citizens. and that can be extended beyond poland. look at ireland. many think the historical referendum that legalized abortion last year not been possible had the government not convened in an assembly of 99 citizens to debate the matter two years earlier. the assembly ended up with unrestricted access to abortion. environmental groups think they could help solve policy gridlock over the climate crisis. if such assemblies are really empowered, they might do what fishkin suggests. anything is possible when people start engaging with each other and with their government. next on gps, president trump s so-called china whisperer. the billionaire businessman steven schwartzman. what is his take on whether this trade war will end? back in a moment.
just ask fishkin. he said he conducted 109 deliberative polls in 28 countries. they almost always result in that conclusion. take bulgaria. the new york times reported in 2007, 255 people met for two days to discuss the plight of the roma, one of the new york s my mort groups who has struggled to integrate. support for desegregating roma schools went from 42% to 66% after. support for segregation of housing units fell from 43% to 21%. protestants and catholics mixed for a day of deliberation over school policy. afterward, the support for protestants and catholics rose statistically and vice versa. what all of this makes clear is no conflict of policy puzzle is retractible if you engage
for our what in the world segment. everybody agrees that americans are more polarized today than any time in recent history. but there is a group of experts who are trying to do something about it. last month an experiment called america in one move was led by james fishkin, the head of stanford s center for democracy and larry diamond. in an assembly in dallas, they took registered voters from all over central america. there they spent a long weekend talking about immigration, foreign policy, health care, the economy and the environment. perhaps shocking, the two sides weren t at each other s throats all weekend long. instead participants pored over briefing booklets and consulted with experts. they broke into small discussion groups and poured out their feelings. separating families, how can we continue to do that?