ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, July 4, 1996 TAG: 9607050075
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: TONY WHARTON LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
note: below
VIRGINIANS SAY if citizens worked together more often, it would make a bigger difference than electing the "right" candidates.
Virginians will gather today to celebrate the Fourth of July in parks, around barbecues and beneath fireworks-lit skies. But a new poll shows many think we don't gather often enough to talk about how the state and nation should move forward, and citizens' voices are too often ignored.
Results of the statewide survey, commissioned by The Roanoke Times and its sister paper in Norfolk, The Virginian-Pilot, showed widespread confidence that people working together could address state and national concerns.
They expressed doubt about whether it will happen, however, because they believe they are not heard by the nation's leaders.
``As we look toward facing the challenges ahead, the campaigns are only a piece, and perhaps only a small piece, of the puzzle,'' said John Creighton, vice president of The Harwood Group, the Maryland consulting company that designed the poll. ``What's more important is finding ways for people to work together.''
The poll results suggest, he said, that candidates ought to be thinking about how to get people involved.
``The condition of public life today is that people often feel it's not worth it for me to come out of my house,'' Creighton said. ``Candidates need to work not just to get elected, but to create the conditions in which people can get engaged.''
The survey asked ``what it will take for society to move forward in addressing the challenges it faces.''
In one of the most united responses, 75 percent agreed that ``people taking more responsibility for addressing their concerns'' would make a big difference. And 71 percent chose ``people working together more on public concerns.''
By contrast, about 50 percent of the respondents picked electing the right president, getting civic groups more involved, or improving local government to make ``a big difference.''
But will people work together, and will they be heard?
Sixty-eight percent of those surveyed indicated that people in their communities don't get together or don't accomplish anything if they do. In another answer, about 74 percent thought their opinions aren't heard or they're left out of decision-making.
And 74 percent said that if people actually tackled a particular concern, mostly they would ``sit around and complain.''
In response to the poll results, University of Virginia author and political scientist Larry Sabato said citizens ``are better at whining sometimes than doing their part to solve the problems.''
Harwood saw the complaints differently, as a product of citizens' disconnection from politics.
``The way we go about doing politics and the way we engage in public life need to change if we're going to make headway,'' he said. ``That is a profound message.''
People feel isolated and unable to address problems because the news media and politicians have treated them that way, said Harwood, whose company specializes in research into American public life. In recent years, he has repeatedly told politicians and journalists that their activities are alienating the public.
``The way in which the media tends to cover issues, and the way politicians talk about those issues, is based on dividing people, cutting up the public pie into the necessary 51 percent,'' he said.
``There is a strong mainstream of thought about the kinds of challenges we face. But we've created conditions that almost make it taboo to talk about that. We're pushing that mainstream away from the political process, because they don't believe they're being heard.''
Harwood's firm designed the survey; it was conducted by Communication Center Inc. of Washington, D.C.
The results echo Harwood's findings from interviews with citizens across the country late last year, summarized in a report titled ``America's Struggle Within.''
``Americans are searching for a new kind of leadership,'' the report said. ``They believe that such leadership must apply not only to politicians but to news media, citizens and others. People argue that basic changes must occur in how individuals and institutions act if America is to set the right course for its future.''
Other researchers also have come to the conclusion that newspapers and television aren't helping.
When the media concentrate on covering conflict rather than problem-solving, the researchers have said, they often leave readers and viewers with the impression that Americans can't or won't work together.
When a cross-section of 459 Americans gathered in January in Austin, Texas, for the National Issues Convention, an experiment that sought to tap concerns in a deeper way than through traditional polls, they discovered that they agreed far more often than they expected.
Many of those present, including Virginians, said they were surprised at how well they got along, even when they disagreed.
Sabato said the Harwood survey's results were not particularly big news.
``People are alienated from politics,'' he said. ``Partly it's the fault of the system, partly the fault of the politicians, and partly the fault of citizens who don't take the trouble to learn about politics.
``I think most politicians are very aware of it. They also know they can't solve it by themselves.''
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