ABSTRACT
It is tempting to call for a ‘quick fix’ with fashionable participation and empowerment tools to respond to social disruption, widespread frustration and democratic disconnection. In the second chapter I explain why reaching out among diverse social groups is essentially a strenuous but necessary task. I present three strategies, namely public conflict resolution, civic fusion and mediative decision-making, as a response to these disruptive developments. Based on real-world examples of abortion debates, refugee homes and radicalized groups, I demonstrate how these strategies can be linked to developments on a multi-national scale. Moreover, this chapter shows why conflict resolution and consensus building require hard work on the part of both participants and the mediator, and why agreements are not to be expected in the ordinary give and take of politics, still less in the legal system.
