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Allport (1954) identified four conditions that may lead to positive intergroup contact, including

equal status, common goals, a means of intergroup cooperation, and authority support.

Subsequent research by Pettigrew (1998) refined the original conditions established by

Allport. Additionally, Pettigrew (1998) added friendship potential as a fifth condition for optimal

intergroup contact. Friendship potential acknowledges that “constructive contact relates more to

long-term close relationships than acquaintanceship” (p. 76).

Reason and Rational Discourse

Studies by James Fishkin and others have found that deliberative democracy tends to

produce outcomes which are superior to those in other forms of democracy. (Stokes & Elster,

1998) Deliberative democracy produces less partisanship and more sympathy with opposing

views; more respect for evidence-based reasoning rather than opinion; a greater commitment to

the decisions taken by those involved; and a greater chance for widely shared consensus to emerge,

thus promoting social cohesion between people from different backgrounds. (Fishkin, 2011; Ross,

2011) Fishkin cites extensive empirical support for the increase in public spiritedness that is often

caused by participation in deliberation and says theoretical support can be traced back to

foundational democratic thinkers such as John Stuart Mill and Alexis de Tocqueville. (Fishkin,
2011, p. 105)

Former diplomat Carne Ross writes that in 2011 that the debates arising from deliberative

democracy are also much more civil, collaborative, and evidence-based than the debates in

traditional town hall meetings or in internet forums. For Ross, the key reason for this is that in

deliberative democracy citizens are empowered by knowledge that engaged dialogue will have a

measurable impact on society. (Ross, 2011)

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