Moving Beyond "Weak Civility": Timothy Shaffer's Framework for Robust Democratic Engagement

Credit to: Chaminade University

NCDD Friend, Dr. Timothy Shaffer’s recent presentation at Chaminade University offers a timely and transformative rethinking of civil discourse. Rather than reducing civility to mere politeness, Shaffer introduces a nuanced framework distinguishing between weak, strong, and pseudo civility—encouraging dialogue practitioners to embrace passionate, democratic engagement, even when it includes protest or confrontation. Addressing the deeper emotional divides of affective polarization, he outlines practical strategies like intellectual humility, principled advocacy, and the use of informal “third spaces” to bridge ideological gaps. Shaffer’s message is clear: each of us holds agency to foster stronger civic culture amid division. Read more in the blog post below.

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​Dr. Timothy Shaffer, inaugural Stavros Niarchos Foundation Chair of Civil Discourse at the University of Delaware, delivered a compelling presentation at Chaminade University that offers valuable insights for dialogue and deliberation practitioners. His lecture, "We Need to Talk: Civil Discourse in Partisan and Polarizing Times," provides a nuanced framework that challenges common assumptions about what civil discourse really means in our current political climate.

Redefining Civil Discourse: Beyond Politeness

One of Shaffer's most important contributions to our field is his distinction between different forms of civility. He challenges the dominant narrative that reduces civil discourse to mere politeness, introducing a more sophisticated understanding:

• Weak Civility functions as "a code of polite conduct or mode of behavioral management"—the familiar call for everyone to just "be nice" and avoid conflict.
• Strong Civility, by contrast, represents "robust engagement of differences that includes dialogue and deliberation" and even encompasses confrontation, protest, and disobedience when conducted with democratic purpose.
• Pseudo Civility involves the manipulative use of civility rules to silence dissenting voices—a phenomenon many practitioners have encountered but may not have had language to describe.

This framework provides crucial tools for NCDD members working in polarized environments, offering permission to engage more robustly while maintaining democratic values.

The Challenge of Affective Polarization

Shaffer's analysis goes beyond traditional concerns about political disagreement to focus on what researchers call "affective polarization"—the emotional dimension of political division. This isn't just about policy disagreements but about the "sense of not just disagreement but hatred" that increasingly characterizes political relationships.
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Drawing on data showing substantial increases in affective polarization since 1994, Shaffer demonstrates how this emotional divide influences personal decisions about dating, hiring, and marriage, often based on inaccurate perceptions of others' views. For dialogue practitioners, this insight helps explain why traditional approaches focused solely on information sharing or perspective-taking may prove insufficient.

The Context of Democratic Decline

Shaffer situates civil discourse work within the broader context of global democratic backsliding, presenting data showing increasing numbers of countries "autocritizing" over the past two decades. Within the United States, he highlights the "Big Sort" phenomenon—the clustering of like-minded people into homogeneous communities—and the decline of what Robert Putnam calls "bridging social capital."
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This analysis provides important context for why civil discourse work feels more urgent and challenging than in previous eras. The traditional spaces where Americans encountered diverse perspectives—bowling leagues, service clubs, neighborhood associations—have largely disappeared, leaving people "bowling alone" in ideologically segregated communities.

Shaffer focuses on "affective polarization"—not just policy disagreements but the emotional hatred increasingly characterizing political relationships. This insight explains why traditional approaches focused solely on information sharing may prove insufficient.
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He situates this within broader democratic decline, highlighting the "Big Sort" into ideologically homogeneous communities and the loss of "third spaces" where diverse encounters naturally occurred.

Practical Strategies

Shaffer offers concrete approaches:

• Intellectual Humility: Approaching conversations with genuine openness, embodied in "oh I never thought of it that way"
• Principled Advocacy: Bringing passion while remaining open to different perspectives
• Leveraging "Third Spaces": Engaging in informal settings like cafes and community centers
• Building Bridging Capital: Creating connections across different groups
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Perhaps most importantly, Shaffer emphasizes that everyone has "influence" and "agency" within their spheres. His challenge applies to all NCDD members: "How can you build a culture grounded in civil discourse even in these partisan and polarizing times?"

Resources & Next Steps​

Shaffer highlights complementary organizations like Unify America, Living Room Conversations, and Braver Angels that expand practitioners' toolkits.
Watch the full presentation: https://youtu.be/hkLZbjRaUVQ

Shaffer's framework offers key takeaways:

• Permission for passionate, even confrontational engagement when democratically grounded
• Understanding why purely rational approaches may fall short
• Recognition that every practitioner can build more civil discourse within their influence
• A path forward that honors both democratic values and meaningful civic commitment
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Dr. Shaffer's "strong civility" framework provides both theoretical grounding and practical guidance for dialogue practitioners working in increasingly polarized environments.