02/01/2022

Tips for Leading Your Members Through Hyperpartisan Political Times

It can be challenging to work with members of Congress

As we examine how to work in and through an atmosphere of political polarization and intolerance among competing special interests, it’s instructive to remember that the “unscrupulous behavior” we occasionally witness among elected officials isn’t new.

In the lead up to the Civil War, there were several verbal assaults and name calling. Famously, an actual physical assault occurred on May 22, 1856, in the U.S. Senate chamber, when Representative Preston Brooks, a pro-slavery Democrat from South Carolina, used a walking cane to attack Senator Charles Sumner, an abolitionist Republican from Massachusetts.

Unfortunately, the country was as politically divided then as it is now. Because of this hyper-partisanship, it can be challenging to work with members of Congress.

Please select this link to read the complete article from ASAE's Center for Association Leadership.