Democracy is founded on robust dialogue, but somewhere along the line, politics replaced sex as the one thing in America we don't discuss in mixed company – even amongst friends and family. Segregating ourselves into political silos is toxic to democracy, and Bring It to The Table provides an antidote. This SHORT DOCUMENTARY, WEBISODE SERIES, ONLINE PLATFORM, AND COMMUNITY IMPACT CAMPAIGN encourages Americans to stop bickering about politics, examine their own assumptions, and truly engage in civil discourse to help move our democracy forward. 

What started as a documentary film grew into a unique community engagement campaign. Through interactive sessions and facilitator trainings, we have used Bring It to deploy the discourse methods developed by our team. The idea is simple: Set up a table and two chairs, invite people to agree on a few basic rules of engagement, then ask a series of guided questions about pressing issues such as gun control, the economy, same-sex marriage, abortion, or immigration. 

The results are impressive: After just two hours in a Bring It session, participants’ attitudes shifted toward the political center. Utilizing an app developed by A Fourth Act, we collected data from over a thousand participants that clearly shows an overall change in people’s attitudes away from the extreme edges, and toward a more tolerant understanding of the political ‘other’.

Since 2012 Bring It has been hosted by over 100 communities across the country and the film is utilized by universities nationwide. 

The project has been featured in The Washington Post and MSNBC.com, and was hosted at the Gerald Ford Presidential Library.