June 30, 1917: The February Revolution is over, leaving two uneasily complementary governments in place: the Duma that had been assembled under the Czar, and the Petrograd Soviet, elected by workers, soldiers, and peasants. Amid the chaos, while any future still seems possible for Russia, the people of the vast empire have become avid participants in politics. Beyond the networks of telegraphs and newspapers, news that a revolution is underway spreads slowly with human travelers, and no doubt much is lost in translation. By March, China Miéville writes:

Villagers [had] gathered into assemblies to begin, for the first time, considering not only local issues, but also national ones: the war, the Church, the economy. Ad hoc local committees sprang up in dizzying variety. A chaos of decentralization. Some villages, towns, and territories unconvincingly announced their independence. Very soon, countless soviets [elected councils] existed in the country, and their numbers were growing.”

We know what happens next, where it all leads. That sense of inevitably is our perspective. For the citizens–who, until months earlier, had been subjects–gathering in March-June 1917 to debate the war, the Church, and the economy, the world seem theirs to remake. But the rift between the Bolsheviks and the other revolutionary factions is widening. The June offensive on the Eastern Front is a disaster, and Lenin’s anti-war stance is drawing support to his party. Bolshevik organizers are working at the front, in factories, and in villages, and are rapidly gaining political skills and experience. The Petrograd Soviet calls a mass march in June to demonstrate it has workers’ support, but the mass turnout is overwhelmingly Bolshevik. The bloody month of July lies ahead. Of all the paths that had been possible in March 1917, one outcome is becoming overwhelmingly probable on this day a century ago.

An increasingly dominant narrative has it that America is so divided that we cannot possibly understand one another, let alone agree on anything or work together toward common ends. There are, of course, more than a few kernels of truth to this position. America has significant divisions: along lines of race and class; with respect to broad attitudes of governance; and on questions of culture and lifestyle. Recent research by PEW offers useful insights into the segments that define the electorate. These differences are real and consequential.

But the case is overstated and obscures important truths. We question the notion that no common ground exists and that our divides are unbridgeable. In fact, the public agrees on many solutions to difficult social problems, much more so than do politicians and pundits. Public Agenda's Hidden Common Ground initiative shines light on agreement among the general public obfuscated by more extreme polarization of politicians, pundits and activists.

In a recent blog, I noted the common ground that exists among the public for common sense measures to reduce gun violence -- a contentious issues that we may take on in future work -- and the potential for leadership to build on that common ground to make progress. In the inaugural project for our new initiative, we are exploring the hidden common ground on matters that have been top concerns of the public for many years: health care and criminal justice reform. We're finding broad agreement that some offenses should not lead to jail time but rather alternatives to incarceration; that preexisting conditions should not disqualify people from being able to afford health insurance; and that too often politicians treat these questions in "purely partisan" fashion, as one respondent noted, saying "I don't think they have our best interest at heart." More to come on this research soon.

The myth of absolute division makes it harder to recognize common ground that actually exists among the public. This lack of recognition, in turn, makes it harder to build on our agreements to forge progress where we can. And this then plays into the hands of those who gain advantage from our cleavages through a divide and conquer strategy -- including, we are learning, Russian operatives who seek to influence our elections by exaggerating our disagreements and even revving up our hatreds though social media fabrications. It is time to counter this with a unite and conquer strategy. Step one is recognizing the hidden common ground that silently exists beneath the noise of our political rhetoric. This new initiative we've taken on is our contribution to that critical first step.

Sincerely,
Will

If collaboration is in much-too-short supply these days in our public life, in the workplace it is increasingly prized. This has been true for a while, as found in research, including some of our own, that points to the importance of "soft skills" in the modern workplace which enable people to work productively in teams, amplifying their individual knowledge and skills through their interaction with peers.

One workplace where this has been less obviously true is in our schools, dominated by the classic image of the teacher closing the classroom door and getting down to business with her or his students. But even here, interest in the ways that peer collaboration can strengthen practice is growing.

Public Agenda, in partnership with the Spencer Foundation, is proud to be supporting this cutting-edge development in K-12 education through the second installment of our In Perspective web resource series. Like our first on charter schools, our Teacher Collaboration site informs rather than advocates. Just in time for the new school year, it provides teachers and education leaders with new materials that can help foster a more collaborative environment, which can result in many benefits for students and educators alike.

Working in isolation can only be so effective. With support and a solid structure for collaboration in place, a talented team with a shared set of goals can be more innovative and successful. These resources have the potential to help strengthen that type of system in districts, schools and classrooms, and I encourage you to share them with your friends and colleagues.

Many thanks to the educators across the country for all that you do. Here's to a happy and successful new school year.

Sincerely,
Will

This May, I told you about two intertwined themes that Public Agenda has been focusing on lately: Renewing Democracy and Reinventing Opportunity. We launched the Yankelovich Center for Public Judgment in 2015 with the former in mind. More specifically, to understand the public's role in an effective and just democracy, including how people come to judgment on critical problems and the conditions that make public judgment more or less likely.

As part of this work, we seek to study the things that separate and the things that unite Americans. Because the former tends to get the most attention, we're excited to announce the kickoff of our new Hidden Common Ground initiative, which will explore the hypothesis that there are many problems and, importantly, solutions that the public agrees on, despite the political gridlock and media noise to the contrary. To that end, we will soon collaborate with our friends at the Kettering Foundation to launch the inaugural Hidden Common Ground research project that will test and potentially challenge the increasingly dominant narrative of a deeply, even hopelessly, divided America--a narrative that we fear could become self-fulfilling to the detriment of democracy. I look forward to sharing more updates with you as we embark on that journey.

Meanwhile, our Public Engagement team is helping local leaders create better conditions for identifying common ground and supporting public judgment in order to better address local problems. Today and tomorrow, they are hosting a Public Engagement Strategy workshop in New York City designed to help leaders in their efforts to engage the people they serve.

Please be in touch if you'd like to hear about upcoming public engagement workshops and trainings.

Sincerely,
Will