to overcome the deadlock through a democratic system recognizing that all points of view have value and should be listened to if not entirely accepted:
We must acknowledge and deal with our disagreements but recognize that our shared interests are greater than our differences. We are a city that is deeply divided by race, class, ideology, and geography. But despite this, we all want the same basic things from government: a city with safe streets, good education and prosperity shared by all its residents. Charter reform is ultimately about designing a city government that will better provide services for its citizens (Chemerinsky and Dupont-Walker).
What Chemerinsky and Dupont-Walker indicate in there is that in a democracy, there is more shared than should separate the citizenry. The people all want the same basic services from their government and the same protections for their community, though they may differ on how these tings are to be achieved. Reform is a recognition that something is wrong and needs to be corrected, and the fact that a reform process is being undertaken brings out all those who have a point of view and who want to make a suggestion as to how to achieve reform. Chemerinsky and Dupont-Walker seem to feel that everyone wants much the same from reform, but this is not necessarily the case. The liberal paradigm for how to achieve reform may also include different kinds of reform, just as a conservative paradigm will. Both may want protection from crime, fro instance, but liberals may emphasize rehabilitation and the correction of underlying problems causing crime while conservatives will emphasize punishment and law enforcement. The argument is over which approach will achieve the final goal of crime-free communities. For Chemerinsky and Dupont-Walker, politics is the art of compromise between factions seeking the same ultimate goal.
Kevin Starr indicates something of his view of political activ...