.

NOTE! If you signed up for this Newsletter and don't see it in your inbox, it might be going to one of your other emails folder (such as promotions, social, or spam).  Check there or search for beyondintractability@substack.com and if you still can't find it, first go to our Substack help page, and if that doesn't help, please contact us. 

If you like what you read here, please ....

Subscribe to the Newsletter